Becoming a mariner is a big lifestyle change. For you guys working the 28/28 or 28/14 shifts, how much sleep do you end up getting on average when you’re on the vessel? Can you get a full 8 hours? Are the quarters comfortable/quiet enough to manage it? Can you bring a fan on board to block out outside noise? Do you have your own room or do you share with a roommate? Got a window? If so, can you block out the sunlight? What size are the beds? Are the mattresses thick or are they thin/cheap crap that’s hard to sleep on? Got a comfortable chair to sit on in your room? Can you eat your meals in your room instead of in the cafeteria if you like some peace and quiet when you eat? Can you take showers whenever you want when you’re off duty? How about laundry. How does that work?
Ok, I’ll answer a few of these.
Mostly share a room with your opposite shift therefore stay out of the room while on watch, your buddy is sleeping and wants privacy.
Beds so far have been comfortable and good to go; when you get dialed in on a permanent boat a lot of guys bring there own bedding / what the boat supplies is usually not so nice.
Sometimes a chair, sometimes not. Depends on size, layout of room and that depends on the boat.
Usually only the upper decks ( officers ) get windows. Yes, you can block the light - you’re on a boat : it’s a porthole!
You can shower whenever you want off duty. Bring your own towel!
You’ve got 12 hours off - if you’re the type who can sleep at will, eight hours won’t be a problem. I average six.
I bring a laptop and a hard drive full of movies and tv shows. A lot of other guys do the same so you can usually get new stuff from somebody.
He failed to say what vessel he’s looking to get on. Tugs are way different then OSVs which are way different then crew boats…
What company and type of vessel?
It isn’t prison though it may feel like it sometimes. Depends on the vessel as far as sleep quality due to noise. Some smaller vessels under 100tons are extremely loud and will take some getting used to. Fans are definitely nice to have so that they drown out noise. Bunks are always about the same size and are always cheap. I bring and leave a mattress foam cover. You may share a room with someone. It mainly depends on your rank or whether you have extra 3rd party hands filling your vessel. Yea you can eat in your room but don’t let your room turn into a cesspool for bacteria. Vessel cleanliness is a must.
I work for (Insert name of federal science agency) which has a fleet of 18 ships. Most of our ships are two-man (or two chick) staterooms, some are four. Some are singles. They just throw you in with whomever because we have a lot more women than most commercial outfits and it’s a juggling act. You might be in a room with a scientist, engineer, cook, steward, survey tech, or AB. Even the licensed officers frequently share rooms, depends on the ship.
It’s a shame the T-AGOS boats are going away. Those rooms are awesome.
Beds vary but are just ok. I bring a mattress pad and if there’s a store nearby I get a foam topper. Sometimes a couple pillows too, they are cheap anyway.
You can shower off-duty when you like, just don’t stand there for an hour. Our showers are generally shared, sometimes by as many as five or six people (no, pervs, not simultaneously) so be considerate.
Taking your dinner to your room is not encouraged, but you can have snacks and lunchmeat in your fridge. If you have a fridge. You can buy sodas and whatever. You are expected to keep it clean.
I am augmenting this Christmas and the galley will be shut down Mon, so I will have to get to Fred Meyer and load up on a few things. Any food I have left over when I leave, I set out in the mess hall.
For entertainment I bring a laptop, e-reader, and ipod.
Some rooms have a portlight, some do not. Yes you can make it very dark but I also use a sleep mask and that’s a big help if I have a clueless roommate who flips on the lights.
There is a self-serve laundry. The engineers maintain it. Please clean the lint trap when you use a dryer. Also remove your clothes promptly when done so you don’t piss off others who are waiting or you will get some kind of passive-aggressive response like finding your wet clothes on the deck.
So, speaking for crewboats (fast supply vessels), typically four staterooms and four crew members so everyone has one to him or her self, unless you have riggers or training folks on board, in which case the unlicensed folks will likely double-up (two bunks per room, opposite watches). A few boats I know of have six staterooms, and the regular crew simply keeps the same room all the time.
It is considered very bad manners to go into a shipmate’s room without an invitation or that person present. It also is considered bad manners to leave a dirty room for your relief. The Golden Rule applies.
