What is your job on the ship? 3^rd Mate

How long have you worked on Atlantis? Since 1984.

Where are you from? San Antonio, Texas

What is the most unusual thing you have seen on a cruise? In the Labrador Sea (aboard R/V Knorr), the Northern Lights and Hale-Bopp comet at the same time.

What’s the strangest thing you’ve ever eaten? Jellyfish — in Japan at reception on R/V Atlantis II

What is the scariest thing that has ever happened to you? Got hung up in Alvin basket safety lines on Titantic trip.

What’s the hardest thing you’ve ever had to endure? A broken foot at sea.

Where’s the coolest place you have ever been? Why? Easter Island — unlikely to ever go there otherwise. For sheer beauty — Bay of Islands, New Zealand.

I’ve done many things before coming to work for Wood Hole Oceanographic Institution. I majored in zoology and did my master's at the University of Hawaii. I worked for an oceanographer for a while studying mid-water fish. I wasn’t there for long before I moved to New Jersey.

There I worked with a histologist who was studying monkey brains. My job was to examine the cross-section of the brain tissue under a microscope. From there I worked for a geologist who was using Ra-222 (low-level radioactive gas) studying water movement. I really liked science and the sea, so I moved to Woods Hole. I camped out in the Personnel Office by day waiting to be hired, but it was about four months before I was hired.

The call came at one in the afternoon when the mess steward on the boat did a "pier head leap." That meant she quit and left immediately. They wanted me to report to the ship at 3:00 p.m., so there wasn’t any time to waste. I became the mess steward right away. We call this "coming up the hawse pipe." The hawse pipe is the tube where the anchor chain is passed. Historically, people would stow away on a ship by sneaking up the tube. When I was hired, I hadn’t been to any of the maritime academies nor to the merchant marine academies. I kind of snuck in the back way.

I started out as an ordinary seaman (OS) then to an able-bodied seaman (AB). To get to the rating of mate, you must be at sea for 36 months, the last 6 of which must be as an AB. To make it to my current position, I had to take a five-day exam and obtain an entry-level license. In order to make 2^nd mate, I have to have at least 12 months at sea and then take more exams.

The best part about my job is being at sea. The worst part is that my mail is constantly getting messed up. It’s very hard to keep track of all your bills and accounts when you’re at sea for four months at a time. The mail is forwarded to me at various ports of call; however, it’s very tough to stay on top of it all.