Mates and Masters Graduation

Mates and Masters Graduation - 2007In November we had the Final Graduation for the Mates and Masters through the New Zealand Maritime School. This was a really good night where we all got time to talk with each other and socialise outside of the school. Present were tutors, teachers, examiners, past students, master, MNZ, high ranked people in MIT, our boss, shipping companies - contacts and all the students - now Mates and Masters.This was a well put together night. Gourmet food, unlimited drinks, a nice atmosphere and location. For me this was a good chance to step up to the level of being a Mate. I really enjoyed the time spent talking about experience, pasts, and exams and much more with the other guys. Inspiring in a way. In this photo are some very inspiring Woman Officers. From Left to Right: Kushla - BP Tankers, Renee - Golden Bay Cement, Catherine Swann - ashore now, Catherine Williams - Holland America Line, and Megs.

3rd Officer on the Aratere

So here I am now a 3rd Officer on the Aratere. Some say this is where the fun stops and real life starts. From what I have seen so far apart from spending each day protecting your ticket this is where it all begins. I have spent the last week or so familiarising another 3rd officer and carrying out Fire Drills for training the C/A. After the first drill that I did with them I learnt how to do the next one and keep <50% of them dry. Good Practical training = Competent crew you can rely on in an emergency. It’s quite amazing really how things change once you get your ticket. I have observed that I am looked at and treated differently now by the crew on board. One reason for this is that they have seen the hard work and studying that I put into getting this ticket and they know now that yes I really am serious about my career. So it has been such a blessing to have taken that step up to where we all look at each other on the same level now. People still ask me though: "don’t you get lonely at sea being the only female?" "What about marriage and kids? Don’t you know when that all happens your career will end?" and so on and so on. My reply to everyone is that: I have a Passion and a Dream. I am living to live my Dream out. I am committed and dedicated to serving the Lord in the Maritime Industry and I have a Dream to be a Captain one day. I have priorities and a family and kids isn’t one on my list at the moment. I love where I am and wouldn’t want to anything to change that. I have my 21st birthday coming up next week. I have a few days off to catch up with friends in Auckland for a birthday dinner. I get to spend Christmas working on board the Aratere; this is going to be such a blessing to me as I have considered the crew as family since I have spent most of my cadetship with them. 2nd Mates down Mates and Masters to go. Merry Christmas everyone. Word from Megs: "If you have a Dream and Goals and are passionate about reaching them then for what its worth don’t let anything stop you from achieving them. You will reach them if you set your heart to it!"

I passed my 2nd Mates Ticket

After 3 years of studying and working I sat my 2nd Mates Oral exam on Monday the 19th of November at 1030 in the morning. The week building up to this day I was very nervous but yet still confident. The main reason I was nervous and scared of failing my exam was because of all the expectations that were put on me to pass. It was hard thinking that if I failed my oral exam that I would be letting all these people down. And the fact that I have never failed any exams to date and have a good reputation at School to live up to. So it would have been a big embarrassment to fail. The last 2 hours prior to me going in for my Oral Exam I spent them in the Library at the school with two other guys who were sitting there exams. Going in for my Oral Exam where we spent 2 minutes talking about sea experience, 40 minutes on COLREGS, Maritime Rules, Pollution, MTA, Lights day shapes, and heavy weather ship handling. The rest of the time in the exam we were discussing previous experiences and how I have done things at sea relating to the syllabus. I can’t explain the huge relief I got when the examiner put the pen to the paper and write PASS. I could have leaped through the roof but I decided to take it all in a mature sort of way. So I shook the examiners hand and said thank you as he handed me my piece of paper and 2nd Mates Badge. Now it is all onward and upward up until Friday when we will all be celebrating together after the rest of the class pass their Oral Exam.

