I've been doing a lot of interviews with mariners working on tugs lately and am ever more struck by how different maritime cultures are from one type of vessel and body of water to the next. More than a couple times my interviewees have said, "I thought you were supposed to know about this stuff." Well, frankly I've got a lot to learn. And there's so much to know about so many different niches in the big world of maritime, that even if I wasn't stuck behind a computer monitor most of day, it would still be like drinking from a firehose, as they say.
The difference between the work culture of an inland pushboat on the Mississippi, an escort tug in Seattle Harbor, being a river pilot on the Columbia or even driving a offshore supply vessel to and from a rig is fascinating. All mariners, but worlds apart.
Who out there has crossed over from one career path to another, say, from a passenger vessel to a pushboat, from a tug to a fireboat, or some other kind of transition and can talk about the differences in culture, attitudes and worklife?