1. To see the world
Some people choose to work at sea because it gives them a chance to travel or because they like the way they can get responsible jobs relatively early in their careers. But for others, it's going to be the sole way they will earn a wage to support themselves and their families.
2. New horizons
The classic reason for getting to sea was to go to exotic foreign countries. Although the experience could easily be seeing the ocean for the primary time, instead of seeing the world!
Undoubtedly, seafaring broadened horizons in more ways than one. It meant you had to figure with the remainder of the crew, often drawn from very different circumstances. Then there have been foreign officials and workers who had to be addressed , requiring tact and respect for local customs.
Lots of seafarers did see the world. Many British seafarers have very fond memories of visiting ports in Australia, New Zealand and North America. Their ships would often spend every week or more during a port, long enough for them to strike up a friendship with the local people. For the locals, the ship and its crew gave a crucial point of contact with a foreign country, sometimes the one from which that they had emigrated.
3. To taste early responsibility
Not many of us in their early thirties are going to be given sole responsibility for something worth tens of many pounds. This can and does happen to the master of a ship. It is the master's responsibility to manage a crew that, during a big cruise liner , can number thousands. The master has got to make sure the ship plus its cargo or passengers arrives safely and on time. There are many of us to try to to the work, but the last word responsibility is that the master`s alone.
It is not just the captain who takes responsibility when fairly young. A junior deck or engineering officer will take watches where he or she is in sole charge of the bridge or engineering . Of course, a superior can always be called. However, there is a strong incentive for the juniors to show they can solve a problem without help.
