My Weekend Crewin' on the M/V Spree
As I woke up Friday morning, I had no idea what was in store for me on the weekend. By noon, I had come across the opportunity to crew on the M/V Spree liveaboard which serves the Gulf of Mexico diving community. The M/V Spree (and M/V Fling) makes regular trips to the Flower Gardens National Marine Sanctuary. So, by air and car, I flew to Freeport, Texas to make the departure on Friday night. I do apologize to anyone that had their car paint stripped off by me passing by at 100mph.
My Houston dive buddies at CHUM (ChumClub) were a bit surprised to see me show up since I originally wasn't on our club's Flower Gardens trip. This was because I had already booked for a trip earlier in the week for the Flower Gardens with Zendiving. Anyway, I unloaded my gear at my bunk and presented myself to Captain Frank. You're probably asking what my duties would entail while on the boat. Let's just say my new name was: Galley Slave.
I met my galley mate, Patti, who was the chef on this trip. She's responsible for designing and cooking all of the meals. Lord knows these divers didn't want me feeding them. If so, they'd be eating peanut butter sandwiches or tuna with honey sandwiches. Patti is a veteran on the dive trips with about five years of experience. Her real job allows her to do the late week and weekend trips. So, being the green guy, I had to stay up Friday night to close the Galley at midnight in case anyone needed something to eat or wanted canned drinks. The first night was interesting since the seas were rough heading out and a lot of people were, uhhhh, a bit green. Before closing up shop, the three heads needed to be cleaned (sanitize and empty trash). The counter also had to be wiped down and lights turned off.
A boat that was rockin' and rollin' on Saturday morning denied most from getting a good night sleep. Not many were interested in breakfast. I started my shift earlier than I was supposed to mostly because I don't sleep in. Plus, I'm all about the diving and just gravitate to the total immersion. The Galley prepares food for everyone about every two and a half hours. This is a very busy schedule. My primary responsibility was to wash dishes (for about 40 people). I also assisted Patti with food preparation. I can proudly tell you that I am intimately familiar with each and every knife, spoon, and fork on the M/V Spree. I must have washed each one about ten times during the trip. I washed the plates so often I've got names for all thirty-two of them.
Just when you think that you can't get pampered any more as a diver, you get brownies and ice cream after your night dive. And you don't get even have to clean up.
The seas were rough all day on Saturday (~4'). Even though the M/V Spree is a 100' vessel, the seas can knock you on your tail quick. It was very challenging to cook, prepare food, or wash dishes. To perform my duties, my technique was to lean hard against the counter which ended up bruising both sides of my hips. You also had to be very careful about how much you filled up containers with fluid. As the boat rocks, it's quite easy to have overflows. Ooops.
Sunday found everyone a little more chipper as the seas calmed down just a bit. Most got a good night sleep. Even though the trip is winding down for the divers, there's still lots of work that needs to be done on the boat for the crew. For the galley crew, we need to not only continue feeding but also keep up with the bathrooms and get the galley prepared for either a turn-around (boat going back out) or shutdown. All of the counters and appliances require cleaning. A food inventory is taken so that if a turn-around is occurring, the required food is waiting on the dock when the vessel arrives. The vessel has about four hours or so during a turn-around to get prepared to leave the dock again. Trash has to be bagged and ready to remove. There's no rest for the weary.
Being a busy workin' boy, I was lucky to squeeze in a few dives. Since Zendiver was also on the same boat working, as Dive Master, we dove together. One of our dives was a nice relaxing seventy minute dive on the East Bank where we saw a 5' dusky shark.
I've always wanted to crew on a dive boat. However, I never thought I would get the opportunity so soon. Despite the hard work, I had fun and learned quite a bit. Being on the backend of the diving operation gave me a much greater appreciation to what it takes to support the diving habit of thirty-two divers one hundred miles from shore. It's dang near round-the-clock work. And it's hard work. Every one of the crew works very hard to ensure everyone has a SAFE and FUN diving experience. Gulf Diving does an exceptional job.
If you haven't been out to the Flower Gardens National Marine Sanctuary, this is the most bang for your buck on a liveaboard. Gulf Diving will pamper you all the way out and back.
Thank you Gulf Diving!