ARATERE Brisbane DryDock 2005

I’m writing to you off the Inter Islander rail-ferry “ARATERE”. Yes, that’s right I am currently undergoing a deck officer cadetship to gain 2nd Mates ticket. I’ve been here for 6 ½ months now. Another 2 to go. Three weeks into my cadetship and I thought to myself ‘what have I got myself into, going to sea on a ship being the only female in the deck department’. That was on the “ARAHURA”. I thought to myself ‘God help me please, to live out my dream and to find my place in this industry if that’s what you have called me to do!’The next day I get a phone call from the office to ask me if I wanted to join the “ARATERE” and sail to Brisbane for a dry dock! Okay so I just left all my family, friends and relatives in Auckland to move to Wellington, and that wasn’t easy, now I’m being asked to leave my country! (Genesis 12:1-3). I jumped at the chance. Yep, my prayer was answered and I was off sailing to Brisbane the next day. The sail across took 4 days steaming and we were blessed with nice calm weather. But still no more women on board. The amazing thing though was that at least 8 of the crew were Christians and one of the mates used to work on one of the Mercy Ships like The Pacific link that I was on around Fiji. So immediately we all bonded together. Arriving outside the Brisbane River a pilot boarded us and we spent quite a few hours under pilotage at night, arriving at the dock at 22:30. We spent the rest of the night de-ballasting the ship so we could undergo tank inspections. Again, out of the 200 Australian workers and our 50 odd crew I was the only woman. Being a 19 year old in amongst all this I thought it was going to be a nightmare. In the end our 6 week docking ended up being an 8 week stay. One of the most remarkable experiences of my career so far. Talk about a bonus. The cadetship started out with celestial sights, bridge watches, deck loadings and now a drydock and in sunny hot Brisbane. I made the most of every opportunity, often working long tiresome hours in order to be in 2 places at once. Tank inspections: Anchor and cable calibrating: Ships antifouling paint systems: Survey with DNV Surveyors: Lifeboat load testing: Observing of the prop, rudder and shaft removal and insertion and the pouring of chock fast: Sea trial and engine testing: SMS and ISPS procedures: Ships structure and layouts: Ship handling under pilotage and tugs. And besides all of that I did get to enjoy having some fun in amongst all the learning. To drive a digger : A ride in a crane up to take photos of the ship : Ferry ride up the Brisbane River : Stay in a nice motel in Garden City : Found myself a church to go to for 2 months : Went to a concert and a conference : A camp up on the Sunshine Coast with the youth from the church : Made some amazing life-long friendships : BBQ’s and parties on board sailing back : Soaked up the sun and got heaps of phone cards to call home/New Zealand. On returning back to NZ I had no idea of what was next to come. But to this day I am still currently working on the “ARATERE” enjoying every minute of it. I have taken months off here and there to go to school and work on other ships, but the Aratere is still my ship. Working with the Bosun on deck, the Master and Mates on the bridge and learning a lot about dangerous goods. Still fit and well and ready for more.

Aratere - Piloting through FOG

PILOTING the ARATERE in through Tory Channel, about to approach a fog bank that lasts the entire way to Picton until we are berthed alongside. One minute you see the hills and sea then next you can’t even see the bow. And talk about a drop in temperature.It’s such a buzzing challenge to take command of a ship in Fog where you are unable to see anything ahead of you. You have to really put all your skills and experience to the test and use the best of your knowledge. All it takes is for one small error in assessing the next alteration of course or even a small craft unexpectedly approaching you and your ticket and career will go down the drain.I guess that why I like this career so much. It’s a challenge within itself, a hard area to get into requiring lots of time, study and effort. But once you have made the first move the worlds your oyster as some say.I thank God for the Wisdom and knowledge that He gives me when I’m in Command of a ship (even when co-piloting) just having God with me and his soft but strong voice guiding me in the decisions I make results in the safe handling of the ship and a lot of Praise goes back to Him.

NZMS - Bridge Simulator

NZMS - New Zealand Maritime SchoolBridge simulator. This new Bridge system that they have at the maritime School in Auckland enables students to get a feel of what it’s like to take command of a ship out at sea.The only thing that this simulator doesn't do is roll to give you a feel of the motion in rough seas, but that all comes with the job in the end. After spending the last few years at sea and at studying at the Maritime School in Auckland I can’t wait to get back out to sea with a ticket and actually do what I have been studying and training to do. Only 2 more months to go now.

