Hey guys! Wanted to take a poll, who would rather go offshore and sail compared to the people that would rather stay inland.
Let me know and your reasons why!
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Offshore will be my 1st option however money talksâŚ
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Inland. More jobs.
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Would rather run the boat around myself inland than be a sea-buoy mate and watch every Tom, Dick and Harry but me handle my own vesselâŚ
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Trained on the North Sea and English Channel (1972), Now, after 29 years on the Great Lakes (1990), heading home to Pillsbury Sound in the Virgin Islands this month⌠finally.
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Inland. Iâve had enough adventures. Its nice having reliable crew changes and cell service.
I was doing 14/14 on a ship assist boat. Of course the money wasnât as good as an offshore chief but it was nice and convenient. Quality of life wise.
âŚand yet again i was laid off, first one this company had in a couple decades, lucky me. So back offshore i went.
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When I was sailing deep sea, I thought sailing inland would be a boring pain in the ass. When I faced the choice of going back out for a long hitch or getting served with divorce papers, I got an inland job.
Best decision I ever made. I found that I enjoyed the variety of scenery, the hands on maneuvering and sleeping in my own bed most nights with a soft female.
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What company did you get laid off from?
Always wanted to sail offshore. Mostly for the travel. I also enjoy the long passages with nothing around but clean blue water. Iâve been sailing (mostly offshore) for decades, not able to sail inland anymore since USCG changed the rules. I would have to start all over again from the bottom. Not willing to do that anymore.
I HATE what theyâve been doing to restrict us to these tiny little boxes. I used to be able to sail deep sea tankers when things got slow in the oilfield, or tugs inland. No more towing endorsement since they changed the license from âfreight & towingâ, no more tankers since I havenât worked on tankers in the last 5 years. Now since theyâve decided to make DP renewable too, I canât risk doing anything but DP or Iâll lose that option too. Canât do anything different anymore without spending time and money in more mostly useless on shore âtrainingâ. And almost impossible to get sea time on specific types of vessels. (without already having the endorsement, no company wants you onboard).
There is NOT that much difference between different types of vessels where you need any kind of training that canât be done on board once you get there. Thatâs how it was always done in the past. It worked then, it absolutely still does work now. No matter what the IMO, USCG, training centers, etc will say.
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I 100% agree. Unfortunately they now limit you on what you can do once you picked your path. Youâd basically have to start all over (like you said). Itâs seriously a bummer for people that want to make the switch visa versa.
Itâs much more than a bummer. It traps you into one very small sector of the industry. Which means, when one sector goes into a slump (like the offshore oil sector has been for the last 4-5 years) you can no longer make the switch to do something else and still keep your credentials. You wind up either going ashore and completely giving up on the entire maritime industry, or wasting your years of experience and the license youâve earned to start over at the bottom in another sector where all but a few basic things are old hat.
I believe this was done by behest of the companies. Trap you into one little box so youâre stuck in whatever crappy job they want to offer. But Iâm just a crazy conspiracy theorist. 
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I think itâs more likely that itâs the result of big government wanting to control maritime training and hawsepipers and free spirits being kept out of the loop is just collateral damage.
Thatâs my conspiracy theory.
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you may be right, big government wants to control everything, especially free spirits
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Both, all of it! I started on inland pushboats on the lower Mississippi & ICW & wouldnât trade that experience for anything. Since then, Iâve worked on research vessels, harbor tugs, near coastal wire boats, ATBs, seismic vessels, a cargo ship, AHTSâs, OSVâs, well stimulation & countless short-term deliveries of all types of vessels offshore & inland. I even helped a friend deliver a 60â yatch for a month. Iâve traveled to 6 continents but also worked on a tug & barge that didnât leave a Chesapeake Bay anchorage for nearly a year. Engineers donât have the industry/vessel specific restrictions that the deck has as mentioned above & thank God for that. I know I wouldnât have enjoyed my career as much if I was working the same type of pushboat, looking at the same barges that I left 22 years ago. I donât have a preference, as long as itâs interesting to me & pays okay.
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after a month or so at sea I resented having only E-mail, the same meals and even seeing the same faces.
Having a shore side job seemed a great idea but you also spend more money and you have more âissuesâ ⌠⌠I guess Iâd still stick with blue water despite it all. The ports of call have some variety!!
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Inland, NC. The days of sleeping in airports, launch, van, all the drama is long past. The company is only concerned that the crew getting ON makes it. We tried to go 3-3 in the GOM when we where down there, it was 13/1, I packed it in after that.
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That is absolutely amazing, the amount of experience you have had. Must of been a serious roller coaster but sounds like a fun and adventurous one!
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