Lynn Lau
Northern News Services

Inuvik (Oct 15/01) - Sherman Rine came North to work for the Department of Fisheries and Oceans when he was 27-years-old. Now he's 48, and he's still loving the life of a sailor.

Last week, he spoke to News/North about what it's like spending the summers on the CCGS Dumit, tending buoys and navigational aids on the Mackenzie.

This year, the CCGS Dumit and its 11 crew members worked the section of river from Tuktoyaktuk to Norman Wells.

News/North: What brought you up here?

Sherman Rine: Friends of mine from school came up and started working on the boats. They would come back and they would have a fair amount of money and lots of time off. And both of those things really impressed me. Plus, just sailing the Mackenzie and seeing a part of the world that I'd never seen and probably never would have, had I not come here.

N/N: Did you think then that you'd still be here after 21 years?

SR: I don't think anybody really does. Everybody thinks, I'll be here for a while, but it just becomes part of your life. If I had a nickel for every person that said, "This is the last season," I'd be rich.

N/N: How about you -- did you ever catch yourself saying that?

SR: No, I've never said that. This is the best job I've ever had, so why would I give that up?

N/N: What are the hours like?

SR: We work 12 hours a day, seven days a week. That's the average. There's certain areas where we might work 14, 15 hours a day until that part of it is done.

N/N: What do you do when you're not working?

SR: We don't have much time when we're not working. We get off at eight at night, and myself I try to go to bed by 11 -- so that's only three hours that you got to worry about. Usually, what I do is, I'll read for a while. I'm trying to read this year. Like novels. I have a really good one that my wife sent to me -- This Much I Know is True, by Wally Lamb.

N/N: Is that one of those Oprah Book Club books?

SR: Hey, don't put that in there. My wife sent me this and said, 'I know it's Oprah, but with an open mind, read it.' So I read it and it's an excellent book.

I'll read until nine and then sometimes I'll watch a movie. If I've been in the wheelhouse as mate (helping steer the ship instead of working on the deck and shore) where I'm not getting much exercise, I'll do the treadmill. We have exercise equipment spread throughout the ship.

N/N: Does the work get monotonous?

SR: At times it can, but we're pretty busy. There's always stuff for us to do.

N/N: What do you like about it?

SR: It's a pretty good job. I like being out in the open air. I just like sailing on the river. Plus, I already mentioned the time off. We usually get from the third week in October to the second week in May off.

N/N: What do you do in the winters?

SR: I live outside of Kelowna and spend that time with my family - try to get some quality time since I'm away for so much. I got two girls. They'll be ten and seven in December.

N/N: So you're sort of like a stay-at-home dad half the year?

SR: Yeah, but it's not like my wife is out working. She's a stay-at-home mom too.

N/N: How do you keep in touch when you're away?

SR: We got a mobile phone that we can use anywhere on the river, plus we got a cell phone that works from Arctic Red to Tuk. Most of us usually wait until we get into a town and then we can use a land line. We get into a town every two weeks or so. Usually a trip from Inuvik to Norman Wells is a two-week trip. In Norman Wells, you'll take on fuel and provisions and that gives guys a chance to go and use the phone. Then from Norman Wells to Inuvik, there's another two to three weeks. Here in Inuvik, we have the use of e-mail.

N/N: How long do you dock in town when you do?

SR: Usually it takes about two days.

N/N: What do you like to do in town after two or three weeks on the river?

SR: I usually just go and phone my family, and the odd time I'll have a few drinks but I usually leave that for the younger guys. They rebound a little quicker than I do. It's nice just to get TV when you get into town, and get the news.

N/N: So this time of year, are you getting pretty antsy to get home?

SR: Yeah, but it's still a ways to go yet. We still got a thousand miles of river to go. Guys are pretty excited. We all got families. We miss half of a year of our kids growing. So it's pretty exciting to be able to go back to see them.