Fiji Journal M.V. Pacific Link 2007

VIWA ISLAND - Naibalebale Village
Thursday, July 19, 2007today was my day to go ashore. After Lunch I caught a ride ashore with the Fijians in their long reef boat.On arriving at the beach I was greeted by a swarm of children that came running from their classroom to meet me. My idea of going ashore was to help out with the medical team not children.But to my surprise I was struck back when they told me that there was no medical work left to do in this village today. I was in a way upset. So I pulled up a pew under a tree and started praying to God to lift me from the ditch that I was now in and place me back on the path that He has for me on this island.The next minute I looked up and saw two little eyes gazing at me from the distance. Then slowly a hand rose up next with fingers waving up and down. A little girl had recognized me from when I came to the island for the SevuSevu on the Monday and visited the children’s classroom spending time talking with them and taking photos.The little eyes and gorgeous smile captured my attention from a mile away. It instantly touched my heart and drew me in the direction of her pretty face. Three steps towards her, I was bombarded by kids. Some recognized me from when they came to the ship for their teeth check ups and extractions from the previous couple of days.
Their smiles were priceless.
I spent the rest of the afternoon with the children playing soccer on the field, encouraging the girls that they to can play sport and beat the guys. Drawing pictures with them in the classroom, singing songs, dancing, and playing games with the younger ones. The day ended with me helping sweep out the classrooms before they all went home.In New Zealand we have booms and mops but on Viwa Island they have branches and straw, and I tell you it works a charm. You just sweep all the dirt and dust out the door and that’s it.

Spirit of Resolution - GC Ship

After weeks in Australia working on a ship and then around the coast of New Zealand on the Cement Ship I then did some time on a type of ship that I never thought I would work on. During my interview for my Spirit of New Zealand Cadetship I told them that they would never see me on a container ship. Well March 2007 I worked on the Pacifica Coastal General Cargo Ship the Spirit of Resolution, the sister ship to the Spirit of Competition. My time spent on this ship was on the bridge doing the 12-4 watches at sea and on deck doing the 10-4 cargo watches. Long days that ended in spending hours doing my cargo assignment before getting off to sleep. This was an awesome opportunity to see what its like to work on a small G.C. container ship. The Spirit of Resolution is only 100m in length so she just felt like any other ship I had worked on; only on this one the 2nd Mate was 23 years old and not that tall either. Because he was young the Master put me on watch with him. So we had some really nice long chats at 2am in the morning on the bridge, which made the 12-4 watch go really fast.

Golden Bay - Cement Ship

The Golden Bay Cement Ship works around the coast of New Zealand. Who would have thought that working on a small bulk carrier on the NZ coast would be so interesting? and the question you have to ask yourself is: "How is it possible to transport dry cement on ships, isn’t cement allergic to water, wont it react in a bad way if coming in contact with the sea?" well we will just have to take the risk and try it.I joined the MV Golden Bay in March 2007 for 5 weeks. The first ship that I had worked on that wasn’t a ferry and didn’t carry containers.The first ship that I have ever worked on that all the crew, every single crew member loves their job and loves working on that ship. The crew do a roster time of 1 month on board and then 1 month off. I did a month on board with 'A' swing. The crew ranged from an ex-maritime school lecturer, ex-Master from the MV Doulos, My granddads old school rugby buddy, ex-cruise ship engineers, and merchant navy guys. A total crew capacity of 17.

Tasmanian Achiever - Toll Australia Roro Ferry

Tasmanian Achiever is a Toll Shipping Ro Ro Ferry that runs between Melbourne and Burnie in Tasmanian. I went on board this ship for 6 weeks in January/February in 2007.My time here was really hard to start off with. I mean I am used to working on Rail Ferries where there are heaps and heaps of people, not much time to rest and uniform worn on the bridge at all times. This ship was a crew of 17, all really older than me; one guy was in his 30's and the rest, well yeah... But overall they were a great bunch of guys. We had a great Captain - a really nice guy, really good ship handler and has heaps pf stories from when he first went to sea. It was great to be able to plan working in a structured sort of way with highly skilled and talented Officers.

Inter Islander Ferries - 2nd Mates Cadetship

ARATERE - The Ferry with the best stability on Cook Strait.

