When I was a little girl, I wanted to grow up to be a writer. Mission accomplished. When Marce Branniff was a youngster, her goal was to travel the world. Exactly what she is doing.

The two of us met on an Alaskan cruise aboard the Wilderness Explorer. I was writing about my adventure and Marce was the ship captain.

Now it might seem strange to refer a ship’s captain as “Marce,” but that is how she introduces herself and the title she chooses. Make no mistake, though, Marce Branniff is in charge of this vessel, its crew (who adore her) and its passengers (who also adore her).

So how did a gal from Massachusetts end up in the top job in a usually male-dominated profession? She did it the hard way. She worked her way up the line – from a deckhand painting the boat to the top office on the ship.

Let’s start at the beginning, though. After college, Marce got a job with the Natural Resources Conservation Service. When that contract ended, Marce was a 22 year old without a job or money. “I wanted to travel,” she said. “I had always done work-school, work-school, so I decided I wanted to see the world.”

Heading to Alaska with a friend in a 1972 Jeep Wagoneer sporting a sign, “Alaska or Bust,” the pair did go bust  – “a lot.” But Marce fell in love with Alaska. And shortly afterwards, she found her other true love – working on ships.

“One day in the mid-1990s, I saw a cruise ship go by. It was one of the National Geographic boats,” she said. “I said, ‘That’s what I want to do, I want to work on a boat.’ It took me nine months but they hired me.”

The plan was to work on the boat for six months. “I was a deckhand. I never meant to make it a career,” she said. But when her six months was up and she had gotten a job offer from the Environmental Protection Agency, Marce had already found a home.

“Much to the chagrin of my parents, I turned down the EPA and stayed with the ships,” she said with a laugh.  “It took a while but I painted my way up from being a deckhand into the pilot house.”

Along the way, Marce has worked on boats and ships of varying sizes. But one thing she quickly discovered – bigger is not necessarily better.

“I started thinking about it and I saw a trend – the bigger the boat, the less fun I had,” she said. “I was most happy was when I was on a smaller ship. It was more like a family.”

When the offer came to be captain of the new Wilderness Explorer in May 2012, Marce was ready. She helped prepare the boat and hire the crew. “This company offers a sense of empowerment to build your own team. We’ve got the best of the best on this ship.”

At one time, Marce said, the stereotype of a sea captain may have been a grizzled old man with a beard. But it is not strange to her that a “29ish” young woman could be at the helm of a big boat.

“It’s a non-issue for me. People can choose to do whatever they want to do… I chose this life and I’m having a grand time… I’ve learned to live every day in the moment.

By Jackie Sheckler Finch