When the owner is aboard whos word is law?

Perhaps you are one of the lucky ones that found a dream job, but most
I have known that run yachts wear out knee pads and are sniveling yes
men.

I have ran a few supply boats with mud and cement tanks but all the
oilfield work was offshore not around any swamp.

My favorate job was a 120 ft crewboat just my wife and I, working it
out of Port Mansfield TX in some of the best fishing grounds in the
gulf. We had that contract for 3 years. The rig was 10 miles off the
beach and we ran grocerys once a week the rest of the time we hung out
fishing exploring N.& S. padre island enjoying the tropical paradise.
We had a deck hand for a while but I found out he was stealing from the
local store so I sent him packing. Never needed a replacement. What a
great town, population about 80, most worked as fishing guides. 2 great
bars, and one store. And I was making the owner about 2K a day profit.
One year Terry and I worked 362 days strait. both getting Capt. Wages.

Then there was the Point T, a 185 ft brand spanking new Halter buildt
standby boat working for Mobil. 2 weeks on 2 weeks off in HI 386. We
would shuttle cargo and people 1 hour in the AM 1 in the PM and that
was it, rest of the time spent fishing, reading , playing pool,
reading, ect. We had a crew of 4 and a walk in freezer and cooler on
the boat. We would bring in around 1000 to 1800 pounds of RedSnapper
and Grouper ever time we hit the dock, Nice to get a 1500 cash tax free
bonus ever two weeks for fishing, only thing that sucked was the boat
had 16 149 detroits and was a bit underpowered IMO.
We had a 12 71 powering the fire fighting nozzel.

A couple years in the Bay of De Campechi was wonderful, trips to
Scotland, Ireland, Ivory Coast, towing semi's.

I enjoyed the work myself but the money was just not there. The only
way to get ahead in the oilfield is by owning the boat.

And I decided I had enough of going where & when other people told me
to go. The only one's that make the real money in the maritime
industry are pilots and some un-limited masters that have 20+ years
with the same union/company. My uncle Art ran a super tanker for
Exxon... worked 6 mo on 6 mo off and made around 320K a year back in
the 1980's.
And to be a pilot you have to be born into the biz.

Joe