Hey, everyone! After a little over five months working as a deckhand here in Perth, yesterday was my final shift. Bittersweet. I have been looking forward to being “funemployed” once again, but it was weird and sad to exchange goodbyes with the coworkers I’ve spent so much time with over the past half a year. I wanted to share my experience here as I haven’t gone too much in detail about my role as a deckhand. I don’t have too many pictures to share this week – it’s more so an essay on my time as a deckhand.
Dreaming of Whales
When I first came to Australia, I had a dream of working as a deckhand on a whale watching tour. If you remember, I had met with basically the singular whale watching company here in Perth, but it didn’t work out. I suspect it was a lack of marine tourism experience on my hand, and also the fact that I’m not Australian and since it is a family owned company, they may have wanted a more “local” employee instead.
While I was waiting to hear back from the whale watching company, I had applied for a bunch of other jobs, one of them being the largest multi-mode transportation/tourism company in Australia.
For some reason, I heard back from the company and met with them back in September… and was offered the job on the spot!
Learning to Be a Deckhand
For the first month of being at my company, I wasn’t actually working on the boats, but rather in the “functions center” on land. On my first shift, Ma greeted me, saying “Oh, Steve! I’ve been waiting for you” – as if we were always destined to meet. Ma really showed me the ropes, teaching me all the hospitality-based knowledge that I was so lacking.
Before working on the boats, I had a training induction where I learned about what my responsibility/roles as a deckhand would be, as well as the safety and dangers of working with ropes onboard. Prior to this training day, I had no idea I could potentially lose fingers and limbs if handling the ropes improperly. Needless to say, I was quite anxious about having a major accident.
A group of us newbies went out to the jetty to practice throwing ropes. Notoriously having awful hand/eye coordination, and being terrible at sports my whole life, I really sucked at throwing the ropes. Why were we throwing ropes? Well…. Essentially, when a boat pulls up to the jetty, you have to throw a line of rope from the boat and onto a “bollard” on the jetty, and then tie the rope onto the “bitts” on the boat. Once tied off, the ropes keep the boat from floating away from the jetty. It’s a pretty integral part of being a deckhand.
The danger from losing a limb would be if your hands get caught between the ropes and the bollards – the tension from the rope can sever your limbs.
We had four boats that were frequently used on the Swan River. One of them transported people daily to Rottnest. Another was used for wine cruises up the Swan River. One of them went down to Fremantle and back a few times a day – usually for lunch and dinner cruises, but occasionally for “schoolies” and various charters/events as well. The last boat was typically solely for charters.
Lunch Cruise Procedure
A few days after my training induction was my first day working on the boats. I believe I was doing a lunch cruise. I was shadowing Putu, but was asking everyone questions that first day. I didn’t know how to properly pour beer from a tap, didn’t know where anything was, or what the procedures looked like on the lunch cruise.
There are a lot of things that need to be done to ensure these rides go smoothly. At the start of the day, we would make sure all the chairs were set up, that we had enough stock for the cruise. We would set out buckets of cutlery at all of the tables, along with menus, and drink ticket vouchers. We would also do spot checks to make sure tables were properly cleaned from the night prior, that there weren’t any finger prints on the windows, etc. We would help bring crates of food from the kitchen down into the galley, where we’d keep it in the fridge until we set up the buffet later in the cruise.
We would board the guests, ask them to watch their step as they entered, and direct people to their assigned seats. Once everyone had boarded, we would put up the gangway and our skipper would radio us that it was okay to take off the lines. We would radio back that the “stern [line] is clear,” etc. which meant we had taken the ropes off.
Once the boat started pulling out into the river, we would begin bar service… always a very hectic time. These people love to drink! Person after person after person. It reminded me a lot of working the beer tents at Lollapalooza many years ago.
After a certain point in the trip, some of us would start setting up for the buffet – pouring hot water into the bain maries, lighting the burners under the bain maries, placing the hot trays of food into the bain maries, etc. As we got closer to Fremantle, we would start to invite guests up to the buffet, table at a time.
Once at Fremantle, some guests would get off and others would join (as some people weren’t there for the lunch cruise, but were just using it as a transport from Perth to Fremantle or vice versa). During that time, we would have to tie off the ropes again.
At a certain point after heading back to Perth, we would shut down the buffet and take down the guests’ plates. We’d put them in the dishwasher, and start to clean the galley. During this time, other deckhands would continue serving alcohol at the bar. We would also take away the menus, the cutlery, clean them, etc.
The guests would then leave the boat at Perth and we would spend the next hour cleaning. Vacuum, mopping, wiping down tables, windows, surfaces. Washing all the glasses, taking out all the bin bags. Cleaning the toilets, etc. Setting up for the next cruise. There is a lot that went into it. If we had a dinner cruise or a charter, we would have to change the setup of the boat, often having to move a bunch of tables and chairs off the boat. At times, the job would be pretty physically laborious – I hardly felt the need to exercise outside of work haha.
The lunch cruises were shifts I got quite familiar with, but it took me a long time to really feel pretty comfortable with everything. There was a lot to learn – so many specific things and timings to remember. I feel like only in the last month or so did I really feel comfortable with the process of how all the different boats operated.
I am also happy to report that somewhere in that five months, I actually got somewhat good at throwing ropes. I remember early on being so frustrated that I couldn’t really get the ropes on. After work one day, I practiced throwing ropes at the back of the jetty until my arms were sore. I’m glad I did that, because it wasn’t until after that day that I felt I started to improve. Lately, I’ve been able to (typically) get the rope on the bollard every time.
