SO YOU WANT TO GO TO SEA....

The first question I must ask is are you wise ?

You'll have to answer this yourself . Perhaps the questions below may help you decide . In the UK I would strongly recommend that any one who does fall mad enough to go to sea should train as either a deck or engineering officer . While there still are openings for ratings they are becoming few and far between as companies flag out and import cheaper foreign labour.

Are you physically fit ?

You need to be physically fit without any major medical problems to go to sea . You will have to pass a medical exam at regular intervals . With a few exceptions , most ships do not carry any doctors and if you are in mid ocean it can be a long time before any proper medical staff can get to you , possibly weeks . If you want to be a deck officer you need to have very good eyesight with good colour vision . Engineers also need good eyesight but the entry requirements are lower . My advice is get your eyes checked at an opticians first .

Are you aware that working at sea is a highly dangerous job ?

In general working at sea is classed among the most 10 dangerous jobs . Think on it before going any further .

Do you get motion sick ?

If the answer is yes , forget a life at sea . Ships move , roll , pitch , yaw and everything in between . Everyone feels a bit of motion sickness or discomfort in really rough weather but if you can't cope with it don't torture yourself , a life at sea is not for you .

Can you do without sleep ?

Although regulations are coming into force to ensure adequate rest , there are times when sleep is a luxury you only crave . Whether it is due to the weather , ships motion , a hectic schedule or a breakdown , sleep is sometimes at a premium . If you really must have your 8 hours every night without fail forget the about going to sea for a career .

Are you willing to work odd hours ?

Generally onboard ship you have to work a shift system . However at times you will be required to work outside those hours , normally for no extra compensation , it is all part of the job .

Can ladies go to sea ?

Yes , jobs do exist but be warned they are hard to get and there is still a lot of male ego out there . Your journey may not be the easiest .

Can You get on with people ?

Typical deep sea voyages can last from 3 months to 1 year . Depending upon the vessel and its run you may never set foot on land until you leave the ship to come home . Ship crews are shrinking all the time with the progress of automation and the pressure of accountants . I think possibly the people seamen hate the most in all the world are accountants . Anyway back to the question in hand . You HAVE to be able to get on with the people you work with and to tolerate / accept their ideas and cultures . There are very few places on a ship to hide from people that you dislike or have fallen out with . In the event of an emergency the only people in the first instance that can and will help you are your ship mates - it might help if you get on with them .

It is also worth noting that many shipping companies for one reason or another have multi-national crews . You need to be able to understand and accept different races and cultures .

Can you stand extremes in temperature and weather ?

World-wide shipping does just as it says , it travels the world . From the bitterly freezing conditions of an Alaskan , Canadian and Scandinavian winter to the heat of the Tropics and the Persian Gulf . Temperatures can range from below -40 C to above +40 C . The weather can be anything from sunny and calm to a stormy blizzard and everything in between . Work doesn't stop just because it is hot , cold , sunny or snowing . It is something to think about .

Do you mind working in hot , noisy and dirty places ?

It will happen no matter what department or rank you are . You will find that at sometime a nasty dirty job will happen to come your way . It has to be done and you will have to do it .

Can you swim ?

You need to be able to swim about 100 meters .

Are you claustrophobic ?

If you are a job at sea is probably not for you . Accommodation can be cramped and some jobs mean entering small dark enclosed spaces .

Are you willing to do manual labour and be flexible in your job ?

At sea you have to work as a team , there is no one else to call to get the job done. At times that means mucking in , even if it is not technically in your job description .

Do you suffer from home sickness ?

If you do , don't even consider going to sea . It is true that the technological revolution is finally catching up with ships and communications by satellite and the like are more accessible and affordable . However if you suffer from home sickness this won't help you much , do yourself a favour and stay at home .

Are you married or in a steady relationship ?

If you are think carefully before going any further . Talk it over with your partner . Working at sea does cause problems with relationships . Some relationships last but a lot flounder . THINK CAREFULLY .

