Dive and Discover : Expedition 4 : Interview

When not sailing the world, Knorr’s Captain AD Colburn lives in Woods Hole, Massachusetts with his wife Karen, a homemaker, and two daughters, Katie, 15, and Alison, 12.

Question:
What do you love about your job?

AD:
The beginning of a research expedition. I get excited about the stage when you are sailing from a port. That’s when the trip is full of potential.

Question:
Do you have a favorite time of day aboard the ship?

AD:
The end of the day. If you can hit the rack knowing it was a productive day, that it was safe, that everybody’s ok, that things are going according to plan, then that’s terrific.

Question:
You are home only four months each year. How does that work with your family?

AD:
Surprisingly well. Every five years or so my wife and I do a cross-check and we ask each other, ’how is this for you, how is this for me.’ All the way through our years without children, then when they were infants and now teenagers, it has gone surprisingly smoothly. But this is not the average. There is a lot of divorce and unhappiness in seagoing careers. We are making it work.

Question:
What is an average day like for you on the ship?

AD:
I wake up about 7 am. Then it is a lot of mingling and touching base with the crew and the scientists. What I find I end up doing in a day is just communicating. Often times it is very small details, small things that someone needs an answer to so they can continue doing their job. That’s what it is all day and night. Some days it goes real smoothly. Other days the ship needs a lot of monitoring. I head to bed about 11 pm.

Question:
So you aren’t always steering?

AD:
Nope. I’m there to make sure that we are steering the ship in the right direction and that the mates have the information they need to carry out their jobs - like steering the ship.

Question:
What advice do you have for students considering a career as a ship captain?

AD:
It takes determination and you have to be able to take responsibility. The buck stops with you - successes and failures. You have to love it, want it, and continue to work for it. Also, anybody can become a sea captain. I know more and more women in very responsible positions on ships, including two relief captains.

Question:
What are you reading right now?

AD:
A book on the British history of the Seychelles Islands (Hard Times in Paradise by William McAteer).

Question:
What did you think of the movie The Perfect Storm?

AD:
I haven’t seen it yet. I’m not superstitious, but tragedy at sea is not something I’m drawn to.

Question:
Do you get seasick?

AD:
I certainly have in the past.