How An Unusual Career Leads to Time for Adventures

By Amanda Boles

OR THE PAST 14 years, my husband, David, has worked on an ocean-going tug and barge. He works a schedule of three weeks on, three weeks off, so he lives and works on a boat for half of the year. His company pays for his flights to and from the boat, so as long as our RV is near an airport, we can be anywhere in the country when it’s time to go back to work.

Seven years ago, we bought five acres in Nashville, built our dream home, and thought we’d live there forever … until we got a travel trailer. We always strive to maximize David’s time off work, so when he was home, we’d constantly be out traveling and exploring, and never home in our big house. Eventually, we figured, why not take full advantage of his very unique work situation? So in 2018 we sold everything and hit the road, and we honestly haven’t looked back. It’s been the best decision of our lives and has allowed us to blossom through adventures and traveling the country.

David lives on a 543-foot boat for half of his life, and in a 40-foot RV the other half. Including David, there are nine crew members on the boat—the captain, two mates, three engineers, two tankermen, and a deckhand. They take turns cooking nightly, so David cooks one night a week. They get a grocery allowance of $3,800 for three weeks, so they eat very well—lobster, steaks, and prime rib aren’t an unusual meal. This has allowed David to really practice his cooking skills and it’s something he has come to love and does very well. His captain often jokes that he should quit tugboat life and open a food truck to tow behind the RV.

Ultimately, whatever contract they are under dictates where the boat travels. Contracts are typically with Shell, Marathon, etc., as asphalt is a petroleum product. In the last year alone, David has worked on boats that have gone to Colombia, South America; New Brunswick, Canada; all along the East Coast; the Gulf Coast; and the West Coast. Sometimes there’s frozen sea spray covering the boat in icicles, and other times he’s dripping in sweat as he works under the blazing sun. He also, unfortunately, ends up in 17-foot seas at times.

His tugboat pushes the barge, which carries 2.94 million gallons of asphalt in a single load. David is the tankerman on the boat, and he is in charge of loading and discharging the asphalt to and from the boat and onto the dock. When out at sea, the crew catches up on maintenance, cleaning, rust chipping, and painting.

But for the big maintenance projects, the tug and barge go into the shipyard twice every five years to have upwards of $3 to $10 million worth of work done. At this time they undergo upgrades and changes based on new Coast Guard regulations. These shipyard visits typically last one to three months, depending on the scope of work.

David obviously doesn’t get to choose when he works, but we do at least know his schedule a year-plus in advance, because it never changes. Three weeks on, three weeks off, rinse and repeat, so we can plan our RV park bookings way ahead of time. But that also means we don’t get to choose when he’s home, so he often misses birthdays, anniversaries, and holidays. One small consolation is that he gets double pay day for all major holidays he’s on board for. So when he’s not home for Thanksgiving, Christmas, or New Years, he gets paid twice the normal amount for that day.

His company has great benefits— health insurance, 401k, and a pension. David is also a part of the Seafarers Union.

Overall, we both love David’s career. It sucks when he’s gone, but he loves his job, being at sea, and not having to commute every day or sit at a desk all day long. And we both love having him home for three weeks straight without having to worry at all about work. Now that we’ve been RVing for the past four years, we’ve grown to truly appreciate his career and the freedom it has given us.

It’s definitely not your typical 9 to 5, but we couldn’t imagine our lives any other way.

Amanda and David have been married almost 10 years and both love hiking, offroading, kayaking, boating, hot springs, and any sort of adventure—land or sea. Follow their travels on Instagram @therollinboles