The very first question people always ask me is how I got into the maritime industry. However, it's usually stated like this: “How did YOU (this is the part where I also usually get the wide eyes and possibly a once-over body scan along with it) get into this industry???” I always chuckle but before I get a chance to answer, the next thing they blurt out is, “you must have grown up around boats?”
If you had asked me when I was in college what I was going to do as a career, I would have laughed nervously and said, “I have no clue”. I never saw a career for myself in the maritime industry, let alone even knew anything about the industry. I even grew up in Vallejo, California, and had never heard of the California Maritime Academy, which is located right in Vallejo. So how did I end up attending there, graduating there, and then becoming a Captain for Blue and Gold Fleet driving ferry boats in the San Francisco Bay?
When I was three years into college, my dad came to me and asked me very seriously what I was going to do with my life. At that time, I was going to a community college, taking my general education credits along with all the art classes I could find. Art had always been a passion of mine, and I just figured I'd follow my passion and find a way to make some money doing it. The problem? Being obligated to create art every day killed the fun of it for me. So, to be honest, I had absolutely no idea what I was doing with my life.
In the wake of my dad asking me the big life question, “what do you wanna be when you grow up?”, I took a few days and contemplated potential jobs that I thought I would enjoy doing every day, 9am-5pm, for the rest of my life. I had a ton of ideas. I definitely wanted to find something I thought would be fun, exciting, and out of the ordinary. All I knew for sure is that my career definitely, no matter what, would be nowhere near an office. I looked at what some of my relatives did for a living: I had an uncle who was a dolphin trainer in Las Vegas; another was an airline pilot. I set no limits, and in those three days I contemplated any and every job I thought I might enjoy doing for the rest of my life.
On the third day, I had a sudden memory of being a teenager and having the opportunity to ride in the wheelhouse of one of the Vallejo Ferry boats on our way to San Francisco for a day trip. On that day, the moment I had set foot in the wheelhouse, my very first thought had been, “this is the coolest job ever”. To be fair, almost everyone who walks into a wheelhouse thinks that, but hey - that’s because it's true! Still, the seed of an idea had been planted. My step dad is the reason this all came together. He was a diesel mechanic for the ferry boats his entire career, and so he had been able to give us a tour of the boats, and bring us to the wheelhouse to see the Captain while the vessel was underway.
So, after mulling over potential career paths, I went to my step dad and asked him how I could become a captain. He told me to go to the California Maritime Academy, and well... the rest is history.
Actually, that is where the real story begins, but I can save that for a later day. I had never heard of the Maritime Academy, but once I started learning about it, I fell in love. I became so excited I completely jumped all-in, never looking back. While I attended the Academy, I got a job working as a deckhand at Blue and Gold Fleet, where I am currently a captain, and worked on deck for three years while attending school. I knew I eventually wanted to drive their boats, so any chance I got I grabbed the sticks and started the scariest learning curve I have ever experienced. Once I graduated and got my master’s license, I was offered the chance to become a captain, and again I jumped at the opportunity.
Finishing up my fourth year of sailing as captain, I can say this: I'm only just becoming comfortable with the uncomfortable, and learning to embrace the struggle of progress. I consider myself one of the luckiest people in the world, having found a career and industry I absolutely love, and I honestly can't imagine a life for myself that doesn’t include being on the water.
Never settle for anything less than what you truly desire, and know that anything is possible if you are willing to take the road to get there.
Thank you for reading my story,
Chae Guillot
