Without going into all the in and outs of mating and what to expect from the fares ( alot of good advie in this tread), the most valuable piece of advice I can give you is to get enrolled in a random drug testing program. All mates are SUPPOSED to be in a drug test program, though sometime when we need a fill in every captain will look the other way rather than sailing sithout a mate. But if you have the card, you will get a ton of work as a fill-in mate and you can work your way up from there.
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