Money, rotation, and not burning out

Know your number. What you need ashore, what you save, what a winter costs. A season that looks rich in July can be thin in November if you spend like a guest.

Rotation is a privilege and a test. The girl who comes back sharp is the girl who actually rested. The girl who comes back from a month of parties is already behind.

Sleep when the boat sleeps if you can. Your skin, your patience, and your promotion all sit on the same night's rest. I am blonde in the sun all season. I still wear the hat, the shirt, the SPF. Vanity is a professional tool. So is not being exhausted.

If the boat is wrong — unsafe, unpaid, a chief who humiliates — you may leave. Do it cleanly. The industry is a village. How you leave is a reference too.