Mariners need to have a wide range of skills but we are mostly generalist. For many of the skills we have and use, there are non-mariners who are specialist in that area. For example meterology. But these shore-side specialist have a limited insight into the situation faced by mariners. In other words they are limited because they don’t go to sea. Don’t understand the context.
Now it seems like most WAFIs are FI. But the ones who do have expertise in some area that is under disscussion might have at least some context, at least more then the same person without the sailiing experience,
Confession time.
I am a WAFI. I read this forum because I am interested in how fellow mariners who get paid for something I have to pay for view the same issues I deal with at sea, navigation, weather, colregs, cooking at sea etc.
I look up to you guys… mostly because I am very close to water level and you are higher up on the bridge and because you obviously get a hell of a lot more sea hours than I do. But I count myself as equal at sea. We all float on the same water and are governed by the same colrege.
Jim,
From my short experience of delivering a harbour dredger from the UK to Portugal, the engine room is far more comfortable than the bridge. The dear old tub rolled with a vicious movement and you had to positively hold onto something.