Salutations! I have come to this forum as I have begun to creep slowy into writing as a hobby. I am a current U.S. Merchant Mariner and proud U.S. Navy veteran. I work 60 days on/30 days off and sail extensively throughout North, Central, and South America; ranging as far west as Guam and as far east as Africa. So as you can see, I have signifigant amounts of time and opportunity for some literary endeavors. Over this last year I began to compile a daily travel journal while at sea. I wanted a record of my travels and events so I could remember them, as well as provide my friends and family with a little window into my world since it takes me away from both for 8 months of the year. While at sea I email my daily journal entry back home to keep everyone apprised of my adventures. Some of my friends have told me they have been living vicariously through me. My intention for joining this forum is to improve my composition and literary articulation skills, both to write cleaner, and dispatch a better product home. I have undergrad writing courses under my belt, but since my professional composositions are mainly comprised of business corresspondence and technical writing, my creative and descriptive literary skills have atrophied quite a bit. I am looking forward to interacting with and learning from you all in the time ahead. If you don'thear from me for weeks at a time, it just means I am back at work offshore without access to the web. Greetings All,
Like anything else its got its good days and bad days, but its good days are REALLY GOOD and its bad days are REALLY BAD. But I could not imagine doing anything else. Its so many things at the same time. I love it.
Welcome to the forum! I'm new here as well as I'm sure you can tell by my post count but welcome nonetheless. Also everyone I've ever met that was in the navy chews tobacco, is it as common as it seems? lol Anyway hope to see some of your stories in the critique threads soon enough.
Likewise. Well, in my experience the U.S. Navy was a good representative cross-section of society as a whole, with people bringing both their good habits and bad habits as well. During my time in, the Navy had undertaken a big push for smoking cessation fleet-wide, which naturally they are still pursuing. What I observed was that approximately 1/3 of the crews where tobacco users. Do to the operating environments (flight operations, bunkering fuel, handling ordnance etc.) they would frequently "put out the smoking lamp" so smokers couldn't smoke and would subsequently shift to chewing tobacco to satisfy their urges. As can be common in tobacco friendly work places, crewmembers would utilize plastic soda bottles to capture their spittle, as open cups/containers pose a spill hazard at sea. After numerous incidents of someone taking a swig of what they thought was cola, and instead recieving a hearty dose of tobacco spittle, many ships banned smokeless tobacco as well. I know Fleet-wide the Navy is pushing to be 100% tobacco free now, with some commands prohibiting it both on-duty and hen on base/ship. I've since left the Navy and have moved into the Merchant Fleet and out here I can tell you that tobacco use is rampant, with the overwhelming majority of merchant sailors being either smokers or chewers. I myself am not and never have been a tobacco user, just never took to it. Most times when I sail now, I am usually the only non-smoker in the crew. If you've ever watched the television series 'Deadliest Catch', you'll notice most of those guys when they're not screaming at each other have a cigarette dangling from their lips.
Ok makes sense that they wouldn't be smoking due to certain working environments and would chew instead. Never thought about that before.
Welcome, Bob! Good to have you here. Wow, your job sounds like it's really something else. I can only imagine the stories you will be able to tell. Without further ado, here's our New Member Guide to get you started. See you around! -Kat
