Friday, February 3, 2012

Freezer Rat

They're running a friggin country club out here on the Bering Sea.  16 hour days?  Yawn.  -20 degrees F in the freezer for those 16 hours?  Pfft.  It's like Caddy Shack our here.  And we have a guy who's the ground hog.  And we have the African All Stars.  And we've got a few unhinged Russians.  And against all odds, there's a Hawaiin looking guy with a red neck accent.  I can't make this up.

So I jumped on the freezer hold gig.  They call me the freezer rat.  "Are you a friggin rat or a mouse Watts?"  Tony bloomfield.  I'm a rat.  Actually, I promoted myself to Ice God today.  That's how I feel in the bowels of the ship, below the water line and in the frigid hold's dim flourescent lights.  My rapist looking mustache has even ceased to freeze over.  I'm immune.  Apart from the beginnings of pnuemonia, I feel pretty good down there.  The freezer suit is warm. 

I gotta thank Rich.  The sea has called.  The days are long.  We haven't made money yet.  It's gross in the factory.  We are elbow to elbow with the people we bunk with.  And it's awesome.  The sea has an appeal that is other wordly.  Whether or not I'll become immune, or it's novelty will wear off, I don't know.  But pulling into Dutch Harbor the other day, or more accurately, about two or three hours out, I saw a sight.  It was only a few islands.  But they were literally beyond words.  When I saw them I didn't try to describe it.  It just was.  The only way I can really put it is like this: Following the sun in our rickety boat looked seriously like Lord of the Rings wehn they went to Elfville or wherever it was they went.  It was just a moment. 

I'm a freezer rat.  Loving it.  Seriously, we better get paid soon though.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

what shift are you

Cwatts said...

I work from 4 am to 830 pm. I think they call it Alpha. I like to call it an early tee time at the country club. In case you couldn't tell, I'm speaking ironically and it's anything but a country club.

Anonymous said...

so how are the seas right now

Cwatts said...

Right this minute the seas seem to be ok. I don't go on deck much to physically look at the water. A few days ago there were 60 -90 mph winds and it was rough. Bad enough to stop fishing and processing. Not bad enough to stop my sleep though.

Anonymous said...

so are u guys going after cod now?

Cwatts said...

I wish. We are still on the yellow fin and only at maybe a third capacity in the hold. I think a share is like a hundred bucks at this point. We'd better get on the cod pretty soon so we can keep moral up. I'm the only one having fun doing this for free. Sadly, I actually kinda am. Having fun doing it for free, that is.

Anonymous said...

lol, what are the names of the guys on your shift

Cwatts said...

You know, I don't know all the guys on my shift. I know everybody's name, but the shifts overlap so I don't know who's left over from the last or coming on for the next.. During my shift the foremen are Mamadou, Otto, and James. The buddies that are with me are Robert, the Hawaiian red neck from Lousiana and a guy from Texas named Tyler. I'm down in the hold the whole time so I don't see who I'm dealing with much. Terry, the factory manager is out there and it's laughable how much his mood swings depending on how much fish we're moving. If we get it smoothed out, we can do over a hundred tons a day. We did 60 by accident the other day. I probably carried 60,000 lbs of fish that day. And they aren't in boxes. The hold is filled with bags that have straps on them. Walking around in the moving ship on loosish bags with straps hanging everywhere is a hazard. Ha.

Anonymous said...

may i have your email address i have so much more questions to ask

Cwatts said...

Yes. It's cwattsenheim@gmail.com. I think I may know who I'm talking to and would prefer to email for conversations.

Anonymous said...

ok well i emaild you