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captain58sailin · 13-01-2012, 10:43

It is amazing what one can become accustomed to. Oh well, a couple more years and I can sail my own boat to anywhere else in the world except there.

captnshaw · 17-01-2012, 11:10

STCW is a bit of a joke. Get your certificate at the door on the way out.

captain58sailin · 17-01-2012, 11:16

Experiences may vary.

deckofficer · 17-01-2012, 22:23

I did the Academy route CMA, Unlimited Tonnage Any Ocean. The guy that came up through the hawsepipe, I tip my hat to you, but did you self teach celestial nav, or did you get some help there? If self taught, I'll have to tip my hat a 2nd time.

IslandHopper · 17-01-2012, 23:22

I did my tickets the long way, all command, no mates tickets, no cadetship...

Australian state tickets: Coxswain, Master Class 5, Master Class 4 then Master Class 3.....

International (AMSA Issued): Master less than 3000grt for two and a half years then Master Mariner unlimited....

To be able to sit my Coxswain's ticket i needed 12 months sea time, then another 18 months for M5, then 18 more for M4 and 18 more for M3...followed by another 18 months s/t to sit my Master less than 3000, after that i only needed another 12 months sea time to sit the Master Mariner Unlimited, orals only....

All STCW 95 from M5, and as others have said STCW is a standard, not a ticket.....

Also.....i would rather sit buck naked on a fire ants nest for the rest of my life, before ever setting foot in a maritime collage again.....

gjordan · 17-01-2012, 23:42

I only worked my way up to the 200 ton Oceans