Marine Interested in Tallships Career

[u/_Purrserker_]

Current active US Marine and I get out in roughly 6 months. Im not 100% on my goals for when I get out, but Maritime is definitely a huge interest of mine and tallships has been something I have always had a passion for. From painting my own miniatures and making a ship in a bottle, to reading, to even going out and stepping foot on some (I want to do some volunteering on the Virginia Schooner once Im out). Im from VA and would like to stay in that area if possible, but after discovering that this is a possible career choice Id love to learn more and do all I can to pursue it. If anyone could give me guidance or know of anywhere in VA I could go I would greatly appreciate it.

[u/Jucarias]

There are plenty of small sailboats that do dinner charters/sunset cruises etc in ports. Show up, work and schmooze guests for tips, go home at night. I've never done that, couldn't say more than use google and key words.

Tall ships I'd put in a separate category. Often larger in both crew and size and number of sails, you often live on board 24/7, with programs focused on education of some variety. Plenty of sunset sail schmoozing too though on smaller tall ships. You feel like an actual sailor with tons of sails and lines, doing things in older, traditional ways that modern boats don't, so there's often more work to do that's fun and exciting. There are more traditional skills and knot work that let you feel connected to the age of sail and all those history textbook pictures of pirate ships and such. Those are what I worked on and can speak about. Most are going to be live aboard positions and you would need to leave Virginia.

Career? Sure. How much money do you need? People will work the warm months, take off in the cold, and come back. Deckhands (lowest level) average 500 to 1500 a month. Mates maybe 2000? Captains 40-60k? But that's a ways away, and the ones I know are stressed from responsibility and bureaucracy with land offices and budgets. They cycle through, only a hand full of ships really have permanent captains. Healthcare is rare below captain. You likely live on board and it consumes your life. You work long hours and your coworkers are you friends by default. No rent or groceries is nice! Off days can be sporadic. There are ships working to guarantee two days a week off. The sultana in Chestertown MD even has healthcare for everyone.

Your schedule and money will determine a lot. If you can pay for some kind of program, its an easy way to dip your toes in without committing to job you don't like. Are you trying to stay in a house on land? Would you consider living aboard the ship? Not too many tall ships in Virginia. Plenty of ships will hire people that know nothing and teach them.

If you decide to be an engineer on tall ships you'll probably always have a job on tall ships. Most of us want to be up and deck pulling sails or tying knots not down below next to a noisy machine.

Start looking into a United States Coast Guard Merchant Mariner Credential. You would need that to be a captain, and a mate in some places, and the boats you work on determine what kind of captains license you can get and when due to sea time.

https://www.dco.uscg.mil/nmc/merchant_mariner_credential/ https://www.dco.uscg.mil/nmc/checklist/

Tall ship billet bank, where plenty of jobs get posted. Check here and see whats' out there. https://tallshipsamerica.org/billet-bank/available-jobs/

Tall ship members page with ships that have joined the organization. I highly recommend browsing this to find boats, to get an overview of the program, then do some cold calls/emails to your favorites and see what comes about. https://tallshipsamerica.org/vessels-programs/

[u/Jucarias → u/Jucarias]

There are tall ships in museums around the VA area like Jamestown Settlement. (They don't sail frequently). You could go aboard though and touch stuff on a visit, ask the interpretive crew questions, probably volunteer? One friend did that, later worked as crew elsewhere. https://www.jyfmuseums.org/visit/jamestown-settlement/living-history/ships#ad-image-0

Pride of Baltimore isn't a great recommendation. They don't do volunteers. It has 12 full time paid crew and guests can pay to join a transit form A to B, which is unstructured. You can participate as able like steering and pulling lines, but there's no training, it's pretty short and costly. They've hired green hands before, but I wouldn't start there. (I did 10 months as a deckhand)

Schooner Virginia I don't hear much about. They seemed to be having trouble with programming a few years ago.

Kalmar Knyckel requires you to volunteer 20 hours before sailing and take their class. If you live far away, that's gonna be tough. They've a winter program with classes that's not live aboard, and spring program where you live aboard, to consider. I've never done it, only met a few people who did the winter maintenance. Most of the sailing crew is retired volunteers. Two captains, cook, engineer, 2nd mate are the paid positions. https://www.kalmarnyckel.org/volunteer

Lady Washington in the puget sound has a Two Weeks Before The Mast. I consider that top notch. I watched a lot of people go through it while working there as bosun. It's you, maybe another two or three volunteers, and then the paid crew. You participate as much as you want and are able to. The ship has square sails so you can go aloft and really feel like you're on a tall ship proper. They'll also hire green hands. https://historicalseaport.org/sail-training/

Clearwater is in lower New York State. They have sail trainee jobs that last a few months and expect you to know nothing and teach you. You could pay to be a volunteer for a week as well, much less commitment. I was a sail trainee there, great time, A+ culture. https://www.clearwater.org/education/volunteer-crew-on-the-sloop/

You might try Los Angeles Maritime Institute to work or volunteer. https://lamitopsail.org/volunteer/ Far away, but I've known people to volunteer a few months and live aboard, or work as a deckhand with no experience. I worked here a few months. Fairly relaxed way to dip toes in the winter. Summer is busy with sailing trip camps.

[u/duane11583 → u/Jucarias]

speaking of volunteering…

there is also the san diego maritme museum. they do sail a real old (1863) tall ship.

they also sail 2 different replicas weekly (most weeks)

[u/Jucarias → u/duane11583]

Sure but OP is in Virginia and San Diego maritime museum doesnt have live aboard volunteer options. They're locals with other jobs or retirees.

Theose two weekly sailing replicas, the Californian and san Salvador are lovely. The 1863 star of India only sails once a year.

[u/duane11583 → u/Jucarias]

oh i know its far and a hcol area… but i know several people who followed their boyfriend/girlfriend from norfolk to san diego as a navy spouse like transfer