Back to school
It’s official… on August 26th I (Mike) will be heading back to school. Three weeks ago I wrote a post asking about how a Canadian could go about acquiring a commercial captain’s license. The USCG route did not seem to be applicable for non-US citizens. Since that time I have both done some more research and spoken to some people who I feel are “in the know.” The additional info I acquired led me to the RYA and thus I have registered myself for the upcoming Yachtmaster theory course being presented locally by Grenada Bluewater Sailing. Although this course would only be the first step in acquiring a commercial license, I have plenty of time to pursue this and the venue couldn’t be more convenient given that we’ll be here in Grenada for the next couple of months.
From the RYA website: Yachtmaster Offshore exam pre-requisites
Minimum seatime: 50 days, 2,500 miles including at least 5 passages over 60 miles measured along the rhumb line from the port of departure to the destination, acting as skipper for at least two of these passages and including two which have involved overnight passages. 5 days experience as skipper. At least half this mileage and passages must be in tidal waters. All qualifying seatime must be within 10 years prior to the exam.
One would think that I’ve met this requirement.
Wouldn’t I look great in a hat like this?
You will have to lose the hair though Mike! 😉
hmmmm… perhaps you’re right, at least to work on the love boat that is.
I thought you were on the love boat!
In some ways, yes.
Yes, you would look cute in a hat like that!
Cute. 😉
I was witness to this “Love Boat” mishap a few nights ago:
http://www.delmarvanow.com/article/20110803/NEWS01/108030390/Storm-causes-boat-break-free
Since I saw the way the boat was tied up, I know damn well you can do better!
(In a nutshell, this mini-cruise ship was tied to a handfull of ordinary pilings set in mud, such as recreational boats tie to. He had about 8 mooring lines out, but they were not exceptionally large, perhaps 1 1/4-inch judging from the chafe marks on the pilings. When the wind came up the boat carried 3 of the pilings off and snapped all the lines, one by one. It should have been obvious that there was only one wind dirrection that they were volnerable from, that it was the most common thunderstorm bearing, and that extra lines were needed on that corner, tied to something immovable.)
I’ve been keeping a Coast Guard expereince log for years. Someday I should sudy-up and take the test. Might be handy.
Doesn’t sound too good.
I’m sure the test would be pretty easy for you, given a bit of study.
Hurray! Glad you found a program that fits! Mark did his skipper certs years ago with the RYA in the UK and man oh man, are their courses thorough!
From what I’ve read, they seem so.
Hey Mike,
Just wondering if you got my email with silly jpeg photoshopped image attached? I have difficulty with gmail addresses, and sometimes they don’t go through. Thought I’d check here in case.
Cheers,
Sam.
Sorry Sam. I thought I replied to your email and said thanks. Yes, I did receive them. Excellent! Funnily enough, you were not the only person to send me a PSed version of that pic. 🙂