OK so you have got this far and think you can truthfully come to terms and accept the previous questions what can you expect ?

Well to be honest for most people who work at sea , there is no other job like it and despite the odd grumble they would not change their job for anything . There really is no other job like it in the world . It is a job that regularly brings new challenges and rarely can be compared to a 9 to 5 job .

Nature

Going to sea gives the mariner a chance to see mother nature in one of its most unspoilt and raw environments left on earth . Views of the night sky show more stars than most on land will ever see . Northern Lights are more spectacular , Nebulous clouds clearer and comets and shooting stars more visible . Seeing the bioluminescence caused by the ships wake lighting up the sea at night with pale whites and vivid greens that sparkle and twinkle in the dark night sea is truly amazing .
Virtually every sailor with a camera has an album full of beautiful sunrises and sunsets .
The sight of Wandering Albatrosses in the Southern Oceans has made many a person to put pen to paper . Dolphins and Porpoises playing in the wake or bow wave of the ship . Whales blowing , a Humpback protesting at your presence by rising up out of the water before slamming back down again . Seals far off the South African coast , Sharks , Flying Fish , Hugh Jellyfish and Manta Rays gliding in the ocean currents and Turtles basking in the sun . All become a fabulous sight for the mariner and can be counted as one of the benefits of the job .

However you also get to see the other side of mother nature , her unrivalled power . Mountainous seas and wind in excess of 100 knots that cause ships to bend , twist and contort under the extreme forces , all in front of your very eyes . I have seen deck machinery weighing several tonnes that was welded and bolted to the main deck be washed away with just one wave . Most ships survive this kind of weather , but is worth remembering that some don't .

Places

As a world traveller you will get the chance to see foreign and exotic places , enough to make all your friends envious . Be warned however , the time in port is getting less and less and you may not always dock near any known civilisation . That said , there are some wonderful sights and experiences to be had .

Job Description

This is only a brief and general description based on UK deep sea operated ships . Different companies and countries do have a slightly different job description .

Officers

Captain or Master

In overall charge of vessel and the companies representative onboard . He / She insures that the vessel is legal and makes sure that local , international and company regulations are followed and complied with . It is the Captain who usually deals with all shore and port officials . The Captain also makes sure that proper logs and official paper work is maintained and completed . He / She is also responsible for the well being of the crew and the safety of the ship.

Chief Officer / The Mate

Overall responsibility for the maintenance of the deck , deck machinery and accommodation . It is normally the Mate that delegates what deck jobs are to be done to the ratings . He / She is also responsible for the safe loading and discharging of the vessel . Generally the Chief Officer is the ships Safety Officer . The Mate normally stands a navigational watch ( 4 - 8 ) and a cargo watch .

2nd Officer / 2nd Mate

Responsible for the upkeep of onboard publications and charts . Passage planning and daily run figures are normally in his / her job description . Generally he / she is also the designated Medical Officer and the designated GMDSS operator . The 2nd Mate also has responsibility for certain areas of storing and normally stands a navigational watch ( 12 - 4 ) and a cargo watch . The 2nd mate is expected to understudy the mate .

3rd Officer / 3rd Mate

Responsible for the upkeep of all Life Saving Appliances and Fire Fighting Equipment onboard. Normally also in charge of the flag locker . Generally also designated as the Meteorological Officer the 3rd Mate normally stands a navigational watch ( 8 -12 ) and a cargo watch . The 3rd mate is expected to understudy the 2nd Mate and the Mate .

Chief Engineer

In overall charge of all the engine room and machinery spaces and answerable onboard to ship to only the Captain . Generally the Chief ensures that all correct and safe procedures are followed and that all the appropriate paper work is completed . Sometimes the Chief may also be known as the Frosty and be responsible for the refrigeration plant ( Reefer Ships and Container Ships )

2nd Engineer

Very much like the Mates job only in the engine spaces . He / she is in overall charge of the engine room . The 2nd normally consults with the Chief to organise the planned maintenance in the engine room .

