We’re looking for a deckhand for this summer. Want to join us?
The job is fun, the people who come on the boat are great, the workplace is Alaska, which is amazing and you’ll get to see places that few are ever able to visit. Here’s the full job posting:
Alaska Tour Boat Deckhand — Summer Season 2023
Position
Deckhand aboard the David B, a restored historic tour boat that carries up to 8 guests and 3 crew on 8-day overnight trips in Alaska and Washington. The position includes night watches as well as daytime duties, and stewards department work as well as traditional deck duties.
Stewards Duties
Assist with passenger luggage, cleaning, cabin and head cleaning and bunk making, galley dishes, occasional appetizer and meal prep, setting/clearing the table. Also assisting as a second guide on shore trips and kayaking excursions. On our trips there isn’t any yacht style turn-down or stateroom cleaning during trips but the position does involve lots of passenger stateroom cleaning between trips.
Deck Duties
Assist with launching and retrieving small boats, cleaning, maintenance, driving the vessel and the skiff, engine checks, anchoring, washdowns, docking.
Watch Schedule
The David B is required to have a continuous 24 hr watch when guests are aboard. The deckhand position is the 1600 – 0400 watch when the vessel is operating. At night usually the vessel is anchored, so the duties are very limited, other than remaining awake, so the deckhand can do anything quiet like read or study.
In between trips, the deckhand has a fixed amount of work to accomplish and also has a full day off.
Season
The job begins on or about April 10, 2023 in Bellingham, with several weeks at the dock outfitting, and the vessel departs with passengers for Alaska April 27. The last day of the season is October 9, in Bellingham, with about a week of work afterwards.
The job also includes 1 day off in between each trip on the schedule. The full schedule is here: https://northwestnavigation.com/schedule-and-rates/
Pay and Tips
The pay is $4,000 per month. Outfitting days and end of season days are also paid days. In the past we’ve also made $2,500 – $4,000 per month per crewmember in passenger tips.
Accommodations
The deckhand has their own private crew quarters with a bunk, reading light, charging outlet and some storage space. The space has a door, not a curtain.
Requirements
Must be extremely gracious and polite with guests. This is the number one requirement.
It’s also a long season, so the applicant must be prepared to work hard for the entire time. Must also be observant and able to jump in and help the other crew as needed even in difficult situations. Must not be especially prone to seasickness or claustrophobia. Must be able to pass a drug test prior to employment and be subject to drug testing during the season. (This is a US Coast Guard requirement and includes testing for marajuana). Must be fully vaccinated against COVID and be willing to be tested for it during the season. Must be admissible into Canada.
Experience aboard tour boats or guiding of any kind would be helpful but not necessary, and any customer service experience is also a plus. Interests in the natural world, flora and fauna, or history or old engines would also be useful.
Perks
The vessel is over 100GRT so time aboard is credit towards a larger captain’s license.
Time off ashore in Alaska between each trip.
The deckhand can go ashore on many of the passenger shore excursions if they are interested in time in the wilderness.
The company
Northwest Navigation Co., Inc. owns and operates the motor vessel David B on 8 to 12 day trips in Alaska, British Columbia and Washington. More information can be found here: https://northwestnavigation.com/
Contact
Please contact Captain Jeffrey here about this position
Along the way, they texted and emailed their friends back home, letting them know how it was really going. They kept sending out messages with more and more and better and better things they were seeing and doing on the David B, especially what they were eating. The day Christine rolled out pasta from scratch, served with a creamy Champagne mushroom pan-sauce and chicken tenderloins it pushed their friends too far.
