Heading to the Bering Sea (Prudhoe Bay: hotel, buy, taxes)

[scarlet_letterman]

Ok, I'm joinging up in the A season with a large fishing company this January. Why the winter season first? Cuz its my first time, and I like to get the worst of the **** outta the way...well, first. Point is, its my first time out there, and Im ...well, terrified. And terribly excited. But still, I would really like to get some inside info about what I should take, expect to deal with, ect. Im also interested on what people expect to make in a season, considering this is not crab fishing, with the whole "maybe catch some, maybe not" deal. I hope to land a spot on a pollock vessel, which I understand is the largest. Ive been doing a lot of background study, but with the time approaching, Im kind of freaking out. What say you, oh voice of experience/speculation?

[Rance]

Bring a camera, lot's of socks, and smokes or chew if you use them. Then prepare for the adventure of a lifetime.

[allforcats]

All the information you need is in these threads:

http://www.city-data.com/forum/alask...rk-alaska.html

http://www.city-data.com/forum/alask...khand-job.html

http://www.city-data.com/forum/alask...khand-job.html

http://www.city-data.com/forum/alask...aska-fish.html

Good luck to you!

[starlite9]

Originally Posted by scarlet_letterman

Ok, I'm joinging up in the A season with a large fishing company this January. Why the winter season first? Cuz its my first time, and I like to get the worst of the **** outta the way...well, first. Point is, its my first time out there, and Im ...well, terrified. And terribly excited. But still, I would really like to get some inside info about what I should take, expect to deal with, ect. Im also interested on what people expect to make in a season, considering this is not crab fishing, with the whole "maybe catch some, maybe not" deal. I hope to land a spot on a pollock vessel, which I understand is the largest. Ive been doing a lot of background study, but with the time approaching, Im kind of freaking out. What say you, oh voice of experience/speculation?

On a processor ship, you will make about ten an hour and all the hours you can/want to work. There will be very little time for you to go outside unless you are part of the deck crew itself and if you are, the weather will be cold, wet and dark most of the time.

If you get sea sick, you won't get much sympathy from the others either, so plan on puking and getting back to work. You will either get your "Sea Legs" or you will lose a lot of weight and be set ashore at the first chance.

In the event that the rolling ship doesn't bother you, then you are off to a good start. But learning some basic knots and deck seamanship is a good place to start. You can get a "Chapman's" book on seamanship and read through it and practice some basic knots that will be used on board.

Steel toed rubber boots will be required as well as a good set of rain gear which may or may not be supplied by the company, but in most cases they figure you may fall overboard from being seasick and they will lose the investment in your "Stuff" before you do enough work, so they may make you buy it in advance.

If in the event that you do lose your "Cookies", eat crackers and cheese, it allows you to have something in your stomach to "Chuckup" without dry heaving which is really not good for you. As you get use to the motion of the ship, you will be getting your "Sea Legs" and you can then consider yourself a "Salt" and get back to work.

Otherwise, it is a great place to start an adventure and no place to spend your money.

BTW, if you smoke and such, you can buy your stuff at the "Sea Store" in Dutch and you will get a carton of smokes for about ten to fifteen bucks, no taxes at more than fifty miles at sea. Ask around there and they will tell you what you need to do and where to go... Just don't ask too wide eyed, they have a whole list of practical jokes for guys that look a bit too gulible....

I first started going out that direction in the early 70's when I was in the Coast Guard, we did a lot of Seach and Rescues. Now I go out of an assorment of ships, mostly as the Chief Engineer, to repair them after something major breaks or clean up the mess they leave after they hit the rocks and spill oil.

Enjoy yourself!!!

[scarlet_letterman]

Thanks for the information everyone. I appreciate it.

Starlight, you say they make 10 dollars an hour?
Long story short, I met several people at my hotel job in their mid-twenties who work with american seafood on a trawler. One kid works the engine rooms, and the other is a processor I believe. Engine room man makes around 100k after both seasons, and processor kid pulled in something near 60. Even after allowing for exaggeration, that still sounds a hellofalot more than 10bucks an hour.
However, I have heard conflicting answers to this question. Almost everyone has a different one.

Does anyone have any firsthand experience or other info?

Oh, starlight, thanks for the pic of sinking ship. made my day lol

[mongazid]

Originally Posted by scarlet_letterman

Thanks for the information everyone. I appreciate it.

