shark_ef
05-18-2007, 04:33 PM
ok, so this i part 1 of 2
don't know if anyone here is aware of the situation, but i thought you guys would be interested in what happened, this is a copy of similar postings, i was bosun onboard at the time, consequently i'm also in need of a job, so if anyone hears anything....i'd love to know
Ok, so some of you may know that i was SUPPOSED to be out on the west coast working as bosun on the hawaiian chieftain for the whole summer, well there was a small inplosion and basically WE'RE A BUNCH OF BASTARDS AND WE'RE ALL FIRED (there is an inside joke there, if you don't get it, laugh like you do, chough cough sarcastic humour)
so this is a large part of what happened, i am posting the letter the crew wrote in support of our illustrious captain micheal kellick, who stood us down from educational sails and purser duties so we could concentrate on our Evergreen Trainees (who became crew and are incredible people) and maintenence on the boat. (that's the short of it, but pretty accurate) the office first relieved our captian then went thru the officers (the professional crew) and relieved each of us in turn, by giving the ultimatum you are with us or against us. so there are facts involved in this, there were many conference calls, and individual phone calls that took place thru this whole mess, but what it turned out to be was a huge mess/shitstorm...i am trying to give an account of what happened on the boat, as i can only guess as to what happened in the office and DO NOT want to put words into their mouths.
feel free to msg me and ask Q's, it is very long, but worth reading, so please take the time...
Hello All,
We, the core crew of the Hawaiian Chieftain, are writing to inform you that we wholeheartedly support Captain Michael Kellick's decision to stand down the boat from education and purser duties from May 9th-12th. We feel that the negative impacts of this decision are far outweighed by the immediate and long term benefits to both the Hawaiian Chieftain and the Gray's Harbor Seaport Authority as a whole.
This decision addresses an issue that has been on our minds for a very long time. We each have our individual viewpoints, experiences, and reasons for supporting our captain. After discussion of those reasons, we have found ourselves in agreement with the following statements:
1. The Gray's Harbor Historical Seaport Authority has a history of understaffing and failing to plan ahead for crew rotation which continues to the present.
2. The process of compensating for missing crewmembers puts a heavy strain on the crew.
3. Without a full complement of officer crew, we do not function fully as a boat.
4. The recurring lack of core crew on the Hawaiian Chieftain is an immediate hazard to the boat and a long term hazard to the very stability and existence of our organization, and needs to be addressed.
5. The benefits we gain in recognizing and correcting this problem now are immediate and concrete.
6. We as a crew have set upon this course of action only because we feel we have no other recourse. We do this out of a sense of affection and care for our boat, our crew, our organization, and our mission.
Having made those statements, we wish for there to be no confusion as to our intentions or our reasons for supporting this action. We therefore provide the supporting logic and reasoning for each point below:
1. The Gray's Harbor Historical Seaport Authority has a history of understaffing and failing to plan ahead for crew rotation which continues to the present.
-For the past several years, it has been regular to experience gaps in staffing between the end of one crewmember's contract and the beginning of their replacement's. It has frequently been the case that the search for a new member of the core crew has not begun until the previous crewmember has left the boat.
-Our organization also has a history of filling positions in a stopgap fashion by hiring crewmembers for two weeks or a month at a time, at which point the process begins again.
-The Hawaiian Chieftain requires eight core crew plus three deckhands to fill all positions on an education sail and allow for crewmembers to get regular days off. In the past twelve weeks, the vessel has at no time operated with all eight core crew and three or more volunteers.
-On April 15th, the Education Coordinator ended his contracted time on the vessel and left. On April 23 rd, the Purser's contract extension ended and she left. This was forseen months in advance. As of today, the Hawaiian Chieftain is still without a Purser or Education Coordinator.
2. The process of compensating for missing crewmembers puts a heavy strain on the crew.
-We do this by either dividing up the job, or asking one crewmember to pull double duty. For instance, if the Steward is missing, the Education Coordinator may handle tours and press interaction while the Purser handles ticket sales, sail bookings, and passenger interactions. Alternatively, the Purser may be assigned all Steward duties until a new Steward is hired. The decision is made based upon the position needing to be compensated for, the experience and skill level of the other crewmembers, and the length of time that the position will remain unfilled.
-Each of the core crew positions demand a considerable amount of skill and personal resources to be carried out well. They require experience, specialized training, and sustained dedication on the part of the officer. They are not lightly taken up.
-In addition to the specialized duties of the officer positions, every member of the core crew must bear a certain amount of the workload associated with the general operations of the boat. Maintenance, sail handling, teaching, public interaction and crew training constitute an enormous workload that requires a team effort to manage.
-Between the specialized and general duties, each of the core crew jobs produces enough work to keep an individual occupied for twelve hours a day, every day.
-When the crew compensates for an unfilled position, each individual crewmember must necessarily choose between fulfilling every task given to them or caring for themselves. For instance, an Education Coordinator who is filling in for the Purser must spend a certain amount of time after evening muster doing the paperwork associated with both positions instead of taking a shower or doing laundry.
-By putting their personal needs on hold, a crew can compensate for an unfilled position for brief periods of time. After a period of weeks or even months, however, individual crewmembers begin to burn out as the effects of their self-neglect become apparent. Crewmembers become visibly weary, pessimistic in their outlook, cynical in their opinions, unkempt in their personal effects. A crewmember with a significant work related injury may have to fulfill sail handling duties instead of convalescing, because there was is crewmember left to cover for them.
-Eventually burned out crewmembers leave the boat feeling badly about the Gray's Harbor organization as a whole, and speak badly of it on other boats. This diminishes our reputation and hurts our organization in the long run.
3. Without a full complement of officer crew, we do not function fully as a boat.
-While compensating for an unfilled position, crewmembers are also forced to choose between fulfilling their contracted duties and fulfilling their temporary duties. For instance, an Engineer who is also Mate must choose between organizing the crew in their daily routine and changing oil filters on schedule.
-Each officer will prioritize their duties and choose the least pressing of them to leave unfinished. As time goes on, however, the unfinished duties begin to compound themselves and become pressing issues. For instance, a torn bit of chafe gear that is left unattended will allow a critical line to wear through, compromising the rig.
-As the days and weeks wear on, the boat begins to break down in many small ways. The deficiencies begin to interact and create a hazardous work environment. For example, loose gear and personal effects clutter the hold, creating an unstable compartment underway.
-In addition, the officers who have been given additional specific duties have less time and energy to devote to general crew tasks. The sail handlers on public sails become slower to react to commands. Fewer crewmembers are available to do necessary maintenance. Those who make themselves available become more likely to make simple mistakes. The rigorous habits that make shipboard life clean and safe get laid by the wayside. This creates an environment ripe for accidents.
end of part 1
don't know if anyone here is aware of the situation, but i thought you guys would be interested in what happened, this is a copy of similar postings, i was bosun onboard at the time, consequently i'm also in need of a job, so if anyone hears anything....i'd love to know
Ok, so some of you may know that i was SUPPOSED to be out on the west coast working as bosun on the hawaiian chieftain for the whole summer, well there was a small inplosion and basically WE'RE A BUNCH OF BASTARDS AND WE'RE ALL FIRED (there is an inside joke there, if you don't get it, laugh like you do, chough cough sarcastic humour)
so this is a large part of what happened, i am posting the letter the crew wrote in support of our illustrious captain micheal kellick, who stood us down from educational sails and purser duties so we could concentrate on our Evergreen Trainees (who became crew and are incredible people) and maintenence on the boat. (that's the short of it, but pretty accurate) the office first relieved our captian then went thru the officers (the professional crew) and relieved each of us in turn, by giving the ultimatum you are with us or against us. so there are facts involved in this, there were many conference calls, and individual phone calls that took place thru this whole mess, but what it turned out to be was a huge mess/shitstorm...i am trying to give an account of what happened on the boat, as i can only guess as to what happened in the office and DO NOT want to put words into their mouths.
feel free to msg me and ask Q's, it is very long, but worth reading, so please take the time...
Hello All,
We, the core crew of the Hawaiian Chieftain, are writing to inform you that we wholeheartedly support Captain Michael Kellick's decision to stand down the boat from education and purser duties from May 9th-12th. We feel that the negative impacts of this decision are far outweighed by the immediate and long term benefits to both the Hawaiian Chieftain and the Gray's Harbor Seaport Authority as a whole.
This decision addresses an issue that has been on our minds for a very long time. We each have our individual viewpoints, experiences, and reasons for supporting our captain. After discussion of those reasons, we have found ourselves in agreement with the following statements:
1. The Gray's Harbor Historical Seaport Authority has a history of understaffing and failing to plan ahead for crew rotation which continues to the present.
2. The process of compensating for missing crewmembers puts a heavy strain on the crew.
3. Without a full complement of officer crew, we do not function fully as a boat.
4. The recurring lack of core crew on the Hawaiian Chieftain is an immediate hazard to the boat and a long term hazard to the very stability and existence of our organization, and needs to be addressed.
5. The benefits we gain in recognizing and correcting this problem now are immediate and concrete.
6. We as a crew have set upon this course of action only because we feel we have no other recourse. We do this out of a sense of affection and care for our boat, our crew, our organization, and our mission.
Having made those statements, we wish for there to be no confusion as to our intentions or our reasons for supporting this action. We therefore provide the supporting logic and reasoning for each point below:
1. The Gray's Harbor Historical Seaport Authority has a history of understaffing and failing to plan ahead for crew rotation which continues to the present.
-For the past several years, it has been regular to experience gaps in staffing between the end of one crewmember's contract and the beginning of their replacement's. It has frequently been the case that the search for a new member of the core crew has not begun until the previous crewmember has left the boat.
-Our organization also has a history of filling positions in a stopgap fashion by hiring crewmembers for two weeks or a month at a time, at which point the process begins again.
-The Hawaiian Chieftain requires eight core crew plus three deckhands to fill all positions on an education sail and allow for crewmembers to get regular days off. In the past twelve weeks, the vessel has at no time operated with all eight core crew and three or more volunteers.
-On April 15th, the Education Coordinator ended his contracted time on the vessel and left. On April 23 rd, the Purser's contract extension ended and she left. This was forseen months in advance. As of today, the Hawaiian Chieftain is still without a Purser or Education Coordinator.
2. The process of compensating for missing crewmembers puts a heavy strain on the crew.
-We do this by either dividing up the job, or asking one crewmember to pull double duty. For instance, if the Steward is missing, the Education Coordinator may handle tours and press interaction while the Purser handles ticket sales, sail bookings, and passenger interactions. Alternatively, the Purser may be assigned all Steward duties until a new Steward is hired. The decision is made based upon the position needing to be compensated for, the experience and skill level of the other crewmembers, and the length of time that the position will remain unfilled.
-Each of the core crew positions demand a considerable amount of skill and personal resources to be carried out well. They require experience, specialized training, and sustained dedication on the part of the officer. They are not lightly taken up.
-In addition to the specialized duties of the officer positions, every member of the core crew must bear a certain amount of the workload associated with the general operations of the boat. Maintenance, sail handling, teaching, public interaction and crew training constitute an enormous workload that requires a team effort to manage.
-Between the specialized and general duties, each of the core crew jobs produces enough work to keep an individual occupied for twelve hours a day, every day.
-When the crew compensates for an unfilled position, each individual crewmember must necessarily choose between fulfilling every task given to them or caring for themselves. For instance, an Education Coordinator who is filling in for the Purser must spend a certain amount of time after evening muster doing the paperwork associated with both positions instead of taking a shower or doing laundry.
-By putting their personal needs on hold, a crew can compensate for an unfilled position for brief periods of time. After a period of weeks or even months, however, individual crewmembers begin to burn out as the effects of their self-neglect become apparent. Crewmembers become visibly weary, pessimistic in their outlook, cynical in their opinions, unkempt in their personal effects. A crewmember with a significant work related injury may have to fulfill sail handling duties instead of convalescing, because there was is crewmember left to cover for them.
-Eventually burned out crewmembers leave the boat feeling badly about the Gray's Harbor organization as a whole, and speak badly of it on other boats. This diminishes our reputation and hurts our organization in the long run.
3. Without a full complement of officer crew, we do not function fully as a boat.
-While compensating for an unfilled position, crewmembers are also forced to choose between fulfilling their contracted duties and fulfilling their temporary duties. For instance, an Engineer who is also Mate must choose between organizing the crew in their daily routine and changing oil filters on schedule.
-Each officer will prioritize their duties and choose the least pressing of them to leave unfinished. As time goes on, however, the unfinished duties begin to compound themselves and become pressing issues. For instance, a torn bit of chafe gear that is left unattended will allow a critical line to wear through, compromising the rig.
-As the days and weeks wear on, the boat begins to break down in many small ways. The deficiencies begin to interact and create a hazardous work environment. For example, loose gear and personal effects clutter the hold, creating an unstable compartment underway.
-In addition, the officers who have been given additional specific duties have less time and energy to devote to general crew tasks. The sail handlers on public sails become slower to react to commands. Fewer crewmembers are available to do necessary maintenance. Those who make themselves available become more likely to make simple mistakes. The rigorous habits that make shipboard life clean and safe get laid by the wayside. This creates an environment ripe for accidents.
end of part 1