MAKE IT EASIER ON YOURSELF

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Vitamins and other nutrition

Get anything that will boost/ support your immunity system; vitamin C at least. Your body will be subjected to extreme stress over several weeks with minimal sleep. Primarily I suggest boosting your immunity up through regular exercise and cold showers a few months before your departure to Seattle. Anti-cramping pills and cough syrup can also save you many hours of sleep. Antibiotics and Ibuprofen were available onboard. Unfortunately, we had people on the boat who liked to eat pills, so the whole jar of Ibuprofen was gone within two weeks. Consequently Ibuprofen was only accessible on request. When I needed it, I was told there isn’t any. It was only when I could hardly breathe with pain that I was finally trusted enough to get some. Take some painkillers with you just to make sure. Also, ointment for healing little skin injuries on your hand might be useful.

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DVD player, laptop or tablet, book…+ USA plug adapter

There was never a lack of the 18+ DVD supply.life of a fisherman

From time to time the fishing nets come out empty. If you happen not to be playing chess with a chess master who had several years behind bars to perfect his game skills, you may want to bring something (anything) to entertain yourself with. There was never a lack of the 18+ DVD supply. Plugs were available in all cabins, but I cannot guarantee this is the case with the other companies.

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Water resistant MP3 player

Bosses didn’t like to see us with headphones on. However, if they allow it, this will make your job somewhat more pleasant. As far as the player goes, I recommend anything with buttons; most of the time you will be working in wet rubber gloves so touch screens are quite unusable in these conditions. This Sony Waterproof MP3 player was perfect, when it worked – but boat is a rough place.

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Ways of keeping in touch with your family when fishing

The only operators that provided signal in Dutch Harbor were Alaska Wireless and AT&T, but the latter came with an exception. You won’t get signal in Dutch Harbor with the prepaid card. With Alaska Wireless you can top up credit through the phone using your debit card.

It is quite expensive, but if you work hard you will make good money, so you won’t mind.life of a fisherman

It is quite expensive, but if you work hard you will make good money, so you won’t mind. I would prefer Alaska Wireless over AT&T but if you plan on staying for more than six months, the contract with AT&T will come out more favourable. I had an opportunity to make a call from an AT&T phone my fellow fisherman lent me, and I have to say the signal was very low quality, but it was good enough for messaging. Alaska Wireless SIM card can be bought in Dutch Harbor.

No operator provides signal at sea. We did however have a satellite telephone on our ship, which was accessible with a prepaid card purchased on board. I paid $25 for half an hour. There are phone booths in Dutch Harbor from which you can call all around the world at a reasonable price. Phone cards for these can be purchased there in Dutch Harbor. Another possibility of contact with loved ones/family was through our one on board computer that was shared by the whole crew. There was no Wi-Fi when I worked there, but times change. Again, I cannot guarantee that it is the same everywhere.

Keep in mind that different companies may have different condition. For example I heard of a ship which had neither a satellite phone nor access to email.

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Btw. Personal Hygiene

A shower with hot water was available. Hygiene is very important on board; nobody wants to work 16 hours a day beside someone who stinks. All of these can be purchased in Dutch Harbor, where you will be at the end of each trip.

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