Following a new arc

After a submersible career, an underwater welder has returned to the surface to practice his craft.

After a submersible career, an underwater welder has returned to the surface to practice his craft.

With his mobile welding machine attached to his Ford-150, Jim Bernacki is prepared to bring his fix-it services to Whidbey residents with his new business, Island Fix and Weld.

The former director of operations for the Divers Institute of Technology, Bernacki left behind his full-time gig in Seattle just a few months ago to spark something new. He now repairs household items, small appliances and furniture; sharpens knives, scissors and garden tools; and welds and solders jewelry, fences and handrails, to name a few things.

His work can be found all around South Whidbey, from the Rob Schouten Gallery fence and art pedestals in Langley to the Cloudstone Sculpture Park near Freeland, where he helped the late artist Hank Nelson complete his pieces.

Growing up in the Windy City, Bernacki was surrounded by metal.

“Every property in Chicago has an iron gate, fence, staircase, barred windows, everything,” he said.

An operations specialist in the Navy, Bernacki was looking for something new to do after he left the service and picked up welding when he went to trade school in 1985. Not long after, his first mobile welding business, Welds on Wheels, was born. He met his wife, Patricia Duff, in the Chicago theater scene, where he was making props and set pieces for productions. The couple planned to move to Hawaii but first, Bernacki wanted to learn how to weld underwater, so he attended the Seattle Divers Institute in 1993.

“Welding underwater is exactly the same as welding on the surface, as far as the process that you use,” Bernacki said, explaining that you strike an arc underwater in the same way, but there are additional safety measures to consider to avoid electrocution, such as wearing rubber gloves.

He worked, diving and welding, in the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard and Honolulu Harbor for a few years. Duff fondly recalled a blowfish who regularly visited him on a job site to eat the growth he scraped off boats.

“They’re smart,” Bernacki said. “They know they can get food.”

The couple was brought back to the Pacific Northwest with Bernacki’s next job in the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. After that, he worked for several marine construction companies where he caught a glimpse of some of the state’s more famous residents. He worked on a private salmon run for Bill and Melinda Gates. The workers, who were shuttled into the location every day, were advised not to make eye contact with the family.

“They had a rule there that you didn’t work if the curtains were closed,” Bernacki said.

He made hydroplane landing platforms for other household names living on Lake Washington, such as Kenny G.

Later in life, he taught his skills to students at the Divers Institute.

“To teach them to weld, when I built the program, I put a tank system up so I could observe them and critique them in the moment because it’s kind of difficult to learn,” Bernacki said. “You can’t just put somebody in the water, (where you) can’t see them, and say ‘Go weld.’”

Most of his diving has been in shallow water, about 25 feet deep, but for long periods of time with minimal gear – just a dry suit and an oxygen tube.

He’s always told his students to think outside of the box when it comes to jobs. One of his students, for example, is running a NASA program for the pool where astronauts practice.

“Don’t just go into a classic deep sea dive in the Gulf of Mexico,” he said. “Go to Hollywood and go to the theme parks that have waterslides and water infrastructure.”

He and his family moved to Whidbey in 2006; first to Coupeville, and then later, just outside of Langley city limits.

With his next venture in welding as the local fix-it man, Bernacki has been busy repairing closet shelves, a handle that broke off a stove, a guitar pedal and a walker wheel. Most of it is work he can do inside his garage, but he’ll also travel if needed, like in the case of a broken scissor jack on a camper that could not be moved.

Above all, he hopes to keep broken items out of the landfill.

“Let’s fix it, instead of just throw it away,” he said.

For more information, visit islandfixandweld.com.

Photo by David Welton
Jim Bernacki lowers his welding helmet before getting to work.

Photo by David Welton Jim Bernacki lowers his welding helmet before getting to work.

Photo by David Welton
Jim Bernacki stands before the bright green deck rail he welded for his own home on South Whidbey.

Photo by David Welton Jim Bernacki stands before the bright green deck rail he welded for his own home on South Whidbey.