From the MM&P Hiring Hall
Evita Adriano, Third Mate
01 December 2025 - MM&P Hiring Hall - Oakland, California
You know, I'll start off with what I did after high school. I was pursuing nursing. Both of my parents were in the medical field, and after two years of getting my AA in nursing, I changed my mind. I was like, hmm, I don't know if this is what I actually wanted. So, I ventured off pursuing optometry, out of all things, right? I have really bad eyesight. But yeah, thanks to two specs I’m able to see.
I'm Filipino, I studied in the Philippines, and I did that for a year. I thought that the education was not on a par of the American standard.
I went back [to school and the States] and ended up pursuing teaching. I did that for, let's say, three years. At the same time I was working all over San Mateo County, and in different schools in Pacifica. I was a para-educator.
You know, in my mind, I wanted to get my masters in special-ed. I have a twin brother who is special-ed, and so that was where my heart was at at the time.
I also do a lot of volunteer stuff on the side. At the same time I was working at the polls, voting, the election, and one of the trainers, we were talking about family. She said. “My dad was a merchant mariner.” I said, “That’s cool, does he make a lot of money out of that?” and she said, “Yeah! He graduated Cal Maritime.” It was just a conversation, but I looked into it.
No experience in the water or nothing. And yeah, from there, I kind of just went for it. I signed up for my classes there, and now I’m a Third Mate.
You know, the dynamic of the people on the water is something else. It's like, I didn't really go too far from that special-ed.
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Anyway, here I am now. I like what I do, and I see myself continuing doing what I do now. It's nice, four months on, four months off. That four months off is really, really challenging. It’s just like, now what do I want to do? I’m still rediscovering myself and what I actually want to do in my life, but in the meantime I'm surviving, taking it day for day.
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The vessel that I was just on, it gave me a real eye opener. Like oh my gosh, this world, forget about teaching, man, this is where it's at.
We got to go to port, places that I couldn't even imagine being on if I was just like a teacher. I would just be local, and that made me see the world in a different perspective. In a way I was always kind of, I don't know, domesticated? Being out there kind of just got me off my shell.
Sometimes living out in the world [on the sea], it's scary, it’s dangerous. Everyday it's like 90 percent of the time you're like sipping tea, but that 10 percent, it's really scary. It can get scary real quick. But you just got to be on it, and once you go through those challenges, it makes you a better person every day. I'm just excited.
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Even getting to port, communication and language barriers, it's a huge thing. I'm Filipino. I was born in the Philippines. And the language and the people and the culture is totally different. It's different to every day. And you see the same people every time we get to these ports.
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What do I like being out at sea? I feel like when you're out in land you're kind of so busy with with little things that don’t matter, but when you're out at sea you're facing your own demons.
I got to make these decisions, and get some rest because nobody's going to tell you, like, you need to sleep.
You can't get eight hours of sleep. You're going to be in port in how many hours? And then you have, like, four hours of sleep and you just gotta go for it. You just gotta do what you gotta do, and I think that's that's what I like about it, the challenge.
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I have sailed on container ships - the last ship I was on, that was a container. I will do a tanker. I'm open to trying out all kinds of vessels. I'm up for the challenge.
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I'm definitely a social butterfly, and I love that. You know, I was out at sea and people might think you're out at sea, you're alone. No, you're not alone. You have your shipmates. That's like your second family. And it's like the ship is your home.
Nobody could escape my chit-chat. I'm a chatterbox. I think the guys at sea, they might be alone. I didn't feel that way, and I hope that they were able to come to me chat for a bit. You know, brighten their day in some way, [while] being stuck on a ship for like half a year.
So, I wouldn't see myself a loner. I mean you could choose to be alone. There are times you have to be alone because just your mental state, and like let me get my thoughts together. But at the same time I get energy from people's energy, and I try to line things up.
It's tough out at sea. Definitely people can isolate themselves. But, you know, for me, I try to actually reach out to people. As a third mate I feel like that sense of responsibility not just to the safety of the vessel, but the safety of others. And by saying safety, I mean physical and mental. You know, check on each other. I think that's really important, and part of being a sailor.
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The most difficult thing about the job? What is the most difficult? I think everything is a challenge when you're not used to them.
You know everything could be difficult. Standing watch at night, being so tired and sleep deprived, oh that's a huge challenge. I usually try to push up, you know, keep myself awake. I do the same thing with my watch a partner. I think the biggest challenge is every day just waking up, and you just gotta get through it. Yeah, every day you're fighting laziness. You're fighting being exhausted. At the end of the day it's the people that's around me that propels me to do what I gotta do.
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So, I've been on three ships. The third ship, the last ship that I was on, went to Busan (Korea), Japan, Guam, Saipan, and that was it. So not much experience.
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It [being a woman onboard] has been brought up to me by the ABs (Abled Body Seaman). Let's say it’s lunchtime, or any mealtime - I would ask for a plate, and the guys are like you get special treatment because you're a girl. (No) I’m an officer, let's start there. You know you gotta set those those boundaries. Sometimes they don't know who they're talking to, and they're just looking at you as a female, not an officer. You gotta correct them sometimes in a joking, but firm way. In a light way I should say, not joking.
Mooring lines, that helped a lot for being a female. I feel like the stevedores in in Korea, or Japan, with the line handlers they were more, I'd say attentive, to me.
The way how you come out, how you say it, affects how their (stevedores ) mood is, and if they want to get to it as soon as they can.
