As the daughter of a fisherman and having grown up on Fotö in the Bohuslän archipelago, it was an easy choice for Nathalie Carlhav to work at sea.  She is currently paid by the hour as an archipelago skipper in the municipal company Öckerö Rederi, where she sails the passenger ferry M/S Burö and the vehicle ferry M/F Polstjernan. Her husband Joakim Carlhav is a master at Northern offshore services (NOS) and works three weeks on and three weeks off.  They have two children together: Anja, 6, and Walter, 3. 

“There are many things to fix when he is away, but I try to work as much as I can, not because I have to for the money, but because I think it’s such good fun,” says Nathalie.  

There are many things to fix when he is away, but I try to work as much as I can

Mostly the children’s grandmother helps out when Joakim is away, but they also get help from neighbours and friends, she says.  When Walter was born, Nathalie was working at a shipping company in Uddevalla and a friend who lived there could take care of the children.

“She was on long-term sick leave and when Joakim was working, she and I swapped homes with each other.  She lived here with the children and I lived in her apartment in Uddevalla.  It worked out really well,” says Nathalie. 

Nathalie’s boss is also very sympathetic about their family situation, she says, and sometimes the children are allowed to be on board with her.

“Sometimes, if I can’t find a babysitter, the manager will say, ’Don’t worry, bring the kids along, we’ll sort it out during the day.’  It only takes me three minutes to get to my job so it works out just fine.” 

When Joakim is at home on leave, Nathalie takes the opportunity to work extra hours, but since they are renovating the house too, they help each other with the children and home chores during his leave.  As for their children, it’s quite normal for them to have parents who aren’t always at home, says Nathalie.  “They’ve grown up with it and when they are playing you sometimes hear them say ’you work on that ship and I work on this ship’.  For them, this lifestyle is natural and it was the same for me when I was growing up.”