I am currently working for the Washington State Ferries as an OS, and due to a lack of seniority will most likely be laid off at the end of September. I should be called back to work around the first of April next year. I am happy working for WSF and want stick with them. I am not the kind of guy who can handle sitting around bored on unemployment. Plus…I really want to continue building seatime for my AB limited. I currently hold an AB special w/ lifeboatman endorsement. I am looking for any advice you guys might be able to provide as far as companies that run boats more than 100 tons that don’t mind taking an AB special or OS on for 6 months in the winter. I’m fine with having little to no time off or going wherever they would want me. Need to get my AB upgraded to a Limited as quick as possible so I can advance with WSF! I have about 550 total sea service days from gillnetting in Cook Inlet, sailing my 37ft sailboat and working for WSF. By September it will be close to 600, with about 100 of those being over 100t. Thanks for any advice!
I can’t think of any company that would want to invest time and money (physical, drug screen. MRI, training, etc) in an employee that will only be there for 6 months.
I don’t know how SIU works, but it seems to me a good place to go to sea for a few months during your downtime. Keep your union membership active and you could do it again next winter.
How do you pass time working on them then as an OS? You touch like one line at tie up at night if your lucky.
Sorry I had too… Former WSF employee don’t try and argue with me either!
I always felt sorry for guys like you who actually have some sea time (any kind) even a dingy or rowboat. That get bumped in seniority to a fat ass toll both worker with the ink still wet on there z card. Who can’t even tie there own shoe. This is for another post though hah best of luck with you grind it out if its for you.
The worst part about the PNW for you is that our location is hot for summer seasonal work and not much winter work unless you go crabbing or something.
Coastal Transportation might take someone for a couple trips. There’s a old thread here somewhere.
[QUOTE=Tacktician;114906] I’m fine with having little to no time off or going wherever they would want me.[/QUOTE]
Icebreakers?
[QUOTE=Kennebec Captain;114938]Coastal Transportation might take someone for a couple trips. There’s a old thread here somewhere.[/QUOTE]
They may be my best option at this point. I know I’ve seen them even posting ads on craigslist for ABs and deckhands during the winter. Trying to see what else might be out there though. I’d do it, but working in a -20 degree fish hold in the Bering Sea in January…Brrrrr!!! Haha!
You can always bum it on the Key West schooners for the winter, certainly not the best pay but it’s still work, they’ll keep you plenty busy and it could be the most fun you’ll ever have.
[QUOTE=PaddyWest2012;114969]You can always bum it on the Key West schooners for the winter, certainly not the best pay but it’s still work, they’ll keep you plenty busy and it could be the most fun you’ll ever have.[/QUOTE]
Hmmm…tell me more about this. Going South for the winter would certainly be preferable to going North! I’m not terribly worried about the pay as long as I make enough to cover some basic bills and expenses. I’m in the somewhat rare (these days) situation of having no debt and no kids.
[QUOTE=PaddyWest2012;114969]You can always bum it on the Key West schooners for the winter, certainly not the best pay but it’s still work, they’ll keep you plenty busy and it could be the most fun you’ll ever have.[/QUOTE]
Tell me more about this. It sure would be nicer to go South than North this winter. I’m not too concerned with making a ton of money if I can get good seatime. I’m in the somewhat rare (these days) situation of being debt free and not having kids.
There are about a dozen or so sailing charter vessels in Key West ranging in size from ~50’ to ~150’. They do day sails, booze cruises, sunset cruises, snorkeling/scuba cruises, and so on… The work is light and very fun, come on and off the dock, raise the sails, sometimes with the help of the passengers, chit chat, entertain, strike sail, pick up/take out the trash, wash down/scrub down, a little light sanding and painting when you can find the time and the weather.
Googling “Key West Schooners” should reveal about what ever you need to know. Some names to consider are “Wolf”, “Hindu”, “Western Union”, “Appledore”, “Freedom”, but there are many more. They all have websites as well as Facebook pages so use every resource you can to get in contact with them. Call everyone, twice, and then call them again until you get hired. Whatever anyone tells you they are ALWAYS looking for deckhands, don’t give in to pessimism.
Many of these boats are live-aboards so that’s a nice plus when you’re getting paid comparatively little. If you can afford the trip I recommend just going down there sometime in the fall and walking around the docks asking who’s looking for work. Don’t forget to ask around the bars while you’re there 
Tourist season starts getting into full swing down there around Columbus Day so use that as a benchmark.
Best of luck to you, happy sails!
Let me ask you, PaddyWest, how did you get a job on those schooners you think are always hiring?
Well it seems like a long time ago now but if memory serves it was by speaking to their proprietors in a polite, adult manner and asking them for a job. Which method did you use?
Those jobs are hard to come by, and it’s not right to advise someone to trek all the way to Key West to get a job on a schooner like it’s the easiest thing in the world. Unless you’re right there when someone quits, or are best friends with crew who tell you when someone has quit, or you know the captain personally and he remembers you’re looking for a job when he needs someone, it’s pretty impossible. I know crew who work for tips only, and there are only a few deckhands per schooner - a handful for the largest, two for the smallest. Pretty slim pickings. Times have changed if your experience was different. Unless you’re 20 years old and blonde and then one of the giant party catamaran companies might hire you… 
What I’m saying is, all the “polite, adult manner” in the world isn’t going to help you if there are no openings in a tight market.
It would be a new phenomenon indeed if there was no one looking for a spare schooner bum.