But you build your relationship with everybody, and it doesn't have to be you're a female, or a male, as long as you have a good, respectable approach and manner with everybody, I think you're gonna get along with anyone. That's how I saw it.
I didn't see anything negative being a female. If anything it was a positive because people were willing to open up when I would talk to them. I don't know how it is with other guys talking, but some people have definitely opened up to me about how they felt, like if they’re lonely. Definitely it's more of a plus having a female on the ship.
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I am not in a relationship. I was in relationships before this last sail, and then after that I realized it made me think it didn't go anywhere, so I just cut it.
Coming back to land I was checking up on all of my my friends, my family, and I felt I'm still exhausted. I wanted, you know, the reassurance to see them, and say I'm OK. And, you know, making so much money, I just want to treat them like how they've treated me all these years. But relationship wise my parents are Filipinos. The culture is you gotta get married, like right now. But that pressure doesn't really bother me. I'm just living life, and we'll see where it takes me.
No relationship, that's not an issue. It will just come and go, whatever. But I don't see it as a problem.
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For a long time I was kind of antsy coming back to land. Not gonna lie, it was like you're getting off a ship, you say your goodbyes, somebody picks you up, you stay at a hotel, and then you get shipped out, back to to land [Your contract does not necessarily take you back to the port you started in]. And you're kind of like, now what? Now what do I do with my life?
And that answer was like, oh my gosh I need to get back (on a ship). No, I can’t (by contract), I'm on vacation.
[On ship] I was so busy every day. It was like a fast paced job. You wake up, there's drills, and there's always something going on out at sea. And when you're in land, you're kind of like, my body needed that drive. I've been working out like crazy. That's how, that's how I get back to tempo, getting that energy out. Is that antsy? I don't know.
Then after that, I'm like, oh man, what do I do? What's my purpose in life? Should I be doing something? I don't know, but I try to, you know, take some classes. Well like online - how to fix my car, how to fix something in my apartment. There's always something now. So, that's what I've been keeping myself busy with. Other than, you know, fattening myself up, running and going to the gym.
Then I still get those moments like I need to like do something else, like fix something, and that’s what I've been doing in my apartment.
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My situation right now is my parents are still paying for my apartment. I do see myself getting a property somewhere. I’m looking at Washington, maybe Florida, we’ll see. But I want to get a property, a place to settle. A place of my own.
I'll have that place, and still be able to sail. I do see myself having a place I could call home.
I would be looking at a place maybe close to the hall. There is a hall in Washington. But Florida, my best friend is there, and maybe I could get property next to her. But right now I'm renting, and my parents are very helpful and I've been just saving up for a place.
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I speak Tagalog, English and a little bit of Spanish. A little bit of Japanese, a little bit of Korean, you know just to get by. Does that help in this job? Oh yeah 100 percent.
We were in the Port in Korea, in Busan, and the longshoremen when we were tying up, the line was going to get under the fender, it was gonna be a danger, and I said. “kick it off the curb”. I kinda raised my tone and they looked at me, and didn't think it was gonna be coming out of little Asian female. I felt like I said it rudely, and I said fanahai, and did like a heart on my head. They were like, you call me oppa, and I said, thank you, oppa.
It was a blast in Japan just saying arigato (thank you). Definitely people treat you differently when you know a little bit of their culture, a little bit of their language.
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So, as a third mate who just got off a ship I'm on vacation. I can't work (by contract in a union covered job). So I was what else can I do? I'm looking at my MMC (Merchant Mariner Credential), (thinking) what is the use of this? What else can I do as a third mate besides a third mate, and it's a wiper.
I have a friend who's in a ROS (Reduced Operating Status) ship in Oakland, and I called him - yeah you could sail as a wiper, he said. You can work your way up as an electrician, or a reefer.
I kind of want to be a reefer, and I dug into it more, like how do I become a reefer? Well, you have to sail as a wiper for like six months, and then after that you're qualified to take the the classes towards becoming a reefer electrician.
I said sign me up, and went to the MFOW (Marine Firemen, Oilers, Watertenders and Wipers Association) hall. They said fill out this form, and you can sail as a as a wiper. I was like okay, and the next ship is going to come up January 12th. I'm waiting until January 12th, maybe I can sail as a wiper.
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What is a wiper? A wiper is the lowest unlicensed [OB, AB sailors are licensed but are commonly referred to as unlicensed] in the engine department. It's just maintaining the engine area, I guess. I don't know. We'll find out.
A reefer? They are in charge of the reefers (refrigerated containers). I’ve noticed they’re always high in demand as a night mate. When I'm night mate, when on vacation, I’d night mate like twice or three times in a week. But these wipers are in higher demand, I feel like. So maybe I can dabble on that. We'll see how it goes.
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I just wanted elaborate on where I see myself living, and relationship-wise.
I want to get a place, like I said, in Washington or Florida, and maybe find a man who can take care of my farm. I want to, you know, have a lifestyle of living kind of independently (self sustaining).
How am I going to do that if I'm out at sea? So, yeah, I need, I'm looking, for a man who can take care of my chickens and ornamental cows. And, if they have some carpentry, some skills to maintain and keep up with a house, and a barn with crazy animals running around, sign me up. That's the dream.
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I think I will (stay with this). It’s a thrill being out in the water.
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Evita Adriano, Third Mate - 01 December 2025
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Photo: Robert Gumpert