A Happy Boat

A workboat is a pretty small place to spend two or four weeks. It’s not only a workplace, it’s also home to four men from disparate backgrounds. Here are a few suggestions to make that time as pleasant and productive as possible. They also are notes to myself. It’s a work in progress; changes, additions or deletions may occur:

1. As soon as you get on the boat, figure-out where stuff is and how things work.
2. Do the job you were hired to do first, but learn someone else’s job in your spare time.
3. If you’re not busy and someone else is working on something, ask if you can help.
4. Pick up trash whenever and wherever you find it.
5. Wash your own damned dishes.
6. Stuff spills on boats, but it doesn’t wipe itself up. The deckhand is not your maid.
7. Be polite, but more than that be kind when you have the opportunity; you never know what a shipmate has going on at home.
8. Never eat or drink the last of something without asking.
9. Love your boat and she’ll love you back.