Musical Boats

Periodically, I am asked how I came to be a sternlady. Someone will ask how I got my job as if it is as mysterious as being inducted into a secret society. Well, I suppose it is mysterious to those who are used to the conventional "job search." There is no application involved. No job postings even. You become a sternman by word of mouth. It is easiest for someone who is part of the community and knows where to go and whom to ask. Yet, it wasn't as easy as I had thought it would be.

It was the summer after my first year at Smith College. I was painfully homesick and longed for the familiar salty summer breeze in my face. I decided that I would work on a boat for the summer to satisfy this craving. So I started looking for a captain. Daddy told me to go "down to the shoah" and ask around. All I got were heads shaking "no" in response. Well, Little-Miss-Smithie wasn't going to be defeated that easily so I typed up a small half page poster reading:

"Looking for Summer Job as Sternman. Contact K. T. 999-9999)."

I took my little slips of paper to all of the co-ops on the Peninsula (6 in total) and posted them on the bulletin boards. It was probably the first time that a woman has typed up a poster looking to be a bait handler! I received no calls answering my ad.

My next strategy was a little more aggressive. I made a list of all of the "nice" local fishermen that I could think of and called their houses to ask if they needed a deck hand. No one did.

Finally, my father, Mr. Popularity, put an end to my disappointment when he announced that he'd run into the father of one of my old classmates who was building a boat at our neighbor's boatshop and would soon be looking for a sternman. I was tickled pink! I bee-lined it for the boatshop and walked, a bit timidly, up the plank that ascended to the shiny, virginal, white hull. I called "Hello?" Out popped Cap's frazzled head, his greying hair peppered with fiberglass flecks and dust. Our first conversations were a bit awkward since Cap doesn't talk much and I was struggling to derive information about the future from someone of an industry that operates on a second-by-second basis. But I got the job!

I returned to all of the co-ops to tear down my postings with great satisfaction. At the co-op where my Grandpa used to drink coffee every morning while hob-nobbing with the fishermen, my poster had been slightly altered. Someone had crossed out my first name and scratched in my Grandpa's first name as a joke. I was infuriated at the time that someone hadn't taken my ad seriously. Today I was thinking back on that little prank and laughing about it. It was kinda funny, actually.

I waited for a month or so before Cap was finally done with his beautiful new boat, but boy was it worth it. Not only was it the prettiest boat in the harbor, but she was a dream to work on with a spacious deck and she was steady. I blundered through the motions of learning how to lobster and Cap blundered through becoming familiar with his new vessel. It was a learning experience for both of us. The hard physical labor proved to be a refreshing counter-balance to the intense intellectual challenge of academia. I returned to work with Cap two summers later upon returning from a semester abroad in Brazil, once again longing to work on my familiar waters.

Last fall Cap came to me looking for a deckhand right when I needed a job. I gladly accepted. Upon this offer, I felt that I had truly been inducted into the society. I felt like a part of the fishing community.

I have been fishing for the past nine months, which is the longest I've ever fished. It has been a great experience for me to haul traps through the hardest seasons of the year. But once again, I am ready for mental stimulation. I have decided to apply to graduate school for a Master's in Marine Science this fall. It is an idea that I've flip-flopped with for the past two years. Yet I finally feel ready. My incentive is no longer merely to obtain an additional degree in order to qualify for bigger, better jobs. My motivation is now to learn more about the Ocean in a different context. Although I've had an extensive education in marine science through hands-on experience, my formal education in the subject is quite limited. I'd like to learn more about the processes and interactions that underlie the organisms that I've harvested for commercial purposes. I want to learn more. It is with this mindset that I apply to re-enter academia.

I have told Cap that I would like to stop fishing in mid-September so that I may focus on the application process and work on some of my own personal projects. He said he'd start looking for a sternman. I suggested someone whom I'd heard was available and interested in sterning. He replied that this individual already had a job on a boat, but was looking for a better situation. "This whole sternman situation. . . it's kinda like finding a date for the prom. . . I'm with him, but I'd rather be going with you. . ." I laughed at this comparison. In my mind I pictured a game of musical chairs, but with boats instead. . . all the sternmen hop around to different boats until the music stops and then someone plunges into the water. I guess this time I'll be the extra one swimming to shore. I just hope there will be enough sternpeople to go around. . .