No. We can barely get people to socialize together that work on the same boat!
Thats working out great for the secret service minus the dude running across the white house lawn and into the white house unscathed.
One more example of government incompetence. From the IRS scandal, secret service failure, mariner’s not being allowed to walk up the street and the general inability of our elected politicians to accomplish basic legislation the american people are paying the price for a bunch of boneheads sitting in D.C.
[QUOTE=coldduck;145923]You’re right about that, but the oilfield became a prison before then. [/QUOTE]
Well, that may be but I never was one to let the facts get in the way of a good sea story.
[QUOTE=acesouthcoast;145934]Thats working out great for the secret service minus the dude running across the white house lawn and into the white house unscathed.
One more example of government incompetence. From the IRS scandal, secret service failure, mariner’s not being allowed to walk up the street and the general inability of our elected politicians to accomplish basic legislation the american people are paying the price for a bunch of boneheads sitting in D.C.[/QUOTE]
My God, the government in power has ZERO to do with whether or not you can get off a boat in port and everything to do with the morons that got off and made asses out of themselves years ago. This rule was in effect back in Reagan’s day with some companies due to fools that had never been out of their own county or parish before stepping foot on a vessel. If you’re doing a 28 day hitch it can wait whether it is a beer or church. I have done 120+ day hitches and we were let off for good reason outside the USA so that we kept our sanity, though not necessarily our virginity or sobriety, but in the GOM? Get laid or drunk when you go home. If you want to do either of those things but are not allowed to back home maybe you need to change homes.
MY GOD!!! Read the thread! Majority of the people on here, myself included would prefer the option to walk up the street for the papers or a hot meal off the boat. I dont care about drinking. I just dont understand why i can move a 130000 barrel black oil barge but cant be trusted to walk through an oil terminal and out the gate to grab a coffee or just take a walk. And not all of us work in that shit hole called fourchon so we have the opportunity to go to some beautiful places.
Im not criticizing the current administration in particualr. Politicians in general leave me disheartened and wondering why i bother to even vote.
Who says you can’t get off the boat and go for a walk? There is no place worth a shit to eat within walking distance down here. There was never any where to eat in Venice, Intracoastal City, Freshwater City, Cameron or Sabine either. I pass people walking, jogging or biking down the road all the time on crew change day. It’s not a fucking prison you can get off and go for a walk whenever you want there’s just no place to go.
When cell phones became the norm for every crew member on board. Anything you say or do now goes straight back to the office. The old days of what happens on board stays on board are long gone. That’s one advantage for working for a shit company, nobody cares what you say lol.
In the ISM there is a section dedicated to shore leave, there also is a form to fill out stating the time leaving the vessel, time you will be back and the reason why. I’ve used it, the captain used it and the rest of the crew use it. The problem is, nobody reads the ISM or SMS to find out, they presume that because it’s the oil field that they are in jail. Crew members are supposed to read and get familiar with the company regulations and safety management system, But, beware, this is the oil field, you could be off the boat and the vessel get called out while you are off gallivanting around Fourchon.
You know damn well your not going to get off the boat in C-Port 2 and go for a walk. We aren’t even allowed to walk at our company dock. Secondly who wants to go for a walk wearing steel toes, hard hat, and safety glasses the entire time?
[QUOTE=coldduck;145964]You know damn well your not going to get off the boat in C-Port 2 and go for a walk. We aren’t even allowed to walk at our company dock. Secondly who wants to go for a walk wearing steel toes, hard hat, and safety glasses the entire time?[/QUOTE]
I don’t walk to the convenience store for a newspaper wearing my work vest I have to wear on deck/dock…I take that shit off at the gate. Same for boots/hardhat/glasses if you work at one of those companies.
I know that some oilfield vessel owners and operators are relaxed with their crew. Yes Fourchon isn’t the most pleasant of all places but it’s all about the freedom of choice. If I come out with a bag with my walking shoes and clothes and sign off the vessel for 11 hours to go do my thing they’d have a fit. But I’m sure some people in my company of choice would have no problems with that at all; right? I’m sure they’d push that we need a full crew in case of emergencies or what if we have to leave in fifteen minutes or what if the VGM comes aboard, the environment aboard the OSVs is no longer conducive to having true leisure time during your off watch during your rotation on the vessel. I left the oilfield before 9/11. It of course was a much different world back then.
