Help Eric Finish Training
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Hello friends and family,
My name is Hilary Berglund. I am from Washington state. I am “Go Fund-ing Me” today to raise funds for my family’s situation which has a timeline. I am raising funds to help pay for final classes, travel expenses and food for my husband Eric to return to a job in the maritime industry supporting the oil rigs offshore in the Gulf of Mexico.
Very Brief History: Eric is an accomplished mariner. He made his first trip up the inside passage to Alaska at 14 on F/V Prowler where he was a cook and deckhand. He started running his own gillnet operation at 17, and at 18 spent his first season crab fishing on the Bering Sea on board F/V Retriever. He has worked the sea as an engineer, deckhand, mate and captain most of his adult life.
One of Eric’s jobs was running supply boats in the oil fields of the Gulf of Mexico. This happened to be right after hurricane Katrina so many of the boats used to support oil rigs were retasked to clean up the devastation left behind by this massive storm. Eric’s supply boat “Brianna”, which ran out of Talens Dock, was in charge of pulling bodies from the water that devastated the Gulf Coast. A gruesome job and I have always felt proud that he had a part in reuniting lost loved ones with their surviving families. While captaining the Brianna, Eric was also in charge supplying one oil platform and satellite in Vermillion Bay. After one year he moved to Grand Isle with the Brianna to supply the large oil platform 43AA and the Delta Field.
While in port once Eric noticed a new kind of boat called a lift boat. He applied to run one of these specialized vessels with Offshore Marine Contractors. He spent a year on the Wyatt Lee as Mate working in the Gulf of Mexico and the Bahamas. He “broke out” (became captain from position of mate) on the Courtney Gabrielle, a 175 Class Lift Boat (the 175 is how many feet the boats can jack up above the surface of the water to service the oil platforms ).
Eric earned his 1600 Ton Master Near Coastal USCG license in 2017 and with the semi-collapse of Alaskan commercial fishing industry, wants to return to work in the Gulf of Mexico. He has been offered a captain job running “K Marine V” a 220 ft supply boat for Kilgore Marine. We are overjoyed as it will provide a good living for Eric, me, Kaycie (16 year old daughter) and Emmett (12 year old son).
With help, we were able to make a road trip down to the gulf coast and have spent the last week in Lafayette, LA where Eric trained and tested all last week. Yesterday we were informed he has another week of training to do. The classes are at our expense in terms of tuition, hotel and food.
Unfortunately, travel is so expensive we have depleted our funds and do not have the means to pay his tuition for this last week long class, his hotel stay etc. I am estimating we will need about $4,500 to make it happen. Once Eric has completed this class he will have renewed skills and be able to captain supply and lift boats once again.
Emmett and I are with him in Louisiana now but we fly out today (March 16, 2024) and Eric is going to stay in Lafayette in hopes we can come up with the money for him to complete this journey and start a job that would change our financial future.
The money you donate to this fundraiser will pay for:
My name is Hilary Berglund. I am from Washington state. I am “Go Fund-ing Me” today to raise funds for my family’s situation which has a timeline. I am raising funds to help pay for final classes, travel expenses and food for my husband Eric to return to a job in the maritime industry supporting the oil rigs offshore in the Gulf of Mexico.
Very Brief History: Eric is an accomplished mariner. He made his first trip up the inside passage to Alaska at 14 on F/V Prowler where he was a cook and deckhand. He started running his own gillnet operation at 17, and at 18 spent his first season crab fishing on the Bering Sea on board F/V Retriever. He has worked the sea as an engineer, deckhand, mate and captain most of his adult life.
One of Eric’s jobs was running supply boats in the oil fields of the Gulf of Mexico. This happened to be right after hurricane Katrina so many of the boats used to support oil rigs were retasked to clean up the devastation left behind by this massive storm. Eric’s supply boat “Brianna”, which ran out of Talens Dock, was in charge of pulling bodies from the water that devastated the Gulf Coast. A gruesome job and I have always felt proud that he had a part in reuniting lost loved ones with their surviving families. While captaining the Brianna, Eric was also in charge supplying one oil platform and satellite in Vermillion Bay. After one year he moved to Grand Isle with the Brianna to supply the large oil platform 43AA and the Delta Field.
While in port once Eric noticed a new kind of boat called a lift boat. He applied to run one of these specialized vessels with Offshore Marine Contractors. He spent a year on the Wyatt Lee as Mate working in the Gulf of Mexico and the Bahamas. He “broke out” (became captain from position of mate) on the Courtney Gabrielle, a 175 Class Lift Boat (the 175 is how many feet the boats can jack up above the surface of the water to service the oil platforms ).
Eric earned his 1600 Ton Master Near Coastal USCG license in 2017 and with the semi-collapse of Alaskan commercial fishing industry, wants to return to work in the Gulf of Mexico. He has been offered a captain job running “K Marine V” a 220 ft supply boat for Kilgore Marine. We are overjoyed as it will provide a good living for Eric, me, Kaycie (16 year old daughter) and Emmett (12 year old son).
With help, we were able to make a road trip down to the gulf coast and have spent the last week in Lafayette, LA where Eric trained and tested all last week. Yesterday we were informed he has another week of training to do. The classes are at our expense in terms of tuition, hotel and food.
Unfortunately, travel is so expensive we have depleted our funds and do not have the means to pay his tuition for this last week long class, his hotel stay etc. I am estimating we will need about $4,500 to make it happen. Once Eric has completed this class he will have renewed skills and be able to captain supply and lift boats once again.
Emmett and I are with him in Louisiana now but we fly out today (March 16, 2024) and Eric is going to stay in Lafayette in hopes we can come up with the money for him to complete this journey and start a job that would change our financial future.
The money you donate to this fundraiser will pay for:
- Hotel for Eric in Lafayette for 7-10 days
- Tuition for the final class he needs to start captaining for this company.
- Food and gas while he is in Lafayette.
- Parking
We are so grateful you took the time to read and consider donating to our cause. Eric’s class starts on Monday 3/18 and as I previously mentioned he will be staying behind in Lafayette while Emmett and I fly home. He needs money for food, an unfancy hotel, gas, parking and tuition. Please consider donating to our Go Fund Me today as this job will provide a living for our family.
Thank you,
Hilary B
Organizer
Hilary Berglund
Organizer
Sedro-Woolley, WA