3rd Engineer

Normally in charge of electrical systems and generation as well as system checks .

4th Engineer

Normally responsible for the purifiers and with another engineer normally does the bunkering of the ship .

Engineers normally are on day work with a night on board roster to answer alarms . Most engine rooms today are equipped with sensors and alarms to allow for an unmanned machinery space (UMS) . Unless something goes wrong engineers do not work shifts .

All officers are responsible for the training of cadets .

To become a cadet write directly to the shipping companies such as Shell , BP , P&O , Cunard , Blue Star and Lowline . You might also get more information from the Marine Society .

Ratings

Deck

• Bosun - Chief Petty Officer ( Deck ) in charge of all deck ratings and answers directly to the Chief Officer .
• Assistant Bosun or Lampey - Very few left . Tend to be storekeepers and assists bosun in various jobs
• Chippy - Very few left . Tend to do all carpentry work onboard and help with any problems with the plumbing .
• AB - Able Bodied Seaman - a fully trained seaman
• OS- Ordinary Seaman - Still needs either sea time or additional qualifications before becoming an AB .
  Both AB's and OS's generally work on deck , maintaining the deck equipment , chipping , painting , greasing , cargo lashing , operating the deck machinery (hatches , cranes and the like ) and mooring operations .
• Deck Boy - First trip to sea deck rating - generally not fully qualified OS

Note - AB's and OS's have been replaced on some ships by GP's ( General Purpose Seamen ) who work in all departments although their main area of work is on deck .

Engine room Rating

Normally only one per watch. The title of the job changes but the job is normally the same i.e. cleaning , oiling and greasing engine equipment and aiding engineers with bigger jobs .

Between the innocence of infancy and
The recklessness of adultery comes that unique
Specimen of humanity known as a seaman
Seamen can be found in bars, in arguments
In bed, in debt and intoxicated.
They are tall, short, fat, thin, dark, fair but never normal.
They dislike ships food, chief engineers, writing letters
Sailing on Saturdays and dry ships.
They like receiving mail, paying off day, nude pin ups,
Sympathy, complaining and beer.
A seamans secret ambition is to change positions
With the owner for just one trip, to own a brewery
And to be loved by everyone in the world.
A seaman is a Sir Galahad in a Japenese brothel,
A pyschiatrist with Readers Digest on the table,
Don Quixote with a discharge book,
The saviour of mankind with his back teeth awash,
Valentino with a fiver in his back pocket and
Democracy personified in a red Chinese prison cell.
No one is subject to so much abuse, wrongly accused,
So often misunderstood by so many as a seaman.
He has the patience of Job, the honesty of a fool,
And the heaven sent ability to laugh at himself.
When he returns home from a long voyage
No one else but a seaman can create such an atmosphere
Of suspense and longing as he walks through the door
With the magic words on his lips,
HAVE YOU GOT THE ALE IN THEN !!
Anon.

Some quotes :

Believe me , my young friend , there is nothing --
absolutely nothing --
half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats .

- The Wind in the Willows

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Sit in reverie and watch the changing color of the waves that break upon the idle seashore of the mind.
- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

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One ship drives east and another drives west
With the selfsame winds that flow.
'Tis the set of sails and not the gales
Which tells us the way to go.
- Ella Wheeler Wilcox

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Less judgment than wit is more sail than ballast.
- William Penn

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We were all on this ship in the sixties, our generation,
a ship going to discover the New World.
And the Beatles were in the crow's nest of that ship.
- John Lenon

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A few quotes by the one eyed English Naval Officer Horatio Nelson (1758-1805) . He was quite a character by all accounts and fought the French winning many victories including Trafalgar in 1805 ---

I have always been a quarter of an hour before my time, and it has made a man of me.


I have only one eye, I have a right to be blind sometimes.


