With over 70% of its surface covered in water, the Earth is clearly a very wet place. And yet, despite being made of around 60% water ourselves, we don't tend to do well traversing very wet places. At least not without some help.

Fortunately, much like the reflective patch of skin atop a bald man's head, the ocean seems quite happy to have things placed on top of it. That's where shipwrights come in—swarthy nautical engineers who build the vehicles that move you over those blue sections of the map.

 

Tim's first foray into ship design was successful because it floated. It failed because it was a leaf. (Source)

People need all sorts of boats; from small canoes designed to carry you, a loved one, and a romantic picnic across a serene mountain lake, to massive aircraft carriers capable of launching fleets of death bombers into enemy territory. 

Building these watercraft requires a broad range of knowledge and skill, generally gained through college programs and lengthy apprenticeships. Yes, it's typically more complicated than, "just make a thing that floats."

As with most careers, compensation varies, but census data shows that modern shipwrights are banking an average of $94,040 per year (source). Sounds pretty good, right? Just keep in mind that while the dude designing TI-class supertankers is ordering filet mignon, the guy molding rubber on an inflatable raft is probably seeing how much tap water and table bread can fill him up before his chef salad arrives.

 

For best results, make sure your software is up to date and virus-free. (Source)

Most shipwrights are also known as "naval architects" because they do pretty much exactly what that name implies: they create blueprints and design plans for sea-bound vessels. We have to admit, this makes a whole lot more sense than saying someone "wrights ships" (at least in modern language). 

Most shipwrights sit behind a computer for most of the day. They use fancy computer software to figure out stuff like the proper curvature of hulls and how to squeeze a king-sized bed into the luxury suite of a cruise liner.

Once they're done planning things out, shipwrights will sometimes head out to the docks and test prototypes (this is known as "the fun part"), seeing exactly what works and what doesn't. You'd think the math would be enough to make sure things are working properly without a hands-on experiment, but just tell that to 68% of passengers aboard the Titanic (source). 

With so many airplanes in the sky and, well, all the boats that have already been built, it might be easy to think that the world is just about done with shipwrights. Au contraire. The shipwright profession is actually expected to grow at the same rate as most careers over the coming decade (source). 

Ships are still widely used to transport cargo from continent to continent. That's one of the reasons why shipwrights are typically more concerned with building efficient ships than just building ships in general. Fuel efficiency on cargo ships, passenger capacity on cruise liners, and weight limits are all things a master shipwright has on his or her mind at the time of design.

Learning to do all of that well requires a strong background in the math and science. That shouldn't come as too much of a surprise—no offense to philosophy and liberal arts majors. We're sure you wouldn't want Stephen Hawking teaching your poetry class...wait never mind, that'd be awesome.

But we digress...like most careers requiring a strong math and science background, it helps to be an analytical thinker. 

That doesn't mean you should be a walking calculator stripped of emotion and humanity, though. The whole "design" part of this job promises that creative minds will almost always occupy the positions at the top of the field.

Sound like your sort of gig? Then navigate toward studies to math and science, spend as much time on the water as you can, and prepare to never again watch Titanic without cringing.

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