http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/ferries/yourwsf/employment/
Washington State Ferries looking for 60 new deckhands | The Seattle Times - http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/transportation/washington-state-ferries-looking-for-60-new-deckhands/
[QUOTE=Quimby;174500]http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/ferries/yourwsf/employment/
Washington State Ferries looking for 60 new deckhands | The Seattle Times - http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/transportation/washington-state-ferries-looking-for-60-new-deckhands/[/QUOTE]
Did 60 die? or 30 new ferries? or what… just sayin’
Anticipation of the old farts leaving.
But nobody retires anymore. I can count on one hand how many I’ve seen go during my time in the industry.
Perhaps they need something like the FAA where pilots are force retired at 65. Either that or more birth control.
Almost everyone I worked with that retired at 62 or 65 were dead within 2 years. I retired at 56 and have enjoyed the last 6 years.
Captain on my vessel is 73. Getting moved up takes decades.
ATB’s have made it easier for the the older gentlemen to stick around way longer than they may or may not have if they were still on offshore wireboats. Its a lot more comfortable and crew changes are more or less always on time thanks to the lack of weather delays.
62 is far too young for most people (who will probably live at least another 20 years) to be able to afford to retire.
I retired early, but after a few years of recession, I had to go back to sea. I see lot of other guys in their 60’s and 70’s still working. Most of us are going to work until we drop.
If they work 20-30 yrs the pension is pretty decent for Masters I would imagine. Any WA State ferry captains attest to that? My wife wants me to stop button mashing and park cars instead. Tough decision.
[QUOTE=Quimby;174563]Perhaps they need something like the FAA where pilots are force retired at 65. Either that or more birth control.[/QUOTE]
Perhaps the ageist asshloes need to eat shit and die before they turn 30.
When a guy is old enough that he can’t hear what people are saying on the radio, having “senior” moments more and more often, etc. maybe it’s time to start thinking about letting the younger generation have a chance. No sympathy for ya.
The industry got flooded because “99.8% of the Mariners will be retiring soon” ten years ago. Time for them to go. Not saying 60, 65, but for fucks sake give it up by 70. Not my fault you gambled it away at an Indian casino, got divorced ten times or are supporting able bodied adult children. The old guys I know are all set for $, just too cheap to forgo getting a paycheck.
Perhaps I can try getting away with computer illiteracy too?
[QUOTE=z-drive;174576]The industry got flooded because “99.8% of the Mariners will be retiring soon” ten years ago. Time for them to go. Not saying 60, 65, but for fucks sake give it up by 70. Not my fault you gambled it away at an Indian casino, got divorced ten times or are supporting able bodied adult children. The old guys I know are all set for $, just too cheap to forgo getting a paycheck.
Perhaps I can try getting away with computer illiteracy too?[/QUOTE]
Some of us are real mariners. We were born into it. Its what we do and who we are. We enjoy it, like our fathers and grandfathers did. We are not just doing it for the paycheck.
What else would we do – play golf, drink, be bored shitless, and be dead within five years?
Of course most of us that actually enjoy it are not working for Jeaux Boss in the Gulf, or for companies like Crowley, Kirby, or Bouchard.
The industry was much more flooded with licensed mariners 30 years ago than it is now.
I see plenty of young guys: having lots of “junior moments”, that cannot hear (too many rock concerts ), that cannot speak American English well enough to make themselves understood on the radio (they only seem to know some weird dialect of hip-hop jive-ass), in their 30’s with knee and hip replacements, that cannot climb ladders on a dock with a 15’ tide, with diabetes and numerous other ailments, and worse, with a “can’t do” attitude.
All of the young guys who are good have good jobs. Most of the young guys who are not particularly good still have good jobs. They do not need to wish early retirement on anyone else.
There will always be a few jobs that only the few old guys left can do. Show me a dozen guys under 60 who are actually good at running a single screw tug. Except for at one particular American tug company, show me a dozen guys under 60 who can rig and handle tandem tows. How many can do tandems with a single drum winch? Given the growth of ATBs, in 25 years there will be a shortage of guys under 60 that can tow one barge on the wire.
The old guys are here to stay because they want to be, they can be, and their skills are needed. Get over it.
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OK, we all know that the WSF has a policy of start as OS and work up to master which may not be working out for them nowdays with a bunch of masters set to retire all at once so my question is if anyone knows if there is ANY program being proposed to bring in senior deck officers to obtain their federal pilotage and then getting them right onto the bridge?
I would like to apply go there as I like the idea of being close to home from now on but at my age to mop decks and clean toilets is a non starter. I will gladly park cars though and drive the bus from one side of Puget Sound to the other. I really don’t care about what I do anymore and just want a steady paycheck. Being self employed is nice and I’ve enjoyed it but it is time to go back to work.
https://career4.successfactors.com/career?company=HornbeckProd
We have four brand new MPSV’s left to deliver. I can put in a good word for you and maybe slide you into a 3rd mate spot. 
[QUOTE=Fraqrat;174596]https://career4.successfactors.com/career?company=HornbeckProd
We have four brand new MPSV’s left to deliver. I can put in a good word for you and maybe slide you into a 3rd mate spot. ;)[/QUOTE]
Oh… Fraq, you are a real shit disturber! The power is out, but I’m already making popcorn on the woodstove. This is gonna be good.
( By the by, how many guys under 50 know how to make popcorn without a microwave?)
My problem is all the old guys I’m talking about are in different skill jobs. You don’t need old school technique to run an ATB or harbor tug. I think we are talking about two different groups of Mariners. Your west coast wild weather tandem, triple tow stuff is another whole category.
The guys I’m talking about: ATB, harbor tug-not tandems etc. typically miserably out of shape. A half dozen prescriptions or more, eat terribly and get winded on the way to the wheelhouse.
They’re not offering anything special to the industry like the guys you reference are.
Tugsailor, don’t think I’m saying everyone old needs to retire, but many of them aren’t offering anything special in their current job.
[QUOTE=tugsailor;174597]Oh… Fraq, you are a real shit disturber! The power is out, but I’m already making popcorn on the woodstove. This is gonna be good.
( By the by, how many guys under 50 know how to make popcorn without a microwave?)[/QUOTE]
If you are referring to a popcorn machine or jiffy pop on the stovetop I’m your guy under 50.
Fuck the microwave this is the only way to go…