ARATERE - The Ferry with the best stability on Cook Strait.This is where my career at sea really starts on big ships. A 3 years and 6 months cadetship that I will finish in 2 years and 4 months. Started on August 1st 2005. Joined the Arahura for 3 weeks before switching to the Aratere and sailing to Brisbane-Australia for 9 weeks for drydock. It was such an awesome experience being involved with a drydock for a ship that large instead of just a little sailing ship.All the crew were divided into 2 groups. Deck crew and engineers and split into 2 hotels on different sides of the Brisbane Toll Bridge. We were in the Garden City Travel Lodge Hotel.Ii had come to realise what I had stepped into, a male dominated environment that requires you to be strong within yourself, be confident, be able to stand up and put yourself forward and be willing to start at the bottom - hang in there and work your way up. Hearing all the stories of other females that have tried and are now ashore with kids and families this kind of showed me that yes I can do this, I can make a mark for future woman seafarers.Arriving in Australia to my surprise there were 200 workers waiting for us. All guys that love their beer and girlsthis made me more determined to make a stand for woman and not give in to my surroundings.

I spent most of the Drydock learning as much as I could while the ship was out of the water. Learning about the removal of the Port Rudder, Propeller and Shaft and the tests to be done on them, to sand blasting and re-painting/anti-fouling the ships hull, end-for-ending the life boat davit wires, ripping out the cinema and doing a new renovation, re-writing manuals and procedures for the bridge navigation equipment, inspecting the ballast and fresh water tanks, observing the chock fast being poured in to hold the new gear bow in place and so much more...Having experienced a drydock at the start of my cadetship and before I had started school was a huge advantage on my behalf when I did start school. Having seen and been apart of a drydock has been the best ever start to my career that I could have ever wished for.

Pacific Link voyage to Fiji

March 2005 I joined the Pacific Link - a medical missionary ship for 9 weeks as Mate up in Fiji. http://www.marinereach.com/ a medical ship involved with YWAM and outreaching to the Islands. My time on this ship changed my life completely and has set me up for life. Starting the journey on April 1st, we sailed from Tauranga in New Zealand; I was the 2nd mate for 6 days until we reached Fiji. This was my first experience of taking a 4 hour watch by myself on an ocean crossing. The sextant and calculator got a bit of a work out and I bet it was pleased when we reached Fiji to give it a bit of rest. We arrived in Lautoka 6 days later on the 6th April. Arriving DTS students met us at the wharf waiting in anticipation and excitement for the little ship that they were about to spend their next 2 weeks aboard, and call it home. The first islands that we were to visit were the Southern Lau Group. There a few islands in the southern Lau group. The first one was Matuku Island. Such a beautiful small island. Second was Totoya after stopping in at Suva for a replenishment of stores and fuel. Following Totoya we proceeded on towards Moala Island. That’s where the stories begin. Back to Suva for more replenishments and Student changes. Before heading to Levuka on Ovalau Island, the id Capital of Fiji. From Ovalau Island we finished up there and voyaged back to Lautoka for the DTS student’s graduation and crew change. Whooa! That was a lot. Now I will explain more in detail.

It all Started on the Spirit of New Zealand

Hey well where do I start. I guess ill start from the beginning. Not from Adam and Eve, come forward a bit - the birth and death of Jesus, no further than that. Forward to 1986. That’s when I was born. 16 years later in august 2002 I went on the Youth Development Sailing Ship the Spirit of New Zealand. I absolutely loved the 10 days on the ship that I went back on during the Americas Cup for 2 months. this was such an awesome experience as I was working everywhere from on deck, in galley, up the mast, stowing and setting sails, waitressing, bartending, steering the ship, navigating, cleaning and just about everything. It was awesome. Then in March I had to go back to school and start 6th form. Spent most of 6th form working on the Sealink - Subritzky ferry from Auckland to great barrier island. This was going experience. Working on the bridge, observing Masters Ship handling, and cargo operations. as well as working as a volunteer on the Maritime Museums ships the Ted Ashby and Breeze and the Soren Larsen. From day sails, to overnight voyages and general long hard days of maintenance.January 10th 2004 I started as a cadet on the Spirit of New Zealand. This was a 13 month cadetship. It started out really hard, I mean come on I was only 17 years old when I started. Most of the trainees were older than me.