Another boat had a C/M on it that bitched every time there was no cold bottled water. Well I caught the AB/T refilling old water bottles and gluing the tops back on so they would click when opened just like a new one. This C/M drank water like this all trip and never knew it :rolleyes:. I was really careful to stay on the good side of that AB/T, ;)[/QUOTE]
I’ve had a captain tell me to refill the Brita pitcher when be used the last of it and he wasn’t on watch. I wonder how many people have fucked with him
[QUOTE=cmakin;96435]In the years that I was on an ATB as Chief, I really only had one Captain that I really didn’t get along with, and that was only sporadically. Thing is, he really had (or still has, I believe that he is still sailing) some serious mental issues. He will remain nameless, but geez, what a piece of work. Of course, this was back when there weren’t that many ATBs working.[/QUOTE]
Had a captain at MSC who fucked with the 4-8 2nd mate every day. The captain woke up one morning Red-Handed into his room. I think the mate and AB on the 4-8 watch applied redhand over his door knob and door jamb. The captain could not pull his door in to open it. I awoke that morning to the bosn grinding the old man out his room. My room was on the same level as the capt. I liked the captain as he didn’t mess with the engineers and he was an excellent ship handler.
Hate to see all the stories of food being messed with, some captains might have it coming but some deckhands get called out on bad behavior or laziness , even insubordination and start messing with food or just imply that they could then the guy upstairs has 6 hours to think what kind of sandwich he wants to make.
the engineer who does the boiler testing is the one you really don’t want to f with. One to two drops of phenolphthalein will keep you on the crapper all day. And you can’t see the pink in coffee…
Some chief on the Overseas Ohio piped the MSD vent into the cargo control room because he hated the mates on the ship. The captain was checking the OT and the pumpmans ot said piping the sewage tank vent into the cargo control room. The chief and 1st lost their papers for a bit because of that. That is why I stick to greasing the mates showers. Just kidding. I did put a cardboard blank in a mates room a/c vent line because he was an asshole. Another guy got a flange or 2 in his bags going home just to get him more exercise.
[QUOTE=Too bad steam is gone;97439]Some chief on the Overseas Ohio piped the MSD vent into the cargo control room because he hated the mates on the ship. The captain was checking the OT and the pumpmans ot said piping the sewage tank vent into the cargo control room. The chief and 1st lost their papers for a bit because of that. That is why I stick to greasing the mates showers. Just kidding. I did put a cardboard blank in a mates room a/c vent line because he was an asshole. Another guy got a flange or 2 in his bags going home just to get him more exercise.[/QUOTE]
they always take engineers for granted until they realize how much it sucks to sweat in the dark.
[QUOTE=catherder;97444]they always take engineers for granted until they realize how much it sucks to sweat in the dark.[/QUOTE]
It seems like this is saying that all masters and mates have no appreciation for the importance of reliable operation of the equipment required to run the vessel. In my experience that is not true.
My view is if the C/E was deliberately using company resources and his authority as C/E to sabotage operations,he should be fired ASAP.
K.C.
Also - If the C/E is having trouble with the Capt he should report that to the company.
[QUOTE=catherder;97444]they always take engineers for granted until they realize how much it sucks to sweat in the dark.[/QUOTE]
Have times changed? I don’t know, it’s been a decade since I last sailed. I have an impressive amount of time sailing as an engineer, as I look back the relationship between the deck and engine was one of mutual respect. Yes, there were few exceptions but it was not the rule. I do not approve of any sabotage no matter how small. It most certainly will make a bad situation much worse.
Well, One tug that I worked on years ago only had two ventilators. The intakes for them ran right down the bulkhead for the Captain and Mate’s rooms. They were set up where they would draw a vacuum in the rooms and draw fresh air in through the Portholes. The Captain on the other crew was not liked very much by Anyone especially the Chief also this guy was not known for having the best Hygiene,. These blowers were set up so you could reverse them so they would exhaust. We had just crew changed (my second tour there) when my Captain, who was one of the nicest and best boat handler that I have worked with, asked me to check the blowers as his was not “sucking” enough. Well sure enough it was set on exhaust! My relief was pumping all of the hot air from the E.R. right into the Captains room. My Skipper thought it was great and asked me to make sure that I “switched” it back on crew change, which I always did. I do not think that the other Captain ever caught on.
[QUOTE=Tugs;97511]Well, One tug that I worked on years ago only had two ventilators. The intakes for them ran right down the bulkhead for the Captain and Mate’s rooms. They were set up where they would draw a vacuum in the rooms and draw fresh air in through the Portholes. The Captain on the other crew was not liked very much by Anyone especially the Chief also this guy was not known for having the best Hygiene,. These blowers were set up so you could reverse them so they would exhaust. We had just crew changed (my second tour there) when my Captain, who was one of the nicest and best boat handler that I have worked with, asked me to check the blowers as his was not “sucking” enough. Well sure enough it was set on exhaust! My relief was pumping all of the hot air from the E.R. right into the Captains room. My Skipper thought it was great and asked me to make sure that I “switched” it back on crew change, which I always did. I do not think that the other Captain ever caught on.[/QUOTE]
Oh, man. I guess I used up all of my “Likes”. Tugs do have a far different crew dymanic than their larger bretheren. On a tug, the pay is lower, work is harder and we seemed to like it that way. As I stated in another thread, most of the Captians that I sailed with were pretty good. One inparticular stands out as a maniac, but I am pretty certain that he had some larger mental issues. Oh, and a complete lack of understanding when it came to mechanics. We weren’t at each other’s throats all of the time, though. That would not be workable. Sometimes you just gotta suck it up. I did get a bit pissed at him when he damn near killed/crippled the port engineer and myself, though.
