I know nothing about boats but I learn fast and never forget.
I’m willing to do the jobs no one else wants.
My kids are grown, I’m divorced, retired at 35. I’m not quite forty yet.
I need to get away and I need to work impossibly hard like I’m used. I need to get away from the gun in my safe calling me.
I’ll work myself to death at any shipping job.
There’s got to be a captain looking for a newbie like that.
Depends whether you want to be part of a ships crew, or have an auxilliary role. The crewmen need to be certified, at minimum as an Ablebodied Seaman. However, there are plenty of ships that have additional personnel that technically aren’t part of the crew;
My current career started on a survey ship, and all I had was skills with IT, linux, heavy machinery, and a an affinity for DIY stuff. The company paid for the training courses necessary for me to be on board, working a 5week rotation. The certs you need are usually BOSIET and HUET, depending on the type of ship. I just remembered that I need to renew mine.
So what you want to ask yourself is this: Are you after a maritime career, or just any job on a ship? The first one requires STCW certifications. The second one requires a lot less.
NB: Smaller boats, such as private fishing vessels with much smaller crews may not require the above. I am unsure how they operate in this regard - I know people who’ve joined fishing vessels with little to no prior boating experience.
As it’s somewhat relevant, I’ll lazypaste a comment I made a while back after someone asked how life on a ship is like:
While I’m not an AB myself, I’ve worked on ships alongside them, so I’ve gotten a lot of insight into how the crews work.
The short answer is that it depends on your role. Basically, there are usually three or four types of crew on any ship:
Bridge:
Responsible for the navigation, safety, comms, scheduling, and all procedural tasks with running a ship. There are always someone on the bridge at all times, and this person is in charge of everything. The captain is of course the senior officer, but his responsibility and authority is delegated when he’s off duty.
Deck:
It can be pretty chill, but there’s still a fuckton of tasks to do. Painting, chipping rust, inspections, maintenance, helping out bridge/engineering if they need it. Most people on the bridge or in engineering have been Deck crew (AB - Able-bodied Seaman) at some point.
I’ve also seen deck crew being responsible for grilling on Saturdays.
Engineering:
Everything to do with the engine, and overall mechanical functionality of the ship.
I intentionally left out the galley staff, as this varies a lot between ships. When it’s a big crew, like the ships I’ve been on, there’s a dedicated galley staff. On smaller crews, it can be the ABs’ job to serve up meals.
Source: Roughly 800 days logged offshore, spanning all continents except Antarctica and Oceania.