I’ve been working offshore for years, and soon will begin study for my 1600 ton. It would be nice to get out of LA and Texas for a while. What’s next? International?
To work an equal time schedule will I need to go international?
Thanks,
Curt (200 ton mate)
hey buddy
get a different handle instead of your name, might want to try your old company that goes to Brazil, Guam, chili, Nigeria, also a dpo operator on a rig 30/30 for most,
after a 1600 ton you could consider a 3rd mate. you would most likely get one with a tonnage limitation, but that could open more doors, container ships, MSC military division, a friend of mine does that and travels all over the world with them, your government clearance that you got at your last employer will help you out, can always go back to private yachting as a captain for a couple of years, it will pick up again soon, get to travel to all the nice places,
deckhand to 1600 ton master, not to bad
you know who this is:D:D:D:D
this could be you mister getz, any takers in going back,don’t you just love private yachting, talk about being frustrated, imagine being the captain having the owners aboard when this happened
A push boat captain told me one time never to have a cargo that could talk… :~)
You get what you pay for…If you buy a mega-yacht you can afford a professional crew!
I did a yacht delivery a couple of months ago from Baja to Florida.
Captain told me he had the following rules:
Totally weird experience. I think that if we had lost our ECDIS, I would have seen the Captain reenact that scene from A Bug’s Life where a leaf falls in front of an ant and he screams, “I’M LOST!!!”.
I haven;t seen any international work except MSC and the drillers. Go for the drillers, at least they pay and you will get to go home on schedule!
I have been trying to find decent work overseas for the last couple of years and no luck yet. Either they don’t pay squat and loooong tours or they’re drillers so extremely booooring!
[QUOTE=Capt. Fran;13397]I did a yacht delivery a couple of months ago from Baja to Florida.
Captain told me he had the following rules:
Totally weird experience. I think that if we had lost our ECDIS, I would have seen the Captain reenact that scene from A Bug’s Life where a leaf falls in front of an ant and he screams, “I’M LOST!!!”.[/QUOTE]
captain Fran, If you ever want a good laugh, go to the fort lauderdale boat show when all the boats are coming in, never saw so many captain yelling and screaming at there crew to do this and do this… I spent over a dozen years in yachting in various positions, never as a captain. I hate to say this but I have seen more mistakes that cost millions of dollars of damage do to poor navigation and very poor professional, I found most captain just did not have the experience that is needed to safely run a vessel, that is why I came to commercial, I sleep better at night for one thing. don’t get me wrong, I worked for some VERY good captain who were in yachting because they loved it, I learned from these captain,l, but when you see what I have seen, first hand it makes you wonder how they keep a job,
Are there any 500-1600 ton master/mates that can comment?
JP
what do you mean by drillers???
if you can give a little more detailed information for me
Mr. 100 Ton- What he means by drillers is drilling vessels, MODU’s, Drillships, etc.
Curtgetz- If you want an equal time rotation try GOL Gulf Offshore Logistics, Some ATB companies work equal time, Bouchard, K-Sea, etc. Dynamic Positioning Operators on drilling rigs all work equal time. Working equal time overseas will be hard to find other than drilling rigs. I think Seacor works equal time. Tidewater I think works equal time. I think Trico works equal time. Some vessels at Chouest work equal time, but they are not going to promise you that schedule.
curtgetz,
been on the hunt for work for about a month now…nothing good has been offered up for overseas work so far…unless you consider 90/30 in nigeria or angola viable…employers want seasoned masters at bargain day rates for most positions…been there-done that-threw away that particular T-shirt!
I’m a 1600 ton Oceans Master. I’m working equal time these days. For every day I’m on the beach, I spend another not being on a boat.
Times are a bit tough right now. As soon as I can’t afford to be picky anymore, I’ll be taking whatever I can get. But I hate the 2 for 1 GOM schedules.
[QUOTE=Mr 100-ton;13420]captain Fran, If you ever want a good laugh, go to the fort lauderdale boat show when all the boats are coming in, never saw so many captain yelling and screaming at there crew to do this and do this… ,[/QUOTE]
Mr. 100, yep, totally could see that. The delivery was more of a favor for a friend than something that I want to keep doing.
And I want to make sure that any yacht captains out there understand that I wasn’t painting with a broad brush. I know there are lots of fine mariners in that part of the industry.
As a matter of fact, the Chief Mate on the yacht was actually a super competent young woman, who I trusted a hellavu lot more than the old bearded guy with all the stripes.
[QUOTE=curtgetz;13421]Are there any 500-1600 ton master/mates that can comment?[/QUOTE]
I’m a 500 Master / 1600 Mate in the process of losing my mind as I study to upgrade to 1600 Master / 3rd Mate (taking the exams next week).
I’m upgrading to increase my options. I don’t have a towing endorsement, so I’m a bit SOL in that industry. I spent a good chunk of my life either working equal time on research ships, or 2mos on/ 1 mos off on passenger ships.
My family and my blood pressure prefer equal time. My checkbook and retirement plan prefer 2 on / 1 off.
Thanks all for the advice thus far. What a great site! I’ve found the location of my peers!!! Curt
I think they just came out with the new cross over requirements 1600Master to Master of Towing. Does anyone know about that? I think I read like 6 days as apprentice Mate and you got it, or you can exam. I didn’t see details.
I have 1600T Master (Oceans) and currently working equal time in the GOM. Next year I’m switching to 1 for 2 (14 and 28) and I’m pretty excited about that.
Things are slow, but people are still hiring. My boss has weeded out some undesireables we had and replaced them. All positions, but a lot of ABs. We can afford to be picky now, so why settle for some tattooed white trash that shows up with clothes that smell like smoke?
We have mostly hawsepiper deck officers and seem have a moderate preference for them. Our engineers are also mostly hawsepipers, but we have a strong preference for academy engineers, especially Maine Maritime. My own engineer is from from Maine Maritime.
At this point if you want in the business you should show up willing to sail as AB. If you’re any good you’ll move up as soon as something is available. If you’re a lazy slob then don’t bother with this plan. But the willingness to work is important. We don’t need “wheelhouse” captains - we already have plenty of those.
As for overseas, as the US fleet utilization falls, boats will start going overseas. We’ve bid on some special purpose delivery work (Charleston to the Bahamas and such) as well as overseas work. Tidewater and Secor have a lot of overseas work. They have both let people go in the Gulf, but if you want to work in Africa, you should be able to find something.
Our business should pick up after November (2010) but it will be rough until then. There are also some tug jobs in the NW US. These are the times for which you save a year’s salary to get through.
Good luck, fair winds, best wishes…
-dennis