I think all the time one has to contemplate out at sea is the reason seamen are prone to pulling pranks. That chief with MSD piping was one of the biggest assholes out on the seas at that time. I knew a good 2nd engineer who quit after only 2 days with that psycho chief and his sidekick 1st.
[QUOTE=cmakin;97517]Oh, man. I guess I used up all of my “Likes”. Tugs do have a far different crew dymanic than their larger bretheren. On a tug, the pay is lower, work is harder and we seemed to like it that way. As I stated in another thread, most of the Captians that I sailed with were pretty good. One inparticular stands out as a maniac, but I am pretty certain that he had some larger mental issues. Oh, and a complete lack of understanding when it came to mechanics. We weren’t at each other’s throats all of the time, though. That would not be workable. Sometimes you just gotta suck it up. I did get a bit pissed at him when he damn near killed/crippled the port engineer and myself, though.[/QUOTE]
Thanks cmakin. You are correct life on a Tug is very different than on Ships. I remember one time while I was going through Fire Fighting at MSC’s School in New Jersey and had one of the instructors tell us to just tie the tug up to a Tree and wait for shore side fire fighters to come to our rescue. A lot of the MSC guys thought that was really funny until I asked where to find a tree in the middle of the GOM as we had just came back from Guatemala.
I have to say that most of the Captains were pretty easy to work with as long as the work got done. I will be the first one to admit that some of the problems might have come from me. As I like to say, “I used to have a Learning Disability. Shut Up and Stand Up always meant to same thing” and I have the nose to show for it.
[QUOTE=capbubba;96456]Hate to see all the stories of food being messed with, some captains might have it coming but some deckhands get called out on bad behavior or laziness , even insubordination and start messing with food or just imply that they could then the guy upstairs has 6 hours to think what kind of sandwich he wants to make.[/QUOTE]
I agree. Why would a responsible person with a legitimate beef do anything like this? If you have a problem with the captain tell the company. If you don’t want to do that, go elsewhere.
For one thing pulling various stunts undermines trust. A ship without trust between senior officers is not going to do well under stress such as emergency.
For another, what kind of person sneaks around doing this stuff? Are they going to stand up and take responsibly in the event of an incident? Say fatigue or sickness? No, of course not, they are going to slink away.
I’d put my job on the line before I would knowingly let this sort of thing go on.
K.C.
Also - as far as having to work for asshole captains, cry me a fucking river, been there, done that. I never sabotaged a boat or crew however. If I had a problem with a captain I told him direct to his face…I have gotten fired before a time or two but I didn’t sneak around the ship pulling cowardly stupid pranks.
[QUOTE=Kennebec Captain;97526]Also - as far as having to work for asshole captains, cry me a fucking river, been there, done that. I never sabotaged a boat or crew however. If I had a problem with a captain I told him direct to his face…I have gotten fired before a time or two but I didn’t sneak around the ship pulling cowardly stupid pranks.[/QUOTE]
THAT is proper behavior and the only way to come out of a situation with honor. I’ve been fired several times also, always over conflicting personalities, but never gave a thought to set-up some one I didn’t get along with or simply disliked. I’ve worked side by side with folks I disliked yet we still got the job done. Remember, you can respect someone you do not like, doesn’t mean you will go ashore together. I’ve gotten into fist fights, not many, and oddly after things cooled down several adversaries and I became friends, well sort of.
[QUOTE=Sweat-n-Grease;97560]THAT is proper behavior and the only way to come out of a situation with honor. I’ve been fired several times also, always over conflicting personalities, but never gave a thought to set-up some one I didn’t get along with or simply disliked. I’ve worked side by side with folks I disliked yet we still got the job done. Remember, you can respect someone you do not like, doesn’t mean you will go ashore together. I’ve gotten into fist fights, not many, and oddly after things cooled down several adversaries and I became friends, well sort of.[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE=Kennebec Captain;97479]It seems like this is saying that all masters and mates have no appreciation for the importance of reliable operation of the equipment required to run the vessel. In my experience that is not true.
My view is if the C/E was deliberately using company resources and his authority as C/E to sabotage operations,he should be fired ASAP.
K.C.
Also - If the C/E is having trouble with the Capt he should report that to the company.[/QUOTE]
Reminds me of the old captain that did not like my white boots and bib overalls. The 2 years I sailed with him was contemptuous at best. He tried to make my job miserable and only increased my OT. When he realized I wasn’t going to quit or pull seniority and transfer, he notified operations that we had “conflicting personalities” and they needed to place me on another vessel. The VP of OPs called me on my days off and read me the letter. He asked “what the f&*K is this conflicting personalities $hit?!?” I told him “he’s an a$$hole and I’m not”. The VP was laughing so hard that he was choking when he hung up. The old captain had to endure sailing with me for another year or so. He was finally fired when a vettor caught him smoking on deck at an oil terminal.
I remember a story of a disgruntled deckhand who threw a handful of pennies into the bilge of a crew boat right before he was thrown off the boat. He would’ve gotten away with it if he hadn’t bragged to half of the gulf about it. Talk about a dirty move!
[QUOTE=justaboatdriver;97609]I remember a story of a disgruntled deckhand who threw a handful of pennies into the bilge of a crew boat right before he was thrown off the boat. He would’ve gotten away with it if he hadn’t bragged to half of the gulf about it. Talk about a dirty move![/QUOTE]
[QUOTE=injunear;97599] He asked “what the f&*K is this conflicting personalities $hit?!?” I told him “he’s an a$$hole and I’m not”. [/QUOTE]
That’s a great line.
There’s some truth in it. I think it’s one of those 80% / 20% thing. About 80% of people can get along ok with about 80% of other people. About 20% are going to have trouble with almost everyone.
A little respect goes a long way but some people seem to need to be in a feud all the time.
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