My dad was a sea captain for over 35 years. He worked for a Seattle based tug boat company and spent half roughly of my life out on the ocean and sound from Seattle to Alaska. The bulk of his job was local, towing log booms up and down the coast and navigating the big freighters in from the ocean to dock in Seattle and Tacoma. When the Exxon Valdeze did it's messy thing, my dad was up there. He also spent time on security at the top of the Alaska pipeline. It was no surprise that when Jordan graduated high school he decided to follow in his granddad's footsteps.
By 2011, my dad had been gone from the company for 20 years but I still picked up the phone and schmoozed a meeting for Jordan with the HR manager. Once that far I stepped back and let him go. He landed a job as a deckhand working on a tug boat in the Chuchki sea - way up in North Alaska above the Arctic circle. There is a mining operation called Red Dog and they run ore 24/7 out of the mine until the freeze hits. (May-Nov). Jordan spent 4 months up there learning the "ropes". His duties included a lot of grunt work but he also learned a lot by hanging out with the chief engineer on his time off. It took two tug and barge combinations, three days of running back and forth 24/7 from port to the freighter sitting five miles off the shore to fill it. (It's a very shallow port.) As soon as that freighter left, another would park in it's place. It was a summer of a lifetime for my boy! He found his sea legs and absolutely loved the work but was really miserable being so far from home and completely cut off from family and friends. He was allowed to email but they only turned on the satellite once a day to send/receive it. It was a really hard summer on mom too. Really. Hard.
When he came home between tours Jordan and I spent a whole day together just junking around and blowing with the wind. I took him to Tacoma to see his great grandma, we toured the maritime museum, walked the waterfront and just had a really amazing day together. I will forever remember the moment, at the end of the day when he took the "guest" sticker from the museum off of his coat and ceremoniously added it to my little sticker collection on the rear view mirror of my Durango. He smiled at me when he did it because he knew I'd leave it there forever. It was a very good fun day. That was so many years ago - I can't believe the sticker hasn't fallen off! That day I also took him to visit an old sea captain that has been a lifelong family friend. The first thing he did was look Jordan in the eye and say "HOW IN THE HELL DID YOU GET THAT JOB?? No one EVER walks in off the street and gets a job with Foss." I was pretty doggone proud of my boy and just sure that my dad opened those doors for him from his place in "heaven".
The other cool little happy memory that goes along with this story is that when Jordan came home from Alaska the first time, he brought home souvenirs for everyone. But they were not your usual gift shop fodder. His gifts were way more personal and thoughtful. He made a brass ring for his girlfriend from scrap pipe on board the tug. They had decommissioned some of the very special/expensive tow ropes used for the barges and he brought one home for Brian. I collect sand. My boy remembered that and went ashore to get sand (really more gravel) from the beach for his momma. It's really amazing when someone knows you THAT well and puts THAT much thought into something. But then, that's how I raised him to be. Ü
This video was taken when Jordan was aboard ship. I can't see him but he was there the day the film crew took a ride along. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3NPL_d6hYj0
It was difficult for Jordan to make the decision not to return the next year. I encouraged him to follow his heart no matter what. That the money would come from somewhere else if he didn't go back. Being the child of a tugboat captain, I'm really glad he chose to stay here and follow his heart. Some day his future family will benefit greatly from that choice.
By 2011, my dad had been gone from the company for 20 years but I still picked up the phone and schmoozed a meeting for Jordan with the HR manager. Once that far I stepped back and let him go. He landed a job as a deckhand working on a tug boat in the Chuchki sea - way up in North Alaska above the Arctic circle. There is a mining operation called Red Dog and they run ore 24/7 out of the mine until the freeze hits. (May-Nov). Jordan spent 4 months up there learning the "ropes". His duties included a lot of grunt work but he also learned a lot by hanging out with the chief engineer on his time off. It took two tug and barge combinations, three days of running back and forth 24/7 from port to the freighter sitting five miles off the shore to fill it. (It's a very shallow port.) As soon as that freighter left, another would park in it's place. It was a summer of a lifetime for my boy! He found his sea legs and absolutely loved the work but was really miserable being so far from home and completely cut off from family and friends. He was allowed to email but they only turned on the satellite once a day to send/receive it. It was a really hard summer on mom too. Really. Hard.
When he came home between tours Jordan and I spent a whole day together just junking around and blowing with the wind. I took him to Tacoma to see his great grandma, we toured the maritime museum, walked the waterfront and just had a really amazing day together. I will forever remember the moment, at the end of the day when he took the "guest" sticker from the museum off of his coat and ceremoniously added it to my little sticker collection on the rear view mirror of my Durango. He smiled at me when he did it because he knew I'd leave it there forever. It was a very good fun day. That was so many years ago - I can't believe the sticker hasn't fallen off! That day I also took him to visit an old sea captain that has been a lifelong family friend. The first thing he did was look Jordan in the eye and say "HOW IN THE HELL DID YOU GET THAT JOB?? No one EVER walks in off the street and gets a job with Foss." I was pretty doggone proud of my boy and just sure that my dad opened those doors for him from his place in "heaven".
The other cool little happy memory that goes along with this story is that when Jordan came home from Alaska the first time, he brought home souvenirs for everyone. But they were not your usual gift shop fodder. His gifts were way more personal and thoughtful. He made a brass ring for his girlfriend from scrap pipe on board the tug. They had decommissioned some of the very special/expensive tow ropes used for the barges and he brought one home for Brian. I collect sand. My boy remembered that and went ashore to get sand (really more gravel) from the beach for his momma. It's really amazing when someone knows you THAT well and puts THAT much thought into something. But then, that's how I raised him to be. Ü
This video was taken when Jordan was aboard ship. I can't see him but he was there the day the film crew took a ride along. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3NPL_d6hYj0
It was difficult for Jordan to make the decision not to return the next year. I encouraged him to follow his heart no matter what. That the money would come from somewhere else if he didn't go back. Being the child of a tugboat captain, I'm really glad he chose to stay here and follow his heart. Some day his future family will benefit greatly from that choice.
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