A little advice from the experts here please...

[Firefly4266]

Hey guys, I've been doing a lot of reading and you all are a wealth of knowledge. New guys like myself really appreciate you taking the time to share your experience. That said, I'm also looking to break into the GOM OSV market. I'm a commercial fisherman here on the east coast. I worked the Alaska fishery for 17yrs before spending the last 7yrs in the east coast fishery. I have A 1600 GRT/3000 GT ITC Masters license, 5000 GRT Uninspected Fishing Industry Vessel Master license, AB unlimited, GMDSS, Radar, ARPA...the whole nine. My intention is to get on deck with a company, work my way to the wheelhouse, and stay there. As long as the salary is competitive and the bennies are good I will stay put...I'm not in to the hopping from job to job for a few dollars more. Stability is what I'm after because fishing is just plain gambling! I'm really not in to tugs, and deep sea hitches are just too long. So what do you think??? Who should I be looking at?? I'm committed to my company until April, after that I'm loading up my truck and heading south to knock on doors. I was thinking ECO, HOS, ACO, maybe Tidewater... somewhere with a lot of opportunity to grow. Also, I'm African American, I know it's a tight knit group down there, is there a home for a Yankee like me??? Thanks for the advice. Fly...

[Jemplayer]

Sounds like a good plan. As you know things are beyond tight down here right now, but hopefully things will loosen up by the time you're looking to head this way.

Don't just look to start at the big companies don't be afraid start out at a smaller company to get your foot in the door in this industry. After a little while there learning the ropes you will find it's easier to land your dream job.

Don't worry about what you look like or were you are from. Most captains down here are not from here for some odd reason. In my company we have about 30-35 captains, only about 5 of them are form Louisiana if that tells you anything.