You can’t until you have some posting history.
I’d say rather careful analysis that becomes ingrained over time. But I’m only a WAFI so take anything I say with two grains of salt.
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Send an email to cookingatsea@outlook.com with your contact info
Most of the Bristol Bay salmon gillnet fleet is stored in Alaska. Walking the docks in Alaska is not practical. Find those jobs by meeting people in Washington on the docks, at the gear shops, etc. you will meet people on the dock in Seattle who fish Bristol Bay, or run tenders.
Contacting the fish plants that operate in Bristol Bay, such as Trident and Icicle, would be a good idea.
Facebook might be a good resource.
If you went to high school or college in Western Washington, you undoubtedly know guys who are fishing in Alaska.
If you are a good cook, or can become a good cook, make sure you tell everyone. That would be a big advantage. If you play any sports make sure to tell them that too. If you play a musical instrument well, mention that. If you speak a foreign language mention that.
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Yeah I live roughly 20-30 minutes from Seattle so I guess I should be able to find somebody. Strangely, I don’t know anyone that does fishing in Alaska. I can’t cook unfortunately. I did boxing back in high school for 2 years, and back when i was in elementary-middle school, I went to a musical school to play a trumpet))) I also speak Russian and Ukrainian.
There are a bunch of “old believer” Russian (and Russian speaking) fisherman based near Homer, Alaska. You will find numerous fishermen of Russian extraction around Puget Sound and in Alaska. That could be a good door opener.
I prefer wrestlers as deckhands, but boxing sounds good too. At least they’ll know right away that you’re not a whussy.
I prefer guys who play stringed instruments (good with their hands, and motions somewhat similar to net mending), probably there are other guys who prefer horn players.
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Yeah wrestler have very strong back muscles so no surprise you’d prefer them)) What do you mean by “old believer?” And how do I get a hold of them? Thanks
The Old Believers are a famous schism from the Russian Orthodox Church. Happened around 1660. They do not have a priesthood because they had the intellectual rigor to face up to losing “apostolic succession” when they parted ways with the Russian church.
Haven’t had too many wrestlers onboard,but the few I did have worked out quite well. Solid work ethic, and learn quick. Although it doesn’t apply to this post, I welcomed former fisherman/crabbers of all types from any geographical area. . Especially if they had all their fingers and toes. They knew their way around the boat.
I agree that commercial fishing is great training for mariners. Working on a tugboat is like a pleasure cruise for a fisherman.
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A friend of mine once worked for a Russian immigrant Seattle boat owner named (something like) Alex Kashogen (spelling?)
If you do a little internet research I think you can find Fishermen who are of Russian, and perhaps Ukrainian, extraction.
If you google
‘old believers Homer, Alaska” you will find info about them. I don’t know if they hire anyone outside their community, but you could ask. There are probably some fishermen who grew up as old believers, but left the sect and hire outsiders.
I think you may be a good candidate for a salmon boat. If you put some effort into it, you will find fishing jobs. The Russian and Ukrainian speaking, boxing, trumpet, etc. attributes are not necessary, and may not be of any interest to most boat owners. On the other hand, one of those things might open a door, or spark some interest. Use what you’ve got.
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The fish plants and fish processor vessels hire a lot of Eastern Europeans so speaking Russian and Ukrainian is likely a big advantage.
Man those new user restrictions are hella annoying. Tbh I would rather not mess with some old mysterious community of Russians😂 it sounds like you guys are describing the orthodox Christians, which is the major religion in Russian and isn’t a cult at all. Also the cticrew.com thing that freightman posted seemed kind of interesting. Can you thing of any advantages or disadvantages it has over fishing? Sounds like I’ll have to spend a lot of time on training, making pennies before I go on an actually shop. In another forum someone said that working on those freight ships, you’ll be working your ass off while making pathetic money. Is that true?This might not sounds nice, but I’m mainly in this for the money and adventure, not building a carreer, but who knows, maybe I’ll like it and stay in Alaska:)
The major Orthodox presence in Alaska is the OCA (Orthodox Church in America) which was a Moscow dependent until granted autocephaly in IIRC 1970. I believe (I used to know this and am ashamed that I don’t still) it celebrates under the New Calendar, but I’ve had more experience with the Greek tradition under the Old Calendar (which Moscow also keeps but the main Church of Greece no longer does since the 1920s).
Old Believers separated themselves from Moscow in the seventeenth century, and like various other more recent schisms consider themselves the remnant of Orthodoxy. They do not recognize Moscow as Orthodox. They are as you would imagine extremely conservative and I would suspect rather clannish, but I would hardly call them a cult in the modern sense.
yeah ok that makes more sense, so they’re not just orthodox. Well yeah, if they’re like the only group with that faith, no surprise that they’re clannish lol.
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At CTI, an entry level seaman makes, without MMC of any kind, $190/day to start off. Voyages of 24 days. Training in Seattle is paid $15.75/hour.
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Yeah that actually doesn’t sound bad at all. So how long does the training last? The website is a little confusing. You guys have no idea how helpful you are=)
and it also sounds like the job is a lot easier than that of a fisherman, with a similar pay
The training last 5 to 12 days, depending on how quickly you learn.
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Ok, and isn’t there also the part where you have to sail a boat with no motor and navigate without GPS? Pretty much 19th century survival?