Hi there everybody. Now that I’ve almost completed week 2 of my work experience here at Metal Shark, I figured it was about time for another blog post. From now on I will probably try and update the blog once a week towards the end of the week.

Well, now that I am almost finished two weeks of work, I can say for sure that I am going to like almost everything about this place. The people here are all really great, and everyone goes out of their way to teach and explain everything that they do to me. The only thing I am not a big fan of is the 6 AM start time, which means a 4 AM wake up time for me. But, if that’s the only complaint I have then I guess that’s not too bad. So far, I have worked on three different boats during my time at Metal Shark. The first boat that I worked on was called an RBS, which is the U.S. Coast Guard’s Response Boat – Small. The boat is 28 feet long and will be powered by twin outboard motors. The second boat that I worked on was called an HSMST. The HSMST is a 26 ft. center console boat for the U.S. Navy. Powered also by twin outboards, this boat is used for towing various targets during target practice for the Navy. The boat that I am currently working on is a 38 foot Defiant, which is headed for Bangladesh. This is the largest of the boats that I have worked on and it will feature a water jet propulsion system. The 38 is nearly complete and should be ready to move on to the rigging department tomorrow.

So, now that I’ve told you what I’ve been working on, I can tell you what I’ve actually been doing. If not specifically assigned a task, I try to just jump in wherever needed and help as much as possible. This allows me to work on all areas of the project and I feel it is the most valuable learning experience for me. I get to do a lot of different things here at Metal Shark, so I’ll try to tell you about all the major ones. I fit and hold parts in place so that they can be welded and I help tack weld these places in place as well. I use a disc grinder to clean up parts and plates when needed. I have used a wire brush to clean and prep welds. This week I had the opportunity to clean and polish the hand rails for the 38 and then help install them. I also take parts and cut them on the band saw if needed. Those are the more interesting parts of my work, but there are of course some more basic tasks such as cleaning up, vacuuming, and pealing the protective paper off of the aluminum. Though I do not do any real welding yet, the welding shop foreman wants me to learn to weld while I am here, so I should start that soon. Well, I think that about covers it for now.

-T.J. Brackin