January 8, 2007: Fair winds and full sails

Looks like I'm Caribbean-bound, mateys. I just got emailed a tentative job offer with Windjammer Barefoot Cruises as the Dive Mate aboard one of their tall ships. I'll soon be living on one of these beauties:





Don't know exactly which ship it will be yet, but c'mon, do I care? They all look pretty flippin' sweet.

It's not a diving liveaboard, just a ship full of holidayers with a few divers thrown in. I'll be responsible for organizing dives for certified (but mainly beginner and intermediate) divers and running snorkelling and intro dives for non-divers. When there isn't any diving to be done, I'll help the Activities Mate with coordinating and accompanying "rainforest hikes, river tubing, etc." Not bad.

Windjammer's ships carry 70 to 100 passengers per week, plus 35-45 crew. Cruises run from Sunday to Saturday, so crew have Saturday night free (which is one night more per week than I have now). Passengers are usually ashore each day on various excursions, and are back onboard by 5pm for Snacks & Rum Swizzles. The evening are usually filled with deck games such as hermit crab races, trivia challenges, sailing classes etc. and at night there is usually some type of theme party such as PPP or “Pirates, Pimps, Prostitutes” costume night. When I originally interviewed for this job before coming to Guatemala, it was the schmoozing over rum swizzles, stupid deck games and costume parties that worried me most. After living here for the last few months, I think I'm ready for it.

I'm also ready for some big fat Amercian tips, which, along with commission off dives and snorkelling, make up the bulk of the pay. For that, I think I can overlook the cheesy crew uniforms:

Can't wait to get on the phone with the guy who's hiring me to work out the details! I'm soooo excited!