by 
Brendan Floyd -AB (Able Bodied Seaman)
Brendan is a 25 years old jokester whose home base is Seattle, Washington. He began working on ships 6 years ago. When he was first trying to decide what he wanted to be when he “grew” up he was unsure where his path would take him. That was until he read a novel by Jack Kerouac and William Burroughs that retrospectively became the catalyst towards discovering a path of traveling on the seas.
His job description includes tying and untying the ship, general maintenance, cleaning common areas, painting, and standing watch on the bridge. He believes one of the biggest and most important things necessary to be successful in this line of work is people skills. Getting to know how to get along with people for long strokes of time is crucial. Being able to adapt to the wide variety of differing personality types is essential.
One of the most memorable transits that he recalls is a trip to Nova Scotia for a North Atlantic Right Whale Survey for NOAA on the Delaware Two. The ship was being decommissioned before being sold to a Greek oil company so work was light. He said this was a really memorable experience because the whales were about 10 feet from the boat. There was even a new born baby calf that was named Dela after the ship. This is unusual because for these surveys you usually want to stay miles away as to not disturb the whales.
-Jessica Jean McPeak