Richard
As I woke up Friday morning, I had no idea what was in store for me on the weekend. By noon, I had come across the opportunity to crew on the M/V Spree liveaboard which serves the Gulf of Mexico diving community. The M/V Spree (and M/V Fling) makes regular trips to the Flower Gardens National Marine Sanctuary. So, by air and car, I flew to Freeport, Texas to make the departure on Friday night. I do apologize to anyone that had their car paint stripped off by me passing by at 100mph.
My Houston dive buddies at CHUM (ChumClub) were a bit surprised to see me show up since I originally wasn't on our club's Flower Gardens trip. This was because I had already booked for a trip earlier in the week for the Flower Gardens with Zendiving. Anyway, I unloaded my gear at my bunk and presented myself to Captain Frank. You're probably asking what my duties would entail while on the boat. Let's just say my new name was: Galley Slave.
I met my galley mate, Patti, who was the chef on this trip. She's responsible for designing and cooking all of the meals. Lord knows these divers didn't want me feeding them. If so, they'd be eating peanut butter sandwiches or tuna with honey sandwiches.
Patti is a veteran on the dive trips with about five years of experience. Her real job allows her to do the late week and weekend trips. So, being the green guy, I had to stay up Friday night to close the Galley at midnight in case anyone needed something to eat or wanted canned drinks. The first night was interesting since the seas were rough heading out and a lot of people were, uhhhh, a bit green. Before closing up shop, the three heads needed to be cleaned (sanitize and empty trash). The counter also had to be wiped down and lights turned off.A boat that was rockin' and rollin' on Saturday morning denied most from getting a good night sleep. Not many were interested in breakfast.
I started my shift earlier than I was supposed to mostly because I don't sleep in. Plus, I'm all about the diving and just gravitate to the total immersion. The Galley prepares food for everyone about every two and a half hours. This is a very busy schedule. My primary responsibility was to wash dishes (for about 40 people). I also assisted Patti with food preparation. I can proudly tell you that I am intimately familiar with each and every knife, spoon, and fork on the M/V Spree. I must have washed each one about ten times during the trip. I washed the plates so often I've got names for all thirty-two of them. Just when you think that you can't get pampered any more as a diver, you get brownies and ice cream after your night dive. And you don't get even have to clean up.
The seas were rough all day on Saturday (~4'). Even though the M/V Spree is a 100' vessel, the seas can knock you on your tail quick. It was very challenging to cook, prepare food, or wash dishes. To perform my duties, my technique was to lean hard against the counter which ended up bruising both sides of my hips. You also had to be very careful about how much you filled up containers with fluid. As the boat rocks, it's quite easy to have overflows. Ooops.
Sunday found everyone a little more chipper as the seas calmed down just a bit. Most got a good night sleep. Even though the trip is winding down for the divers, there's still lots of work that needs to be done on the boat for the crew. For the galley crew, we need to not only continue feeding but also keep up with the bathrooms and get the galley prepared for either a turn-around (boat going back out) or shutdown. All of the counters and appliances require cleaning. A food inventory is taken so that if a turn-around is occurring, the required food is waiting on the dock when the vessel arrives. The vessel has about four hours or so during a turn-around to get prepared to leave the dock again. Trash has to be bagged and ready to remove. There's no rest for the weary.
Being a busy workin' boy, I was lucky to squeeze in a few dives. Since Zendiver was also on the same boat working, as Dive Master, we dove together. One of our dives was a nice relaxing seventy minute dive on the East Bank where we saw a 5' dusky shark.
I've always wanted to crew on a dive boat. However, I never thought I would get the opportunity so soon. Despite the hard work, I had fun and learned quite a bit. Being on the backend of the diving operation gave me a much greater appreciation to what it takes to support the diving habit of thirty-two divers one hundred miles from shore. It's dang near round-the-clock work. And it's hard work. Every one of the crew works very hard to ensure everyone has a SAFE and FUN diving experience. Gulf Diving does an exceptional job.
If you haven't been out to the Flower Gardens National Marine Sanctuary, this is the most bang for your buck on a liveaboard. Gulf Diving will pamper you all the way out and back.
Thank you Gulf Diving!
Richard
