I am a deckhand on a 500ft commercial passenger ferry. I work 2 week watches/shifts and live onboard the ship during that time. Deckhands have a really wide variety of tasks they perform onboard, so I kind of just do various little jobs like keeping lookout (mostly for whales and logs), loading traffic and inspecting equipment.

There are two ships that I work on, but both are large commercial passenger ferries of approximately 500ft/150m in length. They are roll-on roll-off style ferries with both crew and passenger accomodations.

I have a family member who works for the same employer as me. I took a 6-week course on seamanship in university and 2 marine emergency duty (MEDs) courses to become qualified. I didn't really know much about ships at that time and didn't live on the coast where I could see them; but when I was in school and stepped onto a ship for the first time I just felt that I had found my niche in life.

I love any large ship, but my favorite type is probably the semi-submersible heavy-lift vessel. This kind of ship is really cool- they are engineered with decks low to the waterline and are designed to be ballasted down into the water, 'submerging' most of the ship and allowing heavy/large cargo to be floated onto the deck. These are the kinds of boats that tow massive factory equipment, offshore installations, and other ships around the world. Here is a photo of the 'Dockwise Vanguard' loaded with a ship for transport.