Joe Ferris

2nd Mate, R/V Melville

Denise: How long have you worked for Scripps and on the Melville?
Joe: Working for Scripps five yours and the Melville about two years. And before that on the Roger Revelle, I was 3rd mate there and now 2nd Mate here.

Denise: How did you get into this career to begin with?
Joe: In Maine, where I'm from, one of the maritime schools is about an hour from my house. Without having really thought out any other plans my parents sent me there after high school. I actually started as an engineer and quickly decided that wasn't for me. My desire to travel, to see the world, plus some oceanography influence in my own family is kind of what helped steer me this way.

Denise: What was the influence in your family?
Joe: And uncle and second cousin were dive masters, and my Uncle Russell did some oceanography studies.

Denise: Where in Maine are you from?
Joe: I was from China, Maine in central Maine.

Denise: Did you go to the beach when you were young?
Joe: Actually we had a cabin in the mountains, we spent more time in the mountains, but of course in Maine the coast is a huge influence.

Denise: Was it hard to get used to being at sea for a long time?
Joe: It gives you a special feeling when you first get into the career that is unique, but after a while it just becomes normal.

Denise: So what was the name of the maritime academy you attended, and do you know how many there are and if they are connected with other maritime schools in the country?
Joe: I went to Maine Maritime Academy; I believe there are five or six state schools and one federal school.

Denise: If someone were interested in this type of career would the Maritime school be the way to go?
Joe: Yes, if you are interested. With new regulations, the fun is being cut out of it, there's a lot of paperwork and audits that has happened with more standardization, which is a good thing, but you lose some of the creativity. Also, with the new technology, now we have Internet, it's not like you can really go away.

Denise: Do you find the addition of Internet has been good?
Joe: Well, I spend more money on the Internet now. But it's good, it's a great source for planning vacations on your time off.

Denise: What is the best perk about working on a ship?
Joe:The block of time off is the biggest perk for me. You get that with other companies in the industry, but Scripps gets you around the world with the research and that's important. Plus with our liberty schedules in port, for a one-month trip you have four days in port, plus departure days, so you have time off to see the local areas, which you don't get with every company.

Denise: How long has the Melville been in this part of the world, near Papua New Guinea?
Joe: We're on a two year cruise right now. I hopped on in Costa Rica two years ago; we came down South America, Chili, to South Africa, last winter we were in South Africa, so in the springtime we came around to Australia, I think in May.

Denise: Do you know how much longer you'll be here?
Joe: A couple more months, then we head up to Japan, and back in San Diego at end of August.

Denise: What does your day consist of; you have two, four-hour watches?
Joe: Yeah, by the time I get up and finish my shift the days already over! I work from noon to four. So I wake up just before noon, have a hamburger for breakfast! Then go to duty for four hours, usually take a nap after that, then have about six hours to myself, I usually read, or talk about working out and never get that done. I usually read and watch films.

Denise: What are some of the other things you guys do to stay entertained…don't you guys play some computer game?
Joe: We just started network gaming…this was the first cruise that we did that. We had up to six guys all on one game! I also bring a lot of my own books and movies; I like foreign and Asian films.

Denise: Now you've actually acted in a movie before?
Joe: Yeah, I had a job a couple of summers ago in China and Burma working.

Denise: What were you doing or how did that happen?
Joe: I had a couple of months off, and I was trying to get to the Pakistan area, and I got all the way to Western China, Kastar, the old Silk Road. I was getting ready to fly out and this guy was chasing me down the street saying we need you for a movie. And I asked him what it was about and he said it was going to be set in Burma, which I thought sounded cool. The basic idea was that it was set in 1880 and the British army was the bad guys and weren't satisfied with just Burma, and wanted to steal part of China, there was a princess and a Chinese jungle guy and they had elephants and all that.

Denise: Now had you done any acting before?
Joe: No, but they had some American actors who specialized in Chinese, they were the stars of the film obviously, and I was a soldier for the British Army. And there were about twenty of us they put up at a hotel for about three weeks. We did a lot of fighting scenes. I have a certain work ethic, from being on the ship, you always get to work early and you're always there, and I already had an interest in films so I was always hanging out with the stars and showed interest in it, so they wanted to get rid of the other guys because they were these backpackers who would show up twenty minutes late, so they asked me to stay on longer and they actually gave me some speaking roles and I did some acting with the Chinese stars.

Denise: So were you speaking in English?
Joe: Yeah, I spoke in English.

Denise: That's great. Did you ever get to see the final film?
Joe: No, I'll probably never find it, they create so much of that stuff.

Denise: Well, you got pictures. You wouldn't have had that opportunity working back in the states, so this career has given you some great opportunities.
Joe: Yeah. I have had a lot of unique experiences. I don't live anywhere rather I just travel between working.

Denise: What are some of your favorite aspects about working on the Melville?
Joe: I like the navigation. As 2nd mate I'm navigational officer, I'm in charge of the charts, I work with the captain to look ahead, plan out the routing and make long term plans, and I'm involved in the day-to-day navigation of the ship. I'm usually talking with the chief scientist about their plans, looking at the tides making sure they are budgeting their times well.

Denise: Do you keep physical charts and not just electronic charts?
Joe: We have a charting program, but yes, we also use keep paper charts. We have about 25 charts to pull for this cruise, which we might use. We record our distances to keep track of time and fuel consumption rates and so on. Also knowing what port we are to be at, how long it will take to reach the port, like Cairns.

Denise: So you'll be getting of the Melville in Cairns, how long have you been at sea this time?
Joe: I've been on five and a half months, so I'm looking forward to a break!

Denise: I can imagine. Thanks for your time today!