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There's no darkness quite like the middle of the Bering Sea at 3 in the morning. No city glow on the horizon. No landmarks. Just black water in every direction and the hum of a diesel-electric power plant keeping everything alive.
I spent several years as Second Assistant Engineer and Oiler aboard the C/P Starbound with Aleutian Spray Fisheries. My job was keeping that boat running. Refrigeration systems, generators, the fish processing line — all of it fell under the engineering department and none of it waited for convenient hours.
I was in my mid-twenties living on a commercial fishing vessel in the North Pacific and at the time I thought I was just doing a job. Building a resume. Making money. Seeing something different.
I didn't understand until much later that I was being built.
The Bering Sea is one of the most unforgiving places on earth. It doesn't care about your confidence or your plan. It tests everything you think you know about yourself and it does it without warning. You either learn to stay calm in chaos or you don't last. You either learn to trust the people next to you or someone gets hurt. You either show up every single day at your best or the boat suffers for it.
I carried all of that back to Moses Lake. To the plant floor at Group 14. To the football field where I coach youth sports. To my son's bedside when he's sick and I'm running on nothing.
The ocean was a hard teacher. I'm grateful for every lesson.
Jason David NewtonMechanical Technician | Moses Lake, Washingtonjasondavidnewton.com
