My wife and I were recently enjoying our coffee and her homemade apple muffins on a cold fall morning when she commented on the unusual weather we’ve had in the Pacific Northwest. Looking over at our neighbor out chain-sawing a dozen or so trees that fell across our driveway in the windstorm the night before, I agreed. Then she brought…
Every American mariner must have a current medical certificate to be eligible to sail. Without it, we cannot obtain a merchant mariner credential and employers can’t legally hire us. This rule, stipulated in accordance with U.S. Coast Guard Navigation and Vessel Inspection Circular (NVIC) 04-08, contains the procedures for doctors and nurses conducting the medical examinations. Those vary depending…
One of the great things about being a merchant mariner is that it’s possible to travel and see the world. Being able to experience other cultures, enjoy the foods and music of far-off lands, or connect with friends and family thousands of miles from home makes our profession very special. Unfortunately, I have seen mariners who never get beyond the…
As someone who grew up listening to Supertramp, the Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin, it was a different experience coming up for breakfast one autumn morning to the sounds of “As I was a walking down Paradise Street, way, hey, blow the man down” reverberating through the kitchen. There was my dad, who sailed for years as an able…
We had just cleared the Panama Canal’s Miraflores Locks westbound on the Pacific side. I was the second mate on a tug pulling a loaded 450-foot petroleum barge from Lake Charles, La., and Beaumont, Texas, to Long Beach, Calif. It had just turned midnight, the start of Christmas Day. Jerry, the able seaman on my watch, came up to the…
For more than 100 years, the Merchant Marine Act of 1920, commonly known as the Jones Act after U.S. Sen. Wesley Jones of Washington state, has been a legal bedrock of the United States maritime industry. Adopted by a congressional vote, the purpose of the Jones Act was to establish and protect a vibrant American maritime industry in times of…
My father-in-law served in the merchant marine during World War II, sailing as an assistant purser on a supply ship. I asked him once about his most frightening experience of the war. He replied grimly, “Our ship was part of a convoy of 20 merchant ships, and we had two Navy ships escorting us. One night in the North Atlantic…
was hired as the extra mate during a voyage from the fishing grounds in Alaska down to Seattle. After a long day filled with flights and shuttles, I finally got on board late in the evening. After checking in with the captain, who I had sailed with before and knew well, I went down for a nap before assuming watch…
I had been mentoring Shaun, a student from the California Maritime Academy, who was now set to graduate. Excited and ready to go, he was looking forward to entering the industry, making money and paying off his student loan. A few days after graduation, his third mate license in hand, he texted me with news of his first job. He…
Back when I was a kid, my dad would tell me what it was like working in the merchant marine. He sailed as an able seaman and boatswain, and I loved hearing his tales of working on a tanker off Venezuela, a stick ship in Africa and a freighter in Alaska. After dad retired, one of his friends who’d heard…