Captain Murray Stein

R/V Melville

Denise: How did you first decide to go into this industry?
Captain: My father was a pollution scientist and we had always lived on the coast, both in Gulf of Mexico and up in the Pacific Northwest, and I had always been around boats and the water and it was one hobby that I really loved. After graduating high school I was wandering around trying to figure out what to do when I grew up, and discovered I could become a professional mariner and never needed to grow up.

Denise: So you did a lot of sailing when you were younger?
Captain: As long as I can remember, sailing and fishing and boating.

Denise: How did you decide to work for a research vessel, was it because of your dad's background as a scientist?
Captain: Actually, no, when I started sailing it was in the mid-eighties and there were no jobs available for licensed officers. Very few people were hired in the whole country. A lot of us were sailing on unlicensed ratings. I had gotten a job in Hawaii working on barges and wasn't really upgrading my license or going to sea and the Melville came into port and I was saying how much I'd really like to work on my license and go to sea. The guy I was working with knew one of the mates on the Melville and they were dissatisfied with one of the able bodied seamen at the time, and the next time they came back into port it was a Wednesday, and they said if you can have your sea bag packed, you can have a job Sunday. So I called my boss who is also a good friend of mine, and I told him about the opportunity and said I wouldn't go if he didn't want me to, that I realized I wasn't giving him very much notice, but he knew how badly I wanted to go to sea and he told me to go and keep him posted.

Denise: Did you go to school for the mariner's license?
Captain: Part of my search for a career, I looked at working in the off-shore oil fields and had started working on one of their little crew boats, tending these off-shore production platforms in the Gulf of Mexico, and I found out Texas A&M, which my father's alumamater, offered a bachelor of science degree in marine transportation and nautical science. I applied there and spent four years in training there and got out with my Bachelor of Science degree and permission to sit for my 3rd mates license.

Denise: So it was by chance that you got into work with research vessels.
Captain: Yes it was, it was quite by chance I had been living in Hawaii, and I knew about Scripps because I had spent a lot of my life living in San Diego, didn't know much about their research ships, but when we pulled into San Diego it just so happened it was a few blocks from the marina where my family and I had been sailing for years. I always meant to go do something else, but I've been having so much fun that I the other day I noticed I had been with them for nineteen years.

Denise: Do you know the differences between working on a research vessel as opposed for working for the commercial industry such as the liner services, tankers, and other types of cargo ships?
Captain: Yes, some of my friends went into that industry and have been very successful and paid very well. In academia you don't get paid as much as private industry, but over the years I notice that my friends just don't enjoy going to work, it's just a job and they can't wait until they don't have to do it anymore. I almost always enjoy going to work and doing the job I do and look forward to every cruise.

Denise: What is one of your favorite things about working on the Melville?
Captain: The most fun that I have is seeing young graduate students, or young cadets come out and learn about the science of the seas and see their eyes light open up to this wonderful new world. I'm just surrounded by these smart people who work really hard, and study hard, their enthusiasm for what they're doing makes my job really enjoyable.

Denise: What's a hard aspect of this job?
Captain: If you're here, you're not with your family.

Denise: Anything that stands out as either an exciting or a scary moment onboard?
Captain: There have been times when the science hasn't gone well, instruments or equipment malfunctions. Everyone, especially the scientists who charter the vessel, a lot of times they have put years and years worth of work into these projects, something happens, they may not get that time back and we're all sad about that. Those are probably the worse times, when we are unable to complete our mission. Scary times; I've seen a few storms. I've always felt safe on these ships and the captains I've sailed under I thought had good judgement - knew when it was time to leave, or knew when it was time to heave to and wait. So, I've always felt safe. There have been a few times when I've been reminded that Mother Nature is very powerful and if she catches you wrong one day, she can get you.

Denise: How long have you been sailing as captain on the Melville?
Captain: About three years now. I started out as an able bodied seaman, and then worked for years as a 3rd mate, 2nd mate and chief mate. They let me sail as captain about three years ago, started out on the smaller ships, now I'm getting more and more time on the bigger ships.

Denise: As captain, what are your typical responsibilities?
Captain: First and foremost it's to bring everybody back safely. Secondly it's to bring the equipment back safely and in one piece and also to accomplish the mission, to help the scientists accomplish their mission to help them learn about the world, to learn about the earth.

Denise: Are you glad that you're at the place that you're at?
Captain: Do you mean do I like being Captain? I love it.

Denise: Do you have to deal with a lot of personnel issues?
Captain: Mostly we don't, the people who are here, want to be here. I think there's a good work ethic here. Each and every person we have here is proud of their skills and can't wait to show them off. I stay out of their way, watch them do their job and make sure that they have the tools they need to do it. I'm surrounded by a lot of talented people and it's a pleasure.

Denise: Is it still possible to work up through the ranks?
Captain: Yes, one of our senior captains now started out as a mess man and over the years worked his way up. A lot of the deck officers and engineers come out of the academy, and a lot come from the navy, and a lot of them for whatever reason show up in this industry and never leave, it's like a calling. I don't understand how someone from Nebraska or Illinois ends up on the Pacific Ocean, but they're here.

Denise: I understand you've done a lot of traveling, what are some of the places that stand out as a place that you would have never visited if you hadn't been working on a research vessel?
Captain: Oh, good lord, there's all kinds of places I never would have visited. Certainly love the South Pacific islands, I like the sun and the white sand and the diving. I think the flora and fauna in the Galapogos Islands is spectacular and curious, amazing. Easter Island is an interesting study in the people that live there and how they got there. Those two places I think it's unique to have gotten to go there, I always enjoy going back. I think a lot of us are in this industry or working for Scripps especially because they love to travel so much.