mate

noun, Naut., an officer on a merchant ship subordinate to the master, the rank being divided into first, second, third, etc. mate (COD)

“When I was mate on the boat, I could tell you who went to town in the morning and when you were coming back.”

“There were a skipper, two mates, two wheelsmen … two watchmen, three deck hands. For aft you had two engineers, two oilers, three firemen, two cooks.”

“He was mate on the old Wolfe Islander.”

“Of course Tom had sailed with them before on another boat when he was mate and stuff, eh.”

“I was mate on the boat with him.”

“He said, ‘Is there any opening for jobs?’ The mate said, ‘Yes, we need a deckhand’.”

“Yeah, he was on the old ferry not as captain, but he was on it as a mate. He was still on the lakes, and then he decided to stay home.”

“You were there every day once you went on watch. Like once you went wheeling or watching or climbed up to mate, you were there.”

“Captain is top of the pile. Mate is second. Skipper’s responsible for everything on the ship. And then, the mate is next.”

“He rode too long with somebody, with a captain, I guess, rode mate too long or something. Like, he was alright if there was somebody, like a captain or somebody, standing behind him, but if he was alone he couldn’t seem to make the judgements or whatever, eh.”