DonJon Marine Hillside, NJ

[RubberRhib888]

Does anybody out there have any information / experience with DonJon? I hear they may be hiring. I'm just fishing around to see if anyone has worked there or knows anyone working there. Anything will help. Thanks in advance to any NE tugboaters out there.

[c.captain]

aren't they a bunch of assholes ala Bouchard? All part of that Witte junkyard bunch of low lifes...

[CaptainTom]

aren't they a bunch of assholes ala Bouchard? All part of that Witte junkyard bunch of low lifes...

Doesn't that sum up about 80% of tug companies ?

[BilgeRat42]

I have to completely agree with C.captain. Donjon Marine is a terrible company to work for. I can tell you that from first-hand experience.

If they are hiring it's because everyone there is fed up with the B.S. and quitting.

Good luck.

[RubberRhib888]

I have to completely agree with C.captain. Donjon Marine is a terrible company to work for. I can tell you that from first-hand experience.

If they are hiring it's because everyone there is fed up with the B.S. and quitting.

Good luck.

I am not disagreeing with you. Do you care to elaborate a little? Everyone has a different perspective on what is shitty and not shitty. If someone can go over there and get some serious wheel time banging scows around the harbor and such.....that's a plus in my book. From my understanding, they do a little bit of everything; dirt, scrap, dredge, construction, salvage...etc, etc. I was a deckhand for a scrap company back in 2003...that type of work made me a much better deck hand for sure. I was working 100 + hours a week.....no sleep for days on end. However, I learned how to toss a line on a bit 20 feet away...and sometimes further! That skill is still with me today. It also helped me to appreciate a nice big cushy ATB where all I have to do is cook, land, and sail the barge...kind of a joke now. Anyway, thanks for the replys thus far.

[BilgeRat42]

Do you care to elaborate a little?

Pay rate is unimpressive, travel pay is non-existant. Office personnel can be unresponsive or downright nasty.

Equipment is old and in many cases in dire need of repair. Company will rarely pay for what's needed to keep the boats in shape. Seems like they'd skin a fart to save a nickel, but don't expect them to spend the nickel on the crew afterward.

I worked for Donjon for seven years and that was seven years too long.

Of course, all this is just my 2 cents and your mileage may vary. I honestly have no axe to grind, just glad I got away when I did. But, I cannot in good conscience recommend Donjon Marine to *anybody*.

Hope that helps.

[Mullet Farm]

Their boats look filthy and deck crews look genuinely sad to be there.

[z-drive]

For some reason I have a friend that still works there. Maybe because he doesn't need the money and is weird to begin with? Probably good to get steering time though

[Tugs]

Working on some of the tugs that they run will make you very thankful when you get with a good company. The two canalers that they run are most likely still DC so that means no A/C (GOD forbid!!!) so the living conditions will be a little primitive to as the least. When I first started out the newest boat that I worked on was built in the 1950's. I did not work on a boat with A/C until 1990. Working on these older boats where everything is done by hand, (Hawser and no capstan on the bow) will make you a better AB, Wheelhouse or Engineer.

Some might consider me strange for saying this but I really miss the old days. Working on those old boats was an adventure that I am glad that I had a chance to live and would love to do again.

[fairtide]

Does anybody out there have any information / experience with DonJon? I hear they may be hiring. I'm just fishing around to see if anyone has worked there or knows anyone working there. Anything will help. Thanks in advance to any NE tugboaters out there.

This a big company . Money wasn't bad a few yrs ago. I know some people have been there for 20 yrs on the boats. This is not a oil company it's a company that is changing everyday

[z-drive]

Wouldn't take back my days knocking scows around...valuable experience where you can make mistakes and learn from them. If you're looking to get hands on experience it's probably not a bad place.

[RubberRhib888]

This a big company . Money wasn't bad a few yrs ago. I know some people have been there for 20 yrs on the boats. This is not a oil company it's a company that is changing everyday

I am moving oil at the moment. I may put some iron in the coals and continue my investigations.

[RubberRhib888]

Wouldn't take back my days knocking scows around...valuable experience where you can make mistakes and learn from them. If you're looking to get hands on experience it's probably not a bad place.

That's what I'm thinking.

[BMCSRetired]

I always learned more from my failures than my successes...

I still try to promote an environment here of being able to fail, UNDER SUPERVISION, so I am not writing up mishaps or spending time explaining myself to someone in a blue suit.

[Kennebec Captain]

I always learned more from my failures than my successes...

I still try to promote an environment here of being able to fail, UNDER SUPERVISION,

Good one BMC I think that's right, Use small errors to build a more robust operation rather then to tear people down.

Col John Boyd used the terms "appreciate" and "monitor.

Appreciate means "to grasp the nature of" or" to judge with heightened perception or understanding : be fully aware of"

Monitor means "to watch, keep track of, or check"

K.C.

[BMCSRetired]

My first CO on the ABBIE BURGESS used the term trust but verify which I think he attributed to Ronald Reagan.

That's the beauty of working on the water, I learn something NEW everyday. I LOVE MY JOB!