Personal Cargo

[SailorDaniel]

Was curious how most civilian companies feel about you having large items onboard.
In particular I love to mountain bike and would like to bring my bike with me onboard. Can you bring things like bikes, surfboards, paragliders(packs up to about the size of a large seabag) etc.. with most companies? Anyone know what MSC's policy on this is?

[anchorman]

Generally when you go to sea, you leave the beach.

[Shellback]

When first coming aboard, less is usually best..Then after you are working there for awhile you can get an idea what is acceptable and what's not..

[seadog!]

While under contract the company is responsible for your health and welfare, even while ashore.

Seafaring is risky enough without adding daredevil adrenaline highs while on liberty.

I think it would be severely frowned upon.

[Jeffrox]

Bikes are common on many vessels...as far as the rest of that gear you must be assuming you'll have time to enjoy it which is probably not the case.

[Conspearasea]

I hear that Old salts are allowed to bring Parrots.....

[SailorDaniel]

I know that it will be a rare occurence when you would have the time to use it but if your with a company over a perid of years I imagine there would be at least a few chances to have some fun in ports. I would also not show up on my first day with all that crap and make an idot out of myself. None of those are too overly dangerous or "daredevil" hobbies, and none of them would require more than just a few hours to be able to do. The bike is the main thing I am curious about and would also be nice to have as a form of transportation in port. Even if for nothing else but to go to the nearest store.

Would I love to do some paragliding or surfing in exotic places?.....sure.

Is it a main focus of mine, or important that I can?......not by a longshot.

[Shellback]

Bikes are probably the most common of the gear you listed..We are allowed to have them but we also have a conex box on the pier to store them..as mentioned earlier ,finding the time to use them is the hard part...Between studying for the next upgrade,getting assessments signed off and gcaptain there just isn't any time left over...

[seadog!]

I looked up sports injury statistics:

#1 Bicycling

#1 with fatality = recreational swimming

Hang gliding is by far the safest of Dannys' hobbies.

[SailorDaniel]

I looked up sports injury statistics:

#1 Bicycling

#1 with fatality = recreational swimming

Hang gliding is by far the safest of Dannys' hobbies.

Now compare those stats to the amount of injurys received from the more common hobby of drinking and bar hopping.
Still think I would be the most likely guy to get hurt on liberty?

[Shellback]

Still think I would be the most likely guy to get hurt on liberty?

Probably not, but by bringing that surf board, on board you will certainly earn a nickname like "Moondoggy" for the rest of your life...

[SailorDaniel]

Probably not, but by bringing that surf board, on board you will certainly earn a nickname like "Moondoggy" for the rest of your life...

To be honest I dont even own a surfboard and have only been a few times. It is something I was hoping to "take up" as a hobby more seriously in the next few years but I was mostly just using that as an example of large items someone might have.

[EbbTide]

I looked up the top three sports injuries in Mariner's Harbor in lovely Staten Island, NY

1 - Transvestite Hookers working on Richmond Terrace

2 - Crack Ho's with the clap working on Richmond Terrace

3 - Undercover policewomen working on Richmond Terrace -

A safety tip from Mate Charlie, "Always check out the shoes." Charlie learned the hard way and could hear the tug whistle signals from the jail accross from the Staten Island Ferry.

[Cgaptain]

I have seen guitars, tv's, game consoles, coffee machines, exercise equipment, and mre's. Once these guys have been there a while all they travel with is a backpack, leaving all the shtuff onboard. When they get caledl to another vessel to fill in they dont even carry the PPE to board safely. It is all back at "home" taking up space. Another guy packs it all up, every time (guitar, amp, matress, wardobe and more), whenever they crewchange at a different port, the office would need to send a trailer. Once you are in a rotation and know what kind of room is available, most bring something from home to make life more comfortable. Company policy is the other consideration. The great company I am working for will not allow any personalization in the cabins or wheelhouse. Then it comes down to popular vote. Engineers seem to travel with lots of tools, deckhands bring lots of toys, captains just carry a backpack.

[Motleysailor]

On MSC ships a few of the crew will have bikes, but they are the ones who seem to be "live aboards" it would be tough to transport a bike when you transfer to other ships. I saw this mostly on the ships in the pacific. Surfboards too. Bikes are good to have if you happen to be operating out of Guam for around the base. I didnt see many bikes on East coast ships at all. Also, if you want to buy a bike wait till you get to the MSC ship and purchass it at the NEX(base exchange) and dont forget the helmet and reflective gear (base rules). Biggest thing I saw brought aboard a ship was a BIG Marshall amp for a guy on a ship in Italy...he had it shipped there and I'll bet that it is still on the ship. Usually there is an out of the way area for bike storage but be sure to lock it up..and when you finally transfer...you can easily sell it to a shipmate.

[Motleysailor]

Also, be careful while riding...I had a shipmate get hurt real bad while riding a bike overseas and it was a nightmare for him dealing with medical.

[trekleader]

How, exactly, does one get to Richmond Terrace?

[Shellback]

How, exactly, does one get to Richmond Terrace?

Trek, you can get all of that in Richmond,Ca as well.....lol

[JAFO]

I let my boys go skydiving once. Keeps them happy and thins out the herd.
Besides, an injury ashore doesn't count against the LTA statistics and there is always a hospital around. Even if it is populated by more lizards than humans.

[Oceansmate]

I've been sailing with MSC for several years...
In that time I've seen (and carried myself) a number of interesting 'personal cargo' items. First in mind would be my Ducati Monster. It sailed from HI to Guam to CA several times, and I dropped it ashore and rode it everywhere (this was a T-AO tanker). Ships I've sailed have loaded and carried small power boats, a whole flight deck full of cars, more bicycles than I can remember, surfboards, SCUBA rigs, golf clubs and dozens of guitars... to name a few items.
Haven't seen a hangglider... but I have gone skydiving in port. These items all probably sound ridiculous to your 'average' commercial sailor. But remember that with MSC trips generally last much longer than 90 or 120 days. They'll also usually incorporate one or more repair periods and other extended port stays. The opportunity to utilize your beach toys would probably be better than a container ship or point to point tanker.
I put almost 4000 miles on my motorcycle in the 9 months that she sailed with me. It was fun, but I leave her at home these days, along with all the other crap I aquired.
These days it's just a sea bag and a laptop.