A Dip In The Pool

Waiting for a ship...

For the past month I've been languishing in the "pool", the informal name for the MSC Customer Service Unit--East. Essentially a union hall, it's where Mariners report and stand by whilst waiting for a ship assignment. We talk (complain!), read, play Scrabble and Settlers of Catan and Risk, and otherwise occupy ourselves as the Detailers work to find US work.

Not a lot of fun, though we try to put the time to good use--one of my Shipmates is completing his Distance Learning course in Mandarin, another works on his book, and I am completing renewal paperwork for Mariner's documents.

There has been talk of a "virtual" pool, where we can stand by at home whilst waiting for assignment, but I doubt that it will come about anytime soon. I'm not counting on seeing it before I retire from the sea.

This is NOT the best part of being a Mariner, but it certainly whets the appetite for the feel of a deck beneath one's boots and spray on one's face; after a few months in this "working" environment I think most of us would accept orders to 'Titanic'!