Boatnerd Discussion Forum

When I first join Soo River Company in 1980 I went aboard the Pierson Daughters. Back aft we kept a beer machine that the chief use to look after, no one abused the beer machine and no one ever got drunk, the crew made sure of that. When P&H took over the company the shore captain came aboard and ask what was that ? The chief said proudly "Beer Machine" he made the chief put cans of coke back into it.

I worked on some ships where the crews got along better than others but never saw and outright issues. Any crew-members who were downers or had nothing positive to say were pretty alienated. Those guys usually didn't care too much to be social anyways. Squabbles, gripes, and pouts but would pop up no real dust ups. Usually a guy might be a little moody when he first gets on after being with his family, and also the guys counting down the days until they get off can get a little odd, we call that channel fever. On a few of the ships we had such small crews (10) on a tug and (22) on a laker that there was no real time for drama (especially on the ATB). I also worked with a great captain that did everything he could to keep his crew happy. Served us Steak right to out table on Saturdays, bought us a pile of fireworks around the 4th, would organize cook outs on the deck featuring some of the guys who brought guitars on board, lots of fun. I think a lot of the issues today is you have a ship that was built for a crew of 32 operating with 24, everyone is busy, tired and busy, or sleeping..

When I sailed with Cliffs we had some guys from Wilson and Republic Steel and they had said the same thing about crews staying on boats for a long time together. It was usually the unlicensed guys and engineers as the deck officers would move around more getting experience and moving up the mates ladder. I do know and I haven't seen touched on here, that on many ships there was a real separation between the deck and engines crews. There were those that looked down on the guys that fraternized with the gang at the other end of the boat. Us younger fellas didn't buy into that and were just happy to have someone in the same general age group to hangout with on board or go uptown with when ashore.

I read where one of the Wilson boats had the same crew for 10 years. Before the days of mid season vacations and such it would be possible to sail the same boat year after year. In a lot of cases the ships became extended families and if someone came onboard to interrupt that, they found themselves sitting on the dock. I heard of crews even getting together during winter lay up to hunt, fish, or just have a party with their families. Events like this were more common in the smaller fleets like Wilson,

Scott wrote:Interesting, thanks for the comments. I can see that ship life can carry the same drama as working in an office. On another note, there are youtube videos out there by a young man working a lake boat, I found it interesting.

Why would a crew member hire back on year after year if all they do isfight? A boat is a small place, so you know you'll be running into people sooner than later.

Interesting, thanks for the comments. I can see that ship life can carry the same drama as working in an office. On another note, there are youtube videos out there by a young man working a lake boat, I found it interesting.

In the 33 years I have been sailing I only fired three crew members. Most of the time the crew got along fine especially if a crew member worked on the same ship year after year. The three firings were because of drinking on shore and coming back to the ship drunk and starting fights. I would warn them the first time and that was it; the second time they were let go. I sailed on Canadian ships which had females aboard and when the crew went up the street to the bars they looked after the girls for their safety. I must say I always had very good crews. I did everything I could to make my crews happy. If a crew member wanted time off between ports to go home I would ask the mate and if he said okay I would give him permission to go home. Someone would stand his watch then and he would work it back. They always got their wages for time spent ashore.

The crew for the most part get along, they are professionals. But like any other workplace there sometimes is conflict. In rare cases it escalates, most times it is minor spats.

Morale is however at an all time low on vessels I work on, cutbacks to food budgets are petty and really not saving much money, cutting out small items just aggravates people. Crews are under more stress than ever, doing more work with higher expectations and those in the "Office" cannot see that. Small gestures can really go a long way, cutting your Christmas meal while you are sacrificing your time away from your families, and then expecting you to love your employer, it has become a terrible business. I remember the first line in my shipping business textbook while in college "Shipowners are some of the most ruthless people in the world"

Reality tv is such a joke. Yes there ae problems and issues. As the cook I hear most of them. 99% of the time the crew work them out

"Reality shows" couldn't be any further from reality. There is often good natured ribbing that occurs aboard ship, and occasionally there is some conflict aboard ship, but either the officers nip it in the bud or the bad egg leaves. The producers of "Great Lakes Warriors" were aboard our ship filming a documentary and got the idea for the show while aboard. They tried to instigate conflict and prompted crew members to act in certain ways, but nobody really bought into it, except for a relief crewmember. When the producers contacted headquarters the bosses wanted nothing to do with the show and would not allow any footage shot aboard the ship to be used.

Watching some of the reality TV seafaring shows I've seen that when you get so many people cooped up on one ship that personalities can clash. What I'm wondering is...how is this handled on a ore freighter? Is a "difficult" person ignored or just given the dirtiest job? Anyone have some input? Captain Metz? :)