new to the merchant seaman ind

[duval322]

i just got my mmd card, twic but cant get my passport. i went to a small school here in jacksonville fl i have os, wiper, stewards dept (fh) endorsements trying to get pointed in the rite direction any help will do. thank u all....

[PaddyWest2012]

i just got my mmd card, twic but cant get my passport. i went to a small school here in jacksonville fl i have os, wiper, stewards dept (fh) endorsements trying to get pointed in the rite direction any help will do. thank u all....

Gentlemen with a far less polite tone than I will probably tell you, and again like I said using far more vulgarity than I am now, that you are the 999,999,999,999th person to ask such a question on this forum. They will also tell you that if you use the search function, either right here on the forum or via google including the term "gCaptain," you will undoubtedly find the answers you are looking for without making the good people of gCaptain tell the same career-starter stories that they have already told so many times before. I wish you luck in your endeavors and welcome you to this industry, but please do tread softly, for your own sake.

[seadog6608]

Why can you not get a passport? If you have legal troubles preventing you from getting one, those same legal problems will follow you in the industry and seriously deter you from getting employment.

[tugsailor]

Its easier to briefly point these guys in the right direction than it is to have 30 posts back and forth about why they didn't use the search function.

Search for "knocking on doors in the bayou" in the upper right corner of this forum. Just go with your bags packed ready to sail, and go door to door at the boat companies until you get a job. There are plenty of jobs with small companies that do not require a passport (It might be good to have some proof of your social security number). Always ask the HR people who interview you "What can I do to improve my chances of finding my first job on a boat." Use the search function or Google for more info.

[Jetryder223]

Hi everyone. I am new too. I spent last summer fishing on my Dads SeaRay and decided that I want a career at see. My cousin says semen make a lot of money and only have to work 6 months a year. I like that. So what is the best way to become a merchant marine?

I don't have any money but I can work hard. Think I want to work for a cruise line cuz they go to cool places and I am good with the ladies.

After a year at see, I want to move up to harbor pilot cuz they make lots of money too and they can be home every nite for dinner. I really don't want to spend a lot of time away from home after my first year.

Please give me name, address, phone number to 10 hiring managers who's companys pay the most. You can PM me if you want to keep your contacts secret.

[Mullet Farm]

NY Harbor work doesn't require a passport and pays well. With TWIC and MMD you can find a deckhand job probably within a week of door banging on Staten Island. Also try Hughes Marine (bridge construction) in Red Hook , Brooklyn. Be ready to start immediately.

[PaddyWest2012]

You can always just throw in with any old union and wait for something to pop up on the board, although your passport troubles might become prohibitive in that respect, but you might get lucky too.

[Jetryder223]

What do we need to do to get John to make the following thread a "Sticky"?

READ THIS FIRST! If you are looking for a job, includeing you just graduated cadets.

[duval322]

iam working on the passport no major problems just got to pay a large some of money before i can get it. but will get where i can until i can take care of it. thank u all for the answers.

[PaddyWest2012]

what do we need to do to get john to make the following thread a "sticky"?

READ THIS FIRST! If you are looking for a job, includeing you just graduated cadets.

True. Life. Story.

[duval322]

NY Harbor work doesn't require a passport and pays well. With TWIC and MMD you can find a deckhand job probably within a week of door banging on Staten Island. Also try Hughes Marine (bridge construction) in Red Hook , Brooklyn. Be ready to start immediately.

thank u for the help....

[catherder]

Try the inland boatmen union also. They have a website and they will send you paperwork to fill out to get on the dispatch list.

[c.captain]

Gentlemen with a far less polite tone than I will probably tell you, and again like I said using far more vulgarity than I am now, that you are the 999,999,999,999th person to ask such a question on this forum. They will also tell you that if you use the search function, either right here on the forum or via google including the term "gCaptain," you will undoubtedly find the answers you are looking for without making the good people of gCaptain tell the same career-starter stories that they have already told so many times before. I wish you luck in your endeavors and welcome you to this industry, but please do tread softly, for your own sake.

damned how well trained you all are now...I don't have to soil myself at all anymore taking these little darlins apart like I used to...

SCHWEET!

[PaddyWest2012]

damned how well trained you all are now...I don't have to soil myself at all anymore taking these little darlins apart like I used to...

SCHWEET!

Awwww shucks C.Cap, you're gunna make me blush!

[SaltySailor]

i just got my mmd card, twic but cant get my passport. i went to a small school here in jacksonville fl i have os, wiper, stewards dept (fh) endorsements trying to get pointed in the rite direction any help will do. thank u all....

1. You need a passport, many jobs ask for it.

2. If you are in Jacksonville, go to the SIU Hall and ask about the U/A program, you can fill out the app online.

3. You can knock on doors and hope you find something (not very easy as a fresh OS and no exp)

4. Search on these forums and read the Threads & Posts, a few hours spent on gCaptain fourms will give you more info than days spent trying to get info from the internet...

5. You have to sell yourself, esp as entry-level, do you have any special skills (Like can you COOK? Mechanical Skills?) do you know all the basic knots? Stuff like that always helps.

