Why Work on or Around Boats? The Benefits of the Marine Industry
Years ago, I told an acquaintance I was going to a marine industry gathering. She scrunched up her nose and said, “Um, it’s an industry?”
This was an educated professional who worked 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. in an office cubicle. She also lived a few blocks from the Bay and enjoyed other people’s boats, but had never considered that those boats were made, outfitted, and serviced somewhere; that the sails and winches were manufactured and distributed; and that the people onboard bought those sailboats from a yacht broker or dealer and learned to sail them at a sailing school. My acquaintance hadn’t ever thought about the large marine retailer along the road leading to her neighborhood and who made a living there… or how I made a living as a sailing editor.
All of the above occupations and more constitute the “marine industry,” the cluster of professional and trades jobs revolving around boating. Marine professionals tend to dress more casually than their friends in other industries. Some of us wear shorts and flip flops to work. Some wear diving gear. Some wear khakis and polo shirts to work, yet others wear protective face masks and hard-toed boots. People in our industry work a lot of weekends. Many work outside on the waterfront, on or around boats, often in scenic locations from the neighborhood boatyard to the Caribbean.
No one enters the marine industry to get rich. Many of us do it to escape that indoor office cubicle scenario and the corporate daily grind. All of us do it for the love of boats and the water. We’re passionate about recreational boating and being a part of it. We’re not driving flashy cars, but we’re having more fun than most people at work!
Full disclosure: this short article is self-serving as we at SpinSheet Publishing have two available job openings: one for a full-time advertising sales representative in Annapolis and one for a part-time distribution driver in Baltimore. Find details about becoming a part of our team on our careers page.
For other ideas about jobs in the marine industry, click to the Marine Trades Association of Maryland at mtam.org or the Marine Trades Association of Virginia at virginiaboatlovers.com. ~M.W.
