From 2018 to 2021 I worked as a Second Assistant Engineer and Oiler aboard the C/P Starbound out of Aleutian Spray Fisheries. Commercial fishing vessel, Bering Sea, extended trips far out of cell range. It was some of the hardest, most formative work I've ever done. Here's what stuck.
1. Self-reliance is a survival skill, not a personality type. When something breaks at sea, you can't call a vendor. You look at what you have, you figure it out, and you fix it. That mentality is now just how I approach every challenge at work and at home.
2. Sleep is non-negotiable. Watch schedules at sea are brutal. Four on, eight off, repeat. Running on empty doesn't make you tough; it makes you a liability.
3. The crew is everything. You can't pick your crewmates at sea any more than you can pick your coworkers on land. But you have to trust them with your life. That experience completely changed how I build relationships at work.
4. Silence is not empty. There are stretches at sea where it's just water and sky in every direction. I learned to sit in that silence. Those were some of the deepest conversations with God I've ever had.
5. Gratitude comes easy when you're away from everything. Coming back to port after a long trip, seeing my son, eating a home-cooked meal, sleeping in a real bed. None of that was ever small to me again. Everything ordinary became a gift.
I don't regret a single day of those years. They made me the technician, the father, and the man I am today.