First Mate John Mallard Career Interview Transcript: What are your primary duties as first mate on the Lake Guardian? Navigation watch-­‐ I’m in charge of the navigation watch. Make sure we get to where were going and we do what we’re supposed to do around here. I do training for the new people on board. I do safety inspections. Just trying to make sure everything goes smoothly. Take care the maintenance overall. What special skills or knowledge are necessary for your job? You need to know navigation. You need to know all your charts so you can find your position. You need to know how the boat handles when you’re doing this stuff. Some of the stuff you can get through school, so maritime academy is a good place to learn it. But in the end it’s basically experience on the vessels. What path did you take to get where you are today? It was a convoluted path-­‐ I started off going to college as a wildlife biologist in the mid ‘70s and there wasn’t much call for that. I liked being outside a lot so I ended up on the ships. I started as an ordinary seaman and worked my way up. I didn’t have any previous education related to it. But nowadays, because of rules, changes, and increased regulation, for a person coming into it it’s probably your best bet to go to a maritime academy first. There’s Great Lakes Maritime Academy, there’s various other maritime academies on the west and east coasts. What about this career field appealed to you? Well, it was just that I liked being outside. I like traveling, going various places. I sure don’t want to be cooped up in an office somewhere, so this is my office here. Looking at whatever changes outside those windows. It’s a great place. What's a typical day like in your position? Well, if we’re underway I’ll come up and ascertain where we’re at, what’s going on, and relieve the captain from his watch. Just make sure everything is going smoothly, the boat goes where it’s supposed to go. What are your favorite things about the job? My favorite thing is the traveling. Seeing different things, the way the world looks differently every day. Meeting new people on board this vessel is cool. I like to talk to people. People that come on here are usually pretty interesting to talk to. What work have you done that you are most proud of? Well, when I was on the survey ships I was picked, chosen out of quite a few people to do the transition to the international safety standards for the fleet. And it was a large company. And they sent me around for a year going to different vessels to make sure that they were all compliant with the ISM (International Safety Management) standards and stuff. And doing training for a lot of people. Also the time that they selected me to do the cold weather training for boats that were working up in the Arctic regions. I did that for a lot of people. Hopefully that’s why they all came back safely. What do you do with your free time on the ship? I like to read. I do some internet surfing. I listen to music. Watch movies. Look outside at the stars or whatever. Do you have a favorite memory from working on the Great Lakes? Yes, two years ago we were on Lake Superior, we went up to Nipigon Bay, which is northernmost part of Lake Superior. It was nighttime. Super calm. We went in to do one station in the bay. The Northern Lights were out and I could hear wolves howling. Just standing on the bridge wing, having a good time listening to it all, looking at it all. What advice would you give a student considering this career? I guess, if people are interested in it at all, this is probably kind of a life that’s difficult. But if you like to move around, if you really hate being cooped up in one spot, it works pretty well for that. Just go where your heart leads you. It might not be immediately apparent what you’re going to be doing but you’ll find it.