- I flew back to the UK just in time to see my best mate get married, and then I applied to 98 companies.
- I’d always tried to do the best job that I could at any given time to show that there is no reason why women can’t do the job as good, if not, should I say better, and reach the same qualifications and ranks.
- Everyone was so welcoming, so genuine, and so nice.
She began at a time when there were few women at sea, and she was frequently warned that she would ‘create trouble with the males’, as reported by DevonLIve.
Female merchant navy captain
One of Britain’s first female merchant navy captains has told the story of her rise from a ship’s cook to meeting the future king when collecting her MBE for promoting women at sea.
In February, Captain Georgina Carlo-Paat collected her MBE for services to promote women at sea with a career spanning decades on the oceans.
I headed down through Europe and got a job as a waitress at the Wimpy in Gibraltar.
I ended up getting a job as a cook on an American cargo ship, the USS Gopher State and headed to Saudi with them.
At the time, their cook had walked off in the Azores, and Uncle Sam had told the captain he could employ anybody he saw fit during a time of war.
It was full-on getting to know how the ship worked, the crew, and how to make grits and eggs in six different ways.
Dream job
“It was exhilarating, fun and scary at times.”
The job was paid in US Dollars, so following her voyage, she headed to the States and stayed with the mother of one of her crewmates who worked for Maersk and suggested that if working at sea was her dream in life, she should return to the UK and gain the qualifications needed.
I went back to sea, then back to college, and it took ten years starting as a cadet to qualify as a class one master mariner.
It was sometimes a lack of ability to understand me.
I fully admit girls are not as strong as men, and there is a reason we’re built as we are.
Regular run
Her career has taken her from the North Sea, the Baltic, the Med, the Caribbean and North and South America, and the Arctic and Antarctic.
Then I could see an ice slide – they had made their own little penguin playground; they were climbing up the iceberg one by one and then sliding down.
I used to do a regular run in the Baltic, and we would dock overnight in St Petersburg, which was always a challenge – getting there involves going flat out at 40mph down a narrow channel.
She has also passed on her knowledge through talks to colleges and is keen to promote life at sea for budding captains.
“One thing that I learned early on, being one of the first to go through in this generation, is that any girl coming behind me would be judged by me, especially if they came into the same company.
Harbour-master
At the time of coming ashore, Georgina was living in Croyde in a property bought as her parent’s holiday home but used by her and her family as a home of their own.
“I heard the rumour that the harbour master may be retiring, so I phoned up and went down and met my predecessor and asked to be considered when he retired.
I have plans for the harbour,” she said.
Having a family is fantastic, it is very grounding.
He’s a bit too young [to get involved] being six, but he comes with me if I have to come over and check the harbour during the Christmas break and is very good at spotting things.
“Looking out of my window at the harbour office, it’s one of the most beautiful places in the world – and I know, because I’ve been to a lot of places.”
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Source: DevonLIve