I don’t know what some of y’all are talking about. I’ve seen plenty of people get off the boat and do stuff. From going for a run, to getting a paper to taking a car to Walmart or anywhere else in that general area. Most people I know just don’t want to get off, they would rather watch TV and get 10 hours of sleep.
What kind of leisure time do people require nowadays? A jacuzzi? shiatsu massage? Holodeck? As it stands most people have their room to themselves. You can go to your space and enjoy wifi, video games, reading whatever you desire. You could go to the lounge and watch tv or movies. You can play chess, cards, dominos etc in the mess. On newer vessels you can enjoy bowflex, treadmill, weights etc in the gym. If you can’t enjoy your off watch time under those circumstances maybe people should consider a career change.
Wow kinda smells like North Korea over there. Haaaaaa! I’m good I’ll stay, do my equal time schedule and know that I’ve enjoyed a very long career of good times filled with plenty of shore leave.
I get plenty of shore leave when I’m home. If we tied up in the middle of Vegas I doubt I would get off the boatship. Our meals are fantastic I can get all the prime rib, crab legs, shrimp, BBQ I can handle. I brought everything with me I need for 21 days. When I’m done for the day it’s phone call home and bedtime so I can do it all over again the next day. Six months of shore leave a year is all I need. If you need to get off the boatship on a regular basis during your hitch because you feel trapped or whatever maybe this life isn’t for you. I could see wanting to get off if you were working a 4-6 month hitch. Seems like most people should be able to hold it together for 14-28 days but I guess not.
The last time I walked anywhere in Fourchon some drunk coonasses took turns throwing empties at me from their truck on the road along the east side of slip B.
I’ll stick to sitting in my bunk thinking about Mary Jane rotten crotch.
That type of thinking is what empowered the said representatives to make decisions that should be left up to the master of said vessel on a job by job and case by case basis. I myself have no problems today with staying onboard said vessel but reserve the right at a later date to be able to take a leisure walk in the new Port Fourchon recreation facility that I’m sure is already in planning stages to promote health and fitness. It amazes the way the companies we work for and with have created such insecurities amongst the management of the vessels. I’m not saying to outright go overboard with your crew flying off the vessel every time you make it to the beach but I just wish to reserve the freedoms hard earned by past USMM.
You know what? You people should read what you write! It is simply incredible to hear mariners talk about such utter nonsense.
I am so GODDAMNED glad to be done with all the unbelievable BULLSHIT nonsense that exists in the Gulf and on top of that I hate it that this forum is almost entirely about the FUCKING offshore!
You miserable SOBs aren’t mariners…you’re just part of a huge machine run by Joe FUCKING Boss!
Mr. Fraqrat I agree that your a loyal hard working employee, probably a good shipmate and boat handler also, your past experience most likely is in daily use training alongside your peers and crew. I applaud you sir. And things are good at the Company of Choice; no complaints, nobody has infringed upon my civil liberties yet because like you and we all know it’s a mud hole down here. Not very easy place to safely just take a stroll. But where I still say you fall shortsighted is liberties are so easy to surrender yet so hard to regain. I say preserve liberties just use your brain before you practice them . We need this job, the company needs this job, competition is fierce, can’t miss a minute, the boat may burn down any minute, so and so may need to be rescued from an accident any second , see a pattern. It’s called insecurity. No it’s not being more responsible it’s not having enough experience in the world where your pay is guaranteed by contractual obligations to you the mariner and knowing you have sufficient competent Mariners onboard to handle the circumstances thrown at you while safely moored to a facility. It’s not the military and never was meant to resemble such so let’s not paint the picture to make it such. When you and so many others resign yourself to surrender your rights to “dah man” because you’ve sailed so many miles and seen so many ports already you don’t see the need to exercise said rights. You by default take those rights from the next generation of USMM and create a trickle down effect of socialist thinking which is harmful to the USMM and the capitalistic ways that grew this industry and pay to where we are now.
my problem is I’ve been all over and was shell shocked to come back and see what’s happened and continue to happen with regards to the USMM . But yeah time to move on to new topics boss!