Starlight, you say they make 10 dollars an hour?
Long story short, I met several people at my hotel job in their mid-twenties who work with american seafood on a trawler. One kid works the engine rooms, and the other is a processor I believe. Engine room man makes around 100k after both seasons, and processor kid pulled in something near 60. Even after allowing for exaggeration, that still sounds a hellofalot more than 10bucks an hour.
However, I have heard conflicting answers to this question. Almost everyone has a different one.

Does anyone have any firsthand experience or other info?

Oh, starlight, thanks for the pic of sinking ship. made my day lol

WARNING

Prepare yourself for alot of disappointing replys about the pay.

[starlite9]

Originally Posted by scarlet_letterman

Thanks for the information everyone. I appreciate it.

Starlight, you say they make 10 dollars an hour?
Long story short, I met several people at my hotel job in their mid-twenties who work with american seafood on a trawler. One kid works the engine rooms, and the other is a processor I believe. Engine room man makes around 100k after both seasons, and processor kid pulled in something near 60. Even after allowing for exaggeration, that still sounds a hellofalot more than 10bucks an hour.
However, I have heard conflicting answers to this question. Almost everyone has a different one.

Does anyone have any firsthand experience or other info?

Oh, starlight, thanks for the pic of sinking ship. made my day lol

The "Guy" in the engineroom is a CG Licensed "Chief Engineer" and is doing what I do. The pay is good, but not that good. the "Kid" working in there with him would be an "Oiler" and that pay isn't all that great.

The people that work the labor part of the Processor are just that, labor and don't make that much money. They do however put in a lot of overtime and will do well with 80 to 100 hours a week on overtime.

You will find there is two distinct crews, the ship's crew that is there all the time and run the ship and one of that size is overseen by the Coast Guard. The Processor crew which come and go as the season dictates and are more overseen by OSHA and are not CG licensed.

The guys on the "Deadliest Catch" are a bit different in that the only one that has a CG License is the Captain. He more than likely has up to a 200 ton ticket and some have better than that.

But a processor is a whole different set of rules when you aren't "Just" fishing. I use to issue the licenses and inspect the boats when I was in the CG as a second part of the job I did.

By the way, here is the photo of that ship just before it broke in half and a few of what it looked like the following winter after the storm ripped it up and off the rocks and it is gone now... There was a salvage crew stripping the steel off the ship, but the winter came and the water got too rough and they had to halt the work, then the ship was sunk by the storms. The Coast Guard Helo in the last photo crashed a few min's after the photo was taken and the CG crew survived wearing "Mustang" suits (cold water work suits) and the six ship's crew drowned and were never found. Very unforgiving the Sea, but it also has a lot of rewards!

Not sugar coating anything about the lifestyle, it has it's downsides, and I love it! During this last few years I work for the three months or so when the Ice goes out in Prudhoe Bay (Oil fields up North) where we run personnel out to the different drilling islands and get to see a lot of the "not so endangered" Polar Bears, about one to two fat ones a day, with cubs.... Then I head back out to the Sea, not as much as I use to, but enough to keep the Sea Legs....

Good luck and expect the adventure of a life time. You will see all sorts of neat stuff in your trip...

[HappySpring]

Amazing Pictures Starlite9.

[karibear]

I had a friend who was on a boat that broke up on the Pribs. The crew all got to shore okay, and the skipper video taped the boat breaking up. He cried all the way through it. It was a decent boat in good shape. My friend finally got his documents and is now running small tankers and grocery barges, mostly to the north.

My late husband was an oiler/wiper - with docs - and the very last job he got he was expected to take care of TWO boats, jumping from one to the other in whatever seas were running. After the boats slammed together and one of them got a couple of cracked ribs, he quit and flew back to Anch. Then it turned out the guy who'd hired him had changed his name, and had killed someone in Southeast and burned the boat to cover it up. He apparently had done the same sort of thing somewhere in the Lower 48.

Fishing is nothing if not exciting. Also can be hazardous to one's health and/or life.

[starlite9]

Originally Posted by karibear

Fishing is nothing if not exciting. Also can be hazardous to one's health and/or life.

I love watching the sunrises with a cup of coffee in my hand sitting out on the deck watching the seagulls quietly soaring above the waves in the air currents generated by the wave's actions.

Being at sea has a lot of really fine moments to reflect on, it also has some moments that will stop your heart with terror.