Pat Mooney has been a deckhand for Blue & Gold Fleet out of its Vallejo terminal for more than three years, but his history of life on the water has deep roots: His father was in the Sailors' Union of the Pacific as far back as the 1930s, Mooney himself worked for the Matson steamship company in his early years, and his two brothers worked on oil tankers in Alaska and Los Angeles.
Pat Mooney comes from a family that works on the water. His father worked on cargo and container ships and his two brothers worked on oil tankers in Alaska and Los Angeles. Photo by Matt Larson
By Matt Larson
Published: November, 2015
Pat Mooney has been a deckhand for Blue & Gold Fleet out of its Vallejo terminal for more than three years, but his history of life on the water has deep roots: His father was in the Sailors’ Union of the Pacific as far back as the 1930s, Mooney himself worked for the Matson steamship company in his early years, and his two brothers worked on oil tankers in Alaska and Los Angeles.
“It’s really been in our family for a long time,” said Mooney. “When my father was doing it he was in one generation and now I’m kind of like the next generation; he was deep sea, container ships and cargo, and everything I’m doing is inside the Bay.”
Even as a youngster, growing up in South San Francisco when his dad was working for American President Lines at Pier 50 by China Basin, Mooney spent a lot of time around the ships. “When I was a kid we would check out the whole area down there,” he said. “Walk along the waterfront just having a great time. We spent a lot of time on the docks goofing around.”
Mooney took a break from working the waterways when he left Matson in the 1970s to work at a winery in Northern California for about 20 years. “Then one day my wife was looking around and said, ‘Are you ever going to do anything with your merchant mariners’ credentials?’ So I took a class with Matt Kirkpatrick [featured in our December 2013 issue] and ever since then we went from casuals to making it into Blue & Gold.” Currently they’re working on the same maintenance team.
Working in Vallejo affords lots of opportunities for Blue and Gold employees to do a lot of different things. Mooney splits up his year by working as a deckhand during the summer months, and then working on the maintenance crew in the winter. “I like it all,” he said. “It’s a nice change. I enjoy working on the high-speed boats—I do training, a little driving, I also do some line splicing and to me it’s kind of fun. It’s interesting in Vallejo because you can do quite a bit; lots of opportunity to do different things and actually learn stuff.”
As a deckhand, Mooney always looks forward to the people. “You see people from all over the world,” he said. “Right now we’re getting a lot of people from Australia; it’s their winter right now so they’re here.” And Mooney loves going above and beyond for his customers, whether it’s giving them insider knowledge about Fleet Week or calling a cab for them so they don’t miss out on nonrefundable Napa Valley Wine Train tickets. “A huge part of what we do is customer service and helping people,” Mooney said. That’s what keeps him coming to work every day. “For me, it’s helping the people.”
Living in Sonoma with his wife of 35 years, Mooney enjoys the quiet life in his small town of Schellville. “A deli, a gas station and a fire department—that’s Schellville.” said Mooney. “It’s out in the country, I have about three or four wineries within walking distance, and I do a lot of hiking in the area.” He also collects honey from his several beehives, has fruit and olive trees, and just enjoys living the country life.
Especially coming from Sonoma, Mooney can’t recommend the ferry enough. “On our end we have a tremendous amount of traffic,” he said. “You look at the roads and every morning highway 37 is a parking lot. I think the ferry is the only way to go up here.” He even takes it himself when commuting to the city, so follow his lead! We’ll see you out there.
