In my 20 years of sailing all facets of the industry, you were one of the best ABs I had the pleasure of sailing with Brian.
The subject was have you left the industry and why. I worked for many companies good and not so good, Paid my dues… What most mariners should do is pay themselves first., then buy that new truck. Many don’t do that. Happily retired from a great job, and am not rich, but am not broke, My bride wakes up to watch “The Price is Right” most mornings. We pick our vacations at times. How effing silly is that.
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I’ve thought about leaving the industry after working on vessels where the Captains and/or Chief Mates had insufficient or irrelevant experience for their rank.
When you get Captains and Chief Mates who don’t know how to do their job you get a lot of the ‘slopey shoulder’ phenomenon, where they try and absolve themselves of blame by ‘passing the buck’ and shifting their responsibilities onto the to junior ranks, so when things go wrong the person in the junior rank will be blamed and management rank will be absolved of blame.
I’ve found it brilliant working on vessels where you have a Captain that has plenty of relevant experience, but then it is a disaster when you work on one when there is a useless Captain. It is a really difficult situation when working on a vessel with a useless Captain because companies usually always side with them regardless of the situation.
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What kind of anti-white bigotry did you experience?
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That sounds like you found happiness my good man. That sounds like a great life.
Tell me more about the bully/sociopath Officers and Captains you have experienced.
I have experienced the same and learned to understand that these types of people were only suffering because they were not willing to confront the and let go of the pain and abuse others inflicted on them So instead of playing the victim to them, I came in at a higher level and learned to find empathy for the shit they went through. And because I did not give them the satisfaction of the normal anticipated response of getting angry back or going on the defense, they ended up changing their ways. It’s called growing your emotional intelligence or emotional quotient. I hope that helps you out.
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I was lucky sir.Had some good mentors whom I will never forget. Do the same for your crew.They will look later on and thank you down the road for having their back. I know I enjoy the calls from my retired pals who are still alive. A few are still working, but set up quite well. I never worried about a spiked coffee. Left at age 48. No regrets, but do miss a few of my pals.
That’s not going to happen.
But this thread is a good place for you to gather info for your kumbaya project.
I started considering leaving the Industry after getting led go after the oil crash of 2014/15. I bounced around other parts of our industry until I found a shore side position in my town. I signed off my last ship May 2017. I worked in electronic navigation for 2 years. Then I worked in operations for my company for 2 years. I have recently transferred to a 100% non-maritime related position and it’s really enjoyable to learn something new and 1st non-martime related job in 20 years…
Every mariner that sailed for a bit has a Top 5 and Worst 5… I have a Captain that I made a point of visiting when I visit my family on the East Coast. My wife and kids know that he had a hand in shaping me into the man, husband and father that I am today. Another Capt when he was my C/M, helped me process events after a major fire 
on my first ship (Hell of a summer that 2001)
There is a Canadian and an English man that wouldn’t let you pee on to put them out if they were on fire, and if they were drowning that I would toss them a cinder block.
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Had a non cancerous brain tumor removed at the same time COVID started happening here and chose to retire in a timely manner.
I do miss sailing (Hawsepipe to Unlimited Master),
but I am not going to miss seeing the Oil Patch dismantlement in the coming years.
Stay well and stay safe.
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I think about leaving:
Every time I have to work in April and miss the trout opener, every time I work in May and miss turkey season, every time I work through September and miss early goose and teal, the grouse opener, and the END of trout season, every time I work in October and miss the duck opener north to south (1st, 2nd, and 3rd weekends), the pheasant opener on the 20th, working in November and missing flight ducks riding down the cold fronts, and December missing the end of duck season.
Every damn day I think about my girlfriend and dog getting out to chase birds and I am stuck on a boat…
This work thing really cramps having fun.
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After 25+ yrs. Blue water, OF, Ocean tugs, I’m fed up with the mollycoddling and pandering to lazy worthless hands because god forbid you say anything to them anymore and they get butthurt and offended. New hire QMED onboard, supposedly came over from OF, is 36 yrs old, claims to have almost 20 yrs. offshore, and is the most worthless, useless, POS I have EVER sailed with. I’ve tried to be reasonable and tolerant, but if I have to take you and lead you by the hand every f-ing day on even the most menial task, I’ve got no use for you. Both C/Es, the A/E, and Capt. are aware of the BS, and nothing is done about it, because of the touchy-feely new age crap that has become the predominate management style. Maybe that works in some industries, but it has no place offshore. This is quasi military and it should be run as such. And to whoever the C/Es are, that are letting f**ktards like this keep a job, remain offshore, what was your problem child is just a problem for somebody else now. You should have sent this twat back to whatever French fry machine, or Jiffy lube he came from a long time ago!
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I’ve gone ashore and come back several times. I tend to go where the money and opportunity is. Sometimes I’m sick of it, but other times I miss it. Local and company culture count too. It would take big money to get me to work in the Gulf, and even then I probably wouldn’t stay very long.
Goodness, it sounds like you have a bad employee and poor management support.
It happens. Happened to all of us at some point but it’s not worth having a stroke over. Hope you feel better soon.
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