I've been offline for more than a week, and just got back from a trip down to the Bay Area to see my family (that includes my maritime family). Now it's time to move forward with a new writing prompt for our contributors. The topic: what to pack.
This sounds pretty simple at first, but there are some very specific items without which a sailor is going to feel pretty ill-at-ease. For a towboater, the obvious ones are a knife, gloves, steel-toe boots, heavy pants, maybe a float coat; so much of it depends on the region in which you'll be working. Leather boots or rubber boots? (or both?) Lace-up or pull-on? (boot lace hooks are bad news on deck - can you think of why?) Float coat and heavy bibs? If you're going to Alaska, you should probably invest in both, even if they're expensive. Your employer will supply you with a work vest and a hard hat; beyond that, you're pretty much on your own.
So we've asked our Sea Sisters what they would recommend packing for your first hitch. We'll be coming at you with stories soon.