When I came to explain to them the 'Nelson Touch',
it was like an electric shock.
Some shed tears, all approved -
'It was new - it was singular - it was simple!'.


Something must be left to chance; nothing is sure in a sea fight beyond all others.


No captain can do very wrong if he places his ship alongside that of the enemy.

Horatio Nelson

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A ship in port is safe, but that's not what ships are built for.
Grace Murray Hopper

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No dust have I to cover me,
My grave no man can see;
My tomb is this unending sea,
And I lie far below.
My fate, Oh stranger, was to drown,
And where it was the ship went down
Is what the sea-birds know.
Glaucus

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A great ship asks deep water.
George Herbert

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Ships at a distance have every man's wish on board.
Zora Neale Hurston

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To the ships of our seas ,
And the women of our land ....
May the former be well Captained
And the latter well manned .

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Here's to tall ships
Here's to small ships
Here's to all the ships on the sea
But the best ships are friendships ..
Here's to you and me .

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Whenever I find myself growing grim about the mouth;
Whenever it is damp, drizzly November in my soul;
Whenever I find myself involuntarily pausing
before coffin warehouse,
And bringing up the rear of every funeral I meet;
And especially whenever my hypos get such an upper hand of me
that it requires a strong moral principal to prevent me
from deliberately stepping into the street,
and methodically knocking people's hats off - then,
I account it high time to get to sea as soon as I can
Herman Melville, Moby Dick

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Being in a ship is being in a jail, with the chance of drowning.
Johnson

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How long have you been a sailor ?

All my bloomin' life.
Me mother was a mermaid.
Me father was King Neptune.
I was born on the crest of a wave
And rock the cradle of the deep.
Seaweed and barnacles are me clothes,
The hair on me head is hemp,
Every bone in me body's a spar,
And when I spit, I spit tar.
I'se hard, I is, I am, I are.
--- an old answer to an old question

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A Rare Phenomenon

The Captain's note to the Chief Officer
Early in the morning there will be a total solar eclipse at 09.00 hours.
This is something that cannot be seen every day, so let the crew line up
in their best clothes on deck in order that they may see it. To mark this
rare phenomenon I will myself explain it to them. If it is raining, we will
not be able to see it clearly. In that case the crew should gather in the
messroom.

The Chief Officer's note to the First Officer
On Captain's orders there will be a total solar eclipse early tomorrow morning
at 09.00 hours. If it is raining we will not be able to see it clearly from
the deck in our best clothes. In that case the sun's disappearance will be
fully observed in the messroom. This is something which does not happen
everyday.

The First Officer's note to the Second Officer
On Captain's orders we shall fully observe in our best clothes that the sun
disappears in the messroom at 09.00 hours. The Captain will tell us if it is
going to rain. This is something that does not happen every day.

The Second Officer's note to the Bosun
If it is raining in the messroom early tomorrow, which is something that does
not happen every day, tha Capatain in his best clothes will disappear at
09.00 hours.

The Bosun's note to the crew
Early tomorrow at 09.00 hours the Captain will disappear. It is a pity that this
does not happen every day.

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The following quotes came from Anne Blacklers web site;


"If in danger, never fear, you can always blame the engineer!"
+ + +
"The best captains sail the roughest seas"
+ + +
"As I stood on the bridge at midnight,
A thought came into my head:
Why the hell am I standing here.
When I could be home in bed?"
+ + +
"Oh seagull i'm grieving to find you relieving,
Yourself on the Merchant Marine,
I presume you've good sight, and can see by this light,
That Orontes is not a latrine.
God gave you the oceans for your little motions,
And Italy offers a Po,
But if it's finer to aim at a liner,
Then why not a nice P&O? "

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All poems , quotes and shanties listed here are believed to be Public Domain . Credit is given where known .

Thanks go to the following for their contributions ;
Edward Hinckley.
Martin Leduc
Ann Blackler

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