Waterfront Summer Internship
Over the summer from sophomore to junior year, I decided to get a job. Originally, I was searching for low-skill jobs like cashier or shelf-stocker, but towards the end of the year, it came to my attention, an internship was being offered to sophomores, so I gave it a shot. A few weeks after completing an interview, I received an email from the internship provider announcing that I have been employed through the Billion Oyster Project (BOP). The job was to start July 10 with a mandatory orientation June 23.
Orientation described what was expected, how to fill out paperwork - like W-2 forums - and to reach out about any questions. The internship kicked off on Tuesday, June 11 at the MAST center off the 10 AM boat. Four other interns and I were set to work for 6 weeks. Day one and two were not terribly exciting as it was a bunch of cleaning around the dock and outdoor shop space, as well as organizing scrap piece into neat piles. Day 3, we at the Brooklyn Navy Yard and cleaned up a bit around there as well as get used to the commute. Day 4, Friday, we were back at the MAST center organizing lines and cleaning up the eco dock space. Generally, we have Saturday and Sundays off, but the interns and I were needed to crew Privateer for the loading of Peaking to be shipped back to Germany. It was an early 6 AM wake up and even though it was raining and chilly, the event persisted without hitch. Camera crew boarded Privateer and as we circled around the loading process, they took pictures.
Week 2 we were back at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, preparing the boats, and tidying up some more. The Interns and I were alerted that the following week was In-dock and we are going to represent the Waterfront club and Vessel Operations CTE. Week 3 had future freshmen come in and get an early sneak-peek into what the Vessel Ops CTE was like, performing man overboard drills down by Eire Basin, as well as go kayaking at Pier 101. The future freshman also got to race cardboard kayaks they built through the pier as lifeguards from the SCUBA CTE watched on. Overall In-dock was a ton of fun and I still chit-chat with some of the new freshman class.
Week 4, was back at the Navy Yard, setting up for Indy 7's restoration, as she was pulled from the water onto poppets for weeks of restoration. We started sanding her down from top to bottom, revealing tons of cracks and dents in her fiberglass hull and repairing the holes with new layers of fiberglass. Her letters were removed and sanded as well. Weeks 5 and 6 were continuations on Indy 7's restoration with featured removing her rudder, power washing her bilge and sides, painting and more sanding.
The interns and I were worked and glad the internship was over. As I reflect on the experiences, it was tough but necessary work and provided a glimpse into what an average boat operator needed to do to keep their boat in good shape