[A Sailor's Day] I'll tell you about my realistic daily life working on a ferry

"What do you sailors do every day?"

I'm always at a loss whenever I'm asked that. People basically ask me, "What kind of fish do you catch?"

So, I'm going to write it all down here.

Morning: What does it mean to wake up on the sea?

First of all, as a premise, my "home" is moving.

Once we leave port, we're on the sea until the next port. It's obvious, but there are no convenience stores, no traffic lights, or rather,there is no land.

When I wake up in the morning and look out the window, it's just the sea. It feels amazing when it's sunny, but on rough days, I wake up to the ship rocking back and forth.

By the way, ferries have these wing-like things calledfinsattached to the hull that automatically reduce rocking. Without these, the rocking on stormy days would be truly brutal. Before the passengers get sick, these things are working hard behind the scenes.

Work: Controlling "speed" with propellers

"How do you handle the accelerator and brake on a ferry?"

Actually, we adjust the speed bychanging the angleof the propellers. Moving forward, stopping, and backing up are all controlled by the orientation of the propeller blades. It's not like stepping on the gas in a car; it's more like gradually changing the angle of the blades.

For those hearing this for the first time, you're thinking "Huh, really?" right? I was the same way at first.

The problem where sailor jargon doesn't make sense on land

I have a confession to make.

We sailors call the "deck" (kanpan) "kouhan".

Not "kanpan." "kouhan".

But when you type it on a smartphone, it doesn't convert to "kouhan." If you type "kanpan," it comes up instantly.

This is low-key stressful, and every time I talk to people on land, it becomes, "Wait, kanpan? Kouhan?" It's common sense in the world of ships, but it doesn't make any sense at all outside.

After doing this for over 10 years, you run into a lot of these things that are "obvious on a ship, but a mystery outside."

Night: A brief moment on land when we reach port

Ferries often arrive at port in the middle of the night.

We let the passengers off, take on new ones, and set sail again. In the meantime, we are working busily.

It's completely different from the glamorous image of a 'sea voyage'; it's a plain, physically demanding job. But for some reason, I can't bring myself to hate it.

Cargo ships, passenger ships, and ferries. I've worked on all three types of vessels, but in the end, I've always been out on the sea.

Maybe that's the answer.

Next time, I'll compare the 'completely different worlds' of cargo ships, passenger ships, and ferries. Look forward to it.