I have never been on a boat on which a 2-inch memory foam mattress topper (twin size) did not make life better. About $80 at Wal-Mart. Also, several blankets or a quality comforter can be a big help – boats are typically kept quite cold below.
There are loud crewboats and not-so-loud crewboats. On my current vessel, I have to really pay attention to hear the mains or gen and in bed sometimes don’t even know if we’re moving. Bow thrusters are almost always loud. Cargo operations and some pumps (water and fuel transfer) can be loud. Slamming up and down through 8-10-ft seas is not only loud, it is a severe challenge to the desired state of inertia in the rack. I came home with bruised ribs after the last hitch thanks to a particularly bad day and the fact that I landed on the raised edge of the “captain’s bed.”
I average 6-8 hours of sleep on some jobs and watch schedules, and 4-5 on others. Just depends what part of the day I’m down and what we’re doing.
Ditto the info on showers, laundry, e-readers and laptops. You may or may not have internet service through the vessel or at a rig or platform. It’s helpful to have a wifi hotspot enabled device (aircard or smart phone) for those times nearshore or at the dock when you can catch a 3G or 4G signal. You may or may not have satellite TV.
On crewboats, people typically eat in the galley or the passenger lounge. Some folks snack in their rooms, I guess. Do your own dishes immediately after your meal. Clean-up after yourself. On most crewboats, cooking for everyone rotates among crew members depending on operations … sometimes we can go a week with everyone fending for himself, other weeks everyone takes a turn in the galley.
Good luck!
I won’t white wash this one.
Most ships over 180 ft. just have a queen size bed. make sure you get one mounted athwart ships. Noise won’t be a problem, you can’t even hear the deck gang dragging chains on the next deck up but look for one of those older direct drive diesel jobs, those new diesel electric … yech! If you’re a watch stander 8 hrs of sleep shouldn’t be hard to accomplish and you can do it twice a day but you’ll have to be early to bed and late to rise, this will limit your overtime though but good for any diet.
Now about eating in bed … most folks eat in the galley, your taking meals to your room will no doubt make you popular as it frees up seating. As for that light coming in the ‘window’, sometimes you can get the bridge crew to alter course enough to minimize this but one can also pull the curtain or tapes cardboard! Don’t lord it over the watch standers though… most of them can sleep on a running generator!
[QUOTE=KrustySalt;126600]He failed to say what vessel he’s looking to get on. Tugs are way different then OSVs which are way different then crew boats…[/QUOTE]
Thanks for all the answers. I’m looking to get hired as a QMED electrician on the west coast after schooling at SIU in Maryland. Electricians seem to be in high demand. It would be an OSV I assume.
[QUOTE=skulkingrat;126627]Thanks for all the answers. I’m looking to get hired as a QMED electrician on the west coast after schooling at SIU in Maryland. Electricians seem to be in high demand. It would be an OSV I assume.[/QUOTE]
In that case, you’re almost certainly looking at deep sea ships, most probably container ships if you manage to get out as an electrician. At first you’ll probably be getting relief jobs, but even those can run over 60 days. Normally, deep sea, all crew get their own rooms, and unless you’re on an old ship, you’ll have your own head. Deep sea ships have plenty of fresh water, so showers wouldn’t be limited in any way.
As far as work hours, SIU electricians are nominally dayworkers, but there will be plenty of times where you’ll be required to work odd hours. You can get eight hours of sleep many nights, but not always–remember that, going to sea, working odd hours is a job hazard.
Rooms can range from the spartan bed and desk setup, to rooms with refrigerators and satellite television. Others above have recommended getting foam mattress toppers, and I second that, though they can be a pain to pack.
Deep sea ships have a dedicated steward department, so you won’t have to worry about cooking your own meals or doing your own dishes. Every ship I’ve ever been on allows eating meals in your own private room, but as others have pointed out, it’s not the best idea to leave dirty dishes or old food in your room–the obvious sanitary rules apply.
Shipboard noises are something you’ll just have to get used to. Older ships tend to not have good noise insulation–both from machinery noises, and random rattles where things just don’t fit together quite so well–while newer ones are better insulated. In my mind, the biggest noise hazards are loud shipmates, but fortunately they’re comparatively rare.
