Glen ‘Glenbo’ Walker

Position: Bosun

The nickname came from when I started working here. There were three other people all ending in -oh. The leading hand at the time was Jonno, the deckhand was Shelmo, another crew member was called Deano, and so Glen became Glenbo.

I’ve been working at NIWA for 27 years since I was 19. I was a casual since July 1992 and made permanent on October 16^th that year. As the bosun I am in charge of the deck. I make sure everything gets loaded and unloaded without being broken.

My favourite thing about the job is the time off! The crew work on a month on-month off basis so when we are on shift we work hard, but when we are off shift, we are completely free! My favourite voyages have been the ones where we go to Antarctica because it’s not something you see every day. Seeing underwater volcanoes by the Kermadecs was also very cool.

Working at sea is a good chance to meet great people.