Customer service: You want the research vessel’s
Captain to have a “can do” attitude and who shows a sincere interest in your
project and its success. If not, you can end up paying top dollar for a vessel
without customer service and you will find yourself hearing the word “no” often
from the Captain. This is one of the main reasons why many contracts have to be
drawn up in very fine details. With many vessels, what you would expect to be
reasonable request will get a “no” or cost you extra, if it was not spelled out
in the contract. Is the Captain approachable or will you have to communicate
through a deckhand? Remember you’ll be confined to a boat with these people and
your project and safety is in their hands. A short 4 day trip could feel like a
month if the Captain and crew are aloof.
The right boat for the job: Oversized vessels will
eat up your budget fast. Undersized vessels will be limited by weather conditions,
lack of stowage and tight living conditions. Alaska is a wet environment and you
need an area to dry gear and work with samples or data out of the weather. Often
small boats only have the galley table for a sample processing area which is
far from ideal when dealing with fumes from preservatives and other chemicals. Yachts
are originally pleasure boats and are built like an RV. All the appliances are RV
sized and most are fair-weather boats. You don’t want to find your project
sidelined by a small craft advisory. Yachts are not work boats - they are built
for pleasure cruises.
Safety: Anybody can run out and buy all the safety equipment
required, but if they don’t know how to use it, it is rendered useless. Be sure
the contractor and crew is safety orientated. Do they provide survival suits
for everyone or just for crew members? Do they conduct a safety tour of the
boat to familiarize the research crew with the location of all the safety gear
and explain how to use it? Is the gear in good condition and modern?
Alaska proof: Is the vessel built to comfortably
stand up to Alaska weather? Does it have heavy duty ground tackle to stay
anchored in high winds and waves? Most vessels have undersized anchors, light weight
chains or cheap line. Does the vessel have a spare anchor, chain and line? If
not and the vessel loses an anchor in the middle of a project, you could find
your project interrupted and be headed back to port in bad weather. Is the boat
steel, fiberglass or wood? I would not recommend wooden boats unless it is in pristine
condition and the weather is ideal. Wooden hulls can hide rotten fasteners and
rotten planks. It is not uncommon to see US Coast Guard accident reports on
wooden boats sinking, caused by planks popping off. Alaska has a shortage of woodwrights
which makes maintaining them challenging. Many wooden boat owners rely on heavy
coats of paint, caulk and luck to hold their boats together. If the vessel is
fiberglass, be sure it was originally built as a work boat, not a yacht or pleasure
boat. Steel work boats are often the best choice but they must have been originally
built as a work boat. Steel pleasure boats and yachts tend to have thinner
hulls and often have port holes mounted close to the water line, which is a
weakness during rough weather conditions.
Comforts: Berthing areas should be comfortable so
that your research crew can get a good night’s rest every night. V-berths
should be avoided for charters longer than a few days. Most people do not get a
good night’s rest in V-berths. State rooms are best with no more than 2 people
per room. Beds should have mattresses and linen which can be cleaned regularly,
not sleeping bags which are harder to keep clean on a boat. Regular hot showers
are a must when working in cold, wet weather in buggy areas with fishy or
otherwise dirty samples. A hot shower and a good night’s sleep will prevent
fatigue and help keep the crew’s immune system strong. Heated indoor work areas
and covered outdoor work areas are a must. The galley should be able seat everyone
for meals at the same time. Vessels that are too small tend to serve meals in
shifts. This will cut in to your project time. Tiny galleys have small stoves and
this will make it hard to provide healthy, balanced meals three times a day. Having
a washer and dryer onboard is another must for charters longer than a week.
Clean dry clothes will make all the difference for your field work.
This is not a complete list, just some of the obvious short
comings I see everyday in Prince William Sound. For every contract which
Aquetec LLC - Alaska Research Support completes, we take note of anything that
would better accommodate the customer. Then we modify the boat to better fit
the job. Unfortunately many vessel owners prefer to put the money in their
pocket, not back into the vessel.Capt. Matt Cline
R/V Cathy G