Hopefully this helps out.
[QUOTE=awulfclark;126628]In that case, you’re almost certainly looking at deep sea ships, most probably container ships if you manage to get out as an electrician. At first you’ll probably be getting relief jobs, but even those can run over 60 days. Normally, deep sea, all crew get their own rooms, and unless you’re on an old ship, you’ll have your own head. Deep sea ships have plenty of fresh water, so showers wouldn’t be limited in any way.
As far as work hours, SIU electricians are nominally dayworkers, but there will be plenty of times where you’ll be required to work odd hours. You can get eight hours of sleep many nights, but not always–remember that, going to sea, working odd hours is a job hazard.
Rooms can range from the spartan bed and desk setup, to rooms with refrigerators and satellite television. Others above have recommended getting foam mattress toppers, and I second that, though they can be a pain to pack.
Deep sea ships have a dedicated steward department, so you won’t have to worry about cooking your own meals or doing your own dishes. Every ship I’ve ever been on allows eating meals in your own private room, but as others have pointed out, it’s not the best idea to leave dirty dishes or old food in your room–the obvious sanitary rules apply.
Shipboard noises are something you’ll just have to get used to. Older ships tend to not have good noise insulation–both from machinery noises, and random rattles where things just don’t fit together quite so well–while newer ones are better insulated. In my mind, the biggest noise hazards are loud shipmates, but fortunately they’re comparatively rare.
Hopefully this helps out.[/QUOTE]
Thanks for this informative post. I’m going to get refrigeration qualified too, apparently they are high demand too. Basically as many QMED qualifications as I can get.
[QUOTE=“skulkingrat;126629”]
Thanks for this informative post. I’m going to get refrigeration qualified too, apparently they are high demand too. Basically as many QMED qualifications as I can get.[/QUOTE]
Good call, because as an SIU electrician you’ll be spending a lot of time troubleshooting and fixing reefer containers.
[QUOTE=awulfclark;126631]Good call, because as an SIU electrician you’ll be spending a lot of time troubleshooting and fixing reefer containers.[/QUOTE]
Did you happen to work as an SIU electrician or reefer? If so, do you recommend it to start out? Does there seem to be a high demand for these positions with the SIU? I’ve been told some guys walk out of school into some very well paying jobs going this route.
Perhaps an electrician/reefer assignment with MFOW would be a wiser choice.
I am a QMED junior and electr. Don’t work for the agency I mentioned in my previous post. Day rate is 118 bucks. I’m leaving. Not enough money.
[QUOTE=catherder;126645]Day rate is 118 bucks. I’m leaving. Not enough money.[/QUOTE]
Are you serious?
It is easy to understand why!
I see you’ve gotten a lot of answers to your questions but allow me to impart some advice.
- Don’t expect the ship/boat to have anything you want. Bring your own soap, shampoo, qtips, towel and laundry soap if you’re allergic to tide.
- The quarters might suck and make noises but after a watch where you’ve been hard at work, you’ll fall asleep just the same.
- The IMO passed a resolution that requires you to have 10 hours of rest each day, one of which must be no less than 6 hours. If you aren’t getting this, someone is pencil whipping paperwork. Don’t put up with it. Things that concern the safety of the vessel are exempt from this rule, though.
- Keep your eyes open, mouth shut. Good luck
i wish you the best of luck and good effort on your part.dont get discouraged as alot of being a good electrician is practical experience.theres electricians and then theres good electricians.
[QUOTE=water;126648]Are you serious?
It is easy to understand why![/QUOTE]
I screwed up, it’s a whopping 121.33 per day. as per the 2010 pay scale. I think we get a what, 1 percent raise this Jan.
I can’t afford this much longer, especially since I am paying for my own training. I have enough time (vestment) for an annuity so I plan to buy back my military time, then go.
Oh, well.
[QUOTE=catherder;126709]I screwed up, it’s a whopping 121.33 per day. as per the 2010 pay scale. I think we get a what, 1 percent raise this Jan.
I can’t afford this much longer, especially since I am paying for my own training. I have enough time (vestment) for an annuity so I plan to buy back my military time, then go.
Oh, well.[/QUOTE]
Good luck to you!