[Piahipete]

Thanks for these pointers SaltySailor, and all the other guys, of course, being a fresh OS w/no exp myself, I have found that your point #4 to be great advise. Also, even though I have no experience as a mariner, your point #5 is very valid. I hope I get the opportunity to be able to sell myself and demonstrate that some of the experience I have acquired throughout my career will be a great asset for any company. I'll be making it happen once I have all my documentation in hand.

[SaltySailor]

Thanks for these pointers SaltySailor, and all the other guys, of course, being a fresh OS w/no exp myself, I have found that your point #4 to be great advise. Also, even though I have no experience as a mariner, your point #5 is very valid. I hope I get the opportunity to be able to sell myself and demonstrate that some of the experience I have acquired throughout my career will be a great asset for any company. I'll be making it happen once I have all my documentation in hand.

Also, remember, you might have to take a job which isn't exactly what you want to get to where you want to be. Being a deckhand on a dinner cruise boat is better than no sea-time. Companies down in Louisiana hire entry-level galleyhands (dishwashers/ kitchen grunts) all the time... Do six months as a galleyhand, and you can say you have been to sea, which means you are no longer "green".

Companies in Seattle hire people with no skils, no TWIC, nothing at all to clean fish on floating processor ships in Alaska, again, it's a crap job, but I did a good number of seasons cleaning fish at sea, so when I got my original MMD, I could say I wasn't green, I had been to sea, worked my @$$ off and I knew what it was like to pull 16 hour days while sleeping in a room with 3 other dudes for about 5 hours between shifts....

A good cook is always in demand, so if you can really cook some good grub, then be sure and say so! Many of the smaller vessels like tugs and OSV's don't carry a full-time cook and often, the crew will subsist on a steady diet of hotdogs, sandwiches, hot pockets and breakfast cereal along with healthy drinks like Mountain Dew and pots of half-burned old coffee...

You gotta pay your dues if you wanna sing the blues and you know it don't come easy....

[Piahipete]

"You gotta pay your dues if you wanna sing the blues and you know it don't come easy."...[/QUOTE]

Being part of generation X, I have done just that, several times throughout my adult working life, starting at the bottom rung of the ladder. I made this career change decision knowing that that is exactly where I would be starting, and it seems that maybe not even on the ladder! LOL
I was reading old posts about Professional Deckhands... and it seems that the Y generation, just want things too easy. I've seen it all around, they want to start in the middle, just because they cannot start being the boss!

"Companies down in Louisiana hire entry-level galleyhands (dishwashers/ kitchen grunts) all the time..". I have no problem being a KP, (galleyhand), heck, I've been basically doing that part time for the past 4+ yrs. as a supplement to my regular income.

"A good cook is always in demand"... Although I'm not a chef (or a real cook for that matter), I can prepare "real" meals. (At least my family likes them) That's something my Mother taught me, she would always say, that maybe someday I would have to fend for myself. I guess I'll have my wife teach me some more recipes (and I'll use my family as guinea pigs first).

I didn't mean to turn this post about me, but hopefully, duval322, and others may take the advise that is given in this thread and develop some skills before, they go and apply. As far as I am concerned, I will continue to practice what I learned in the maritime school... knots, vocabulary, etc.. lest I forget.

Again, thanks for all the good advise.

[SaltySailor]

"You gotta pay your dues if you wanna sing the blues and you know it don't come easy."...

Being part of generation X, I have done just that, several times throughout my adult working life, starting at the bottom rung of the ladder. I made this career change decision knowing that that is exactly where I would be starting, and it seems that maybe not even on the ladder! LOL
I was reading old posts about Professional Deckhands... and it seems that the Y generation, just want things too easy. I've seen it all around, they want to start in the middle, just because they cannot start being the boss!

"Companies down in Louisiana hire entry-level galleyhands (dishwashers/ kitchen grunts) all the time..". I have no problem being a KP, (galleyhand), heck, I've been basically doing that part time for the past 4+ yrs. as a supplement to my regular income.

"A good cook is always in demand"... Although I'm not a chef (or a real cook for that matter), I can prepare "real" meals. (At least my family likes them) That's something my Mother taught me, she would always say, that maybe someday I would have to fend for myself. I guess I'll have my wife teach me some more recipes (and I'll use my family as guinea pigs first).

I didn't mean to turn this post about me, but hopefully, duval322, and others may take the advise that is given in this thread and develop some skills before, they go and apply. As far as I am concerned, I will continue to practice what I learned in the maritime school... knots, vocabulary, etc.. lest I forget.

Again, thanks for all the good advise.[/QUOTE]



I just want and try to help folks a little, some people forget they too were once green and were not born as "Sea Gods"...

Anybody can PM me, and if I can, I'll give what advice there is to share.

[SaltySailor]

There are still plenty of entry-level jobs, American Cruise Lines seems to prefer younger college age "kids" as deckhands, you get hired for 12 weeks only but it's 3 months of deckhand time... NCL America hires all the time for the PoA in Hawaii....

If you wanna try making and breaking tows, there are always inland waterways jobs for entry-level deckhands with companies like Ingram, Kirby and ACBL, just to name the big 3.

The jobs ARE out there...