Whats been your worst job?

[Brimbo]

I'm sure every cadet who has been to sea already has been given some sort of un-mentionable job! Cleaning the grease trap? Entering piston spaces? Tell us about it

[Just Ben]

Re: Whats been your worst job?

Haven't been to sea yet.

What's yours?

[Chiefy]

Re: Whats been your worst job?

Scavenge clean isnt fun
Sewage plant clean
HFO Tank cleaning
Cabin tidying (no cadets like that!!!!)

[Just Ben]

Re: Whats been your worst job?

I'm seeing a theme from chiefy that may result in me taking my kim and aggie gloves on my first trip.

Sewage plant clean

Really? YUK

[Malim Sahib]

Re: Whats been your worst job?

Greasing derrick topping lifts!
You had to climb to the top of the samson post and then shackle a bosuns chair on the derrick runner (with the bow of the shackle on the wire!), then attach a line from the bosuns chair to the top of the post. You then climbed onto the chair whereupon your attendant handed you a bucket of grease and some rags which you attached to the chair.
You were then slowly lowered down the wire by your attendant, greasing it by hand as you went.
Once you got to the derrick head, you had to extract yourself from the wire and then clamber either onto the masthouse or down 8' or so onto deck without falling - bearing in mind you were absolutely covered in grease by this point. You then clambered back up the samson post to do it all again for either the runner wire (if it was up there) or the topping lift for the opposite derrick.
The de rigour uniform for such activity was just an old pair of shorts/cut down jeans and a pair of boots - no point using your overalls or other gear because by the end of the day you were covered in grease. Some blokes would cut holes in a hessian sack and use that to cover their chest but most didn't bother. These greasing jobs generally occurred on a monthly basis and went on for days.
I would point out that the other reason for the 'beach wear' was that such maintenance was generally done somewhere warm - doing it in the cold made the job truly miserable.

On the contrary my best job was painting the funnel! The Mate got myself and the other cadets to give the big lum (and it was big!) a much needed lick of paint, a task which took us a good fortnight to complete. Working gear was similar to greasing wires i.e. just a pair of shorts and boots, but not because we'd be getting dirty, but because we'd be lapping up the bronzy. Swinging around at 30 or 40 feet above the deck in your Bosun's Chair, paintbrush in hand and painting merrily away in the warm tropical sun and enjoying a cooling breeze all whilst enjoy the view. Aye, great stuff.
We made a pretty decent job of it, and our normally rather hard nosed Mate rewarded us with a case of beer for our trouble - praise indeed from the man we called the Dundee Terror!

[size4riggerboots]

Re: Whats been your worst job?

First day- "Go and clean the low location photo-luminescent strips in the crew alleyways and stairwells"

This was on the QM2, 22 crew stairwells, over 14 stories, with miles of alleyway connecting them...

We got down the first stairwell, and partway along the main alleyway in 2 days, while every single member of crew who came passed pissed themselves with laughter at us. Then they gave us a proper job!

[Brimbo]

Re: Whats been your worst job?

My worst would be cleaning out the grease trap by hand and rag, with a 90L capacity it wasn't fun emptying or cleaning it !

[Just Ben]

Re: Whats been your worst job?

Maybe it'll be different when i actually have to do something like this, but i can't wait (bar any sewage work)
It's all part of the training right.

I'm so excited to be staring this.

[fantana]

Re: Whats been your worst job?

Not the worst job just frustrating. Do an inventory of the mates store and the bosun's store. A few hours later with my list complete the mate said thanks and threw it in the bin.

[Malim Sahib]

Re: Whats been your worst job?

I think that's what they call "character building"!

[Just Ben]

Re: Whats been your worst job?

@ fantana. wow, i think i would either burst out laughing or crying.

[fantana]

Re: Whats been your worst job?

Yeah it was definitely character building because another officer told me later that he took it out again once I had left. ha ha

[Just Ben]

Re: Whats been your worst job?

Was this before or after you went on a rampage lol

[secondmate]

Re: Whats been your worst job?

Probably doing DP, which is possibly the most boring job ever invented.. It makes an anchor watch seem interesting.

6on 6 off for weeks on a cross channel ferry in the winter is probably the more tiring and should be banned..

Worst moment at sea, calling the late AB on the other watch after handing over and on my way back to my cabin to find him, well, dead.. Bad days..

Best Day.. Pay off day.. always..

Best Way to see a ship... Through the back window of a taxi on ya way home..... always!!

[Chiefy]

Re: Whats been your worst job?

no no no best way is through the rear view mirror of the taxi taking you away, that way you dont strain your neck looking round or turn into a pillar of salt (or is my mythology all mixed up again?!)