It might sound mundane, but talking with coworkers about throwing ropes was always a fascinating talking point. Some of us would commiserate about how we were so bad at throwing them, how we always felt so bad when we would miss a throw. We’d congratulate each other for landing it on our first tries, etc. We’d talk about our way of throwing and any tips/tricks to get better at it.
The People
With the procedure of it aside… I have to say, the biggest pleasure of working as a deckhand was the people I met. I loved having the occasional conversation with Australian guests who were fascinated to learn more about where my accent came from, why I chose to come to Perth, what my plans were, etc.
My coworkers have always been amazing, too. “Big Spoons” Putu and Jess, CJ, Eiz, Tatianna, Anna, Lauren, Jess M, Kelsey, Skube, Joel, Jono, Andrew, Tim, Michael, Scott, Titus, Mel, Finlay, Katelyn, Ma, Guillame, Emily, Amber, Jade, Jamie. And even more than that – although some were only cameos as they primarily worked on the other boats.
We really were like a little family. While we didn’t spend time hanging outside of work, we spent some long shifts together, working hard and busting our asses, but also finding time to laugh and bond… and alert one another if there were dolphins outside the boat haha. After every shift, we would generally hang out once all our work was done and have a soft drink to talk about stuff before clocking out.
Big Spoon Jess suggested we all get together for farewell drinks after my last shift… so that’s what we did yesterday.
Farewell Party
After work yesterday, we met up outside the office and then went up to the rooftop bar at the Hilton to hang out. People got drinks – I got a Sprite, and we spent the next couple hours chatting and enjoying the sunset views from a new vantage point. We could even see our boats from the rooftop!
Jess and her partner Myles got me a lemon lime bitters soft drink & a cake to eat, which was so thoughtful of them. CJ and Eiz both got me a hat, a chocolate bar, and some hand cream which was such a lovely gift.
Putu had suggested bowling at one point so we left the bar and walked down to the city to go bowling. It was so much fun being with everyone and cheering them on, even as some of us got gutter balls over and over and over again. My final score was 69, which is a pretty solid score.
We played a few arcade games but then had to move on because the bowling alley was shutting down. From there, we went to Northbridge to play pool.
Along the way, people had to start calling it a night. It was weird to be parting ways with some of these people, potentially never to see them again. I hope we do meet again – perhaps they’ll come to America at one point or while I’m traveling, they’ll happen to be in the same country as me. You never know.
I was talking with Eiz about it and we were discussing what it’s like to be a traveler – to be that person who “leaves,” and what it’s like to be the person who lives in a place and meets that traveler. And even though it’s sad, knowing that the traveler will be leaving one day, it’s still worth it to make those memories. To share a bond with someone new, to exchange information and thoughts, and laughter. We also spoke of the idea that “we are the combined efforts of everyone we’ve ever known,” a quote by my favorite author Chuck Palahniuk. Eiz said “we take things with us that we learn from other people,” or something along those lines. And it’s true. The way I do _____, I perhaps learned from my mom or dad, or from Eiz, or from any other person who has touched me in life. It’s a pretty interesting concept. Putu had taught me to “work smarter, not harder,” which I will try to remember always.
During the night, Putu, Jess, and some others made it a point to tell me that they will really miss me and that I was one of the best people they’ve had working at the company for a while, which was really special for me. Putu and Jess have both been my mentors and have taught me so much, so to receive that kind of praise from them really meant a lot to me.
When saying goodbye to CJ at the end of the night – my buddy & superstar, and one of my very first work friends, I got a little emotional. He gave me the tightest of hugs and it just kind of hit me that this chapter in Perth is coming to a close. I am so glad I’ve been able to spend the last six months (nearly) here. I love this city and I love the people that I’ve met here.
Art of the Week
I’m continuing on with my Venomous Creatures” series… This week we’ve got a Gila monster – found in southwestern states in America.
Reflections
During one of my last shifts on the boat… I saw a SEA LION! I’ve seen plenty of dolphins while working along the river, but never have I seen a sea lion. It was such a random, cool sighting.
I also went to Heirisson Island to visit the kangaroos as the sun was going down. Love those guys.
Björk is coming up. Just a few more days. So funny that this thing I’ve been planning for months is finally within my grasp.
I went with Kory to Connections Nightclub the other night and FINALLY had an amazing dancing session. DJ Drew was awesome and I ended up dancing until 2am or something like that. I so needed the release! It was an excellent time.
Kelsey & Skube were going up to Darwin on the 22nd, so we decided to hang out for a bit and have a proper farewell. We went to the Lucky Shag, which is a bar right next to our office. Hung out there with some other coworkers for a bit and then we were walking home together and they invited me up to their place where we talked on their patio for a couple of hours. It was really lovely to hang out with them outside of work! We are hoping to meet up in Adelaide in late April, or maybe Darwin or New Zealand whenever I make my way over there.
I also got the opportunity to work on one of the wine cruises as one of my final shifts on the boats. I have been wanting to try them out forever, so was really pleased when I found out my second to last shift was a wine cruise. It was so cool to head up the river through Swan Valley, where the terrain is so different from the river views I’m used to going from Perth to Fremantle. I also saw a cute doggy on an inflatable kayak.
As for my next week… who knows! I am going to Rottnest on Wednesday which will be my actual final voyage there. Friday is Björk , and then Sunday I am heading down to Albany with my friend Mo. Other than that, I’ll just enjoy being jobless!
That’s all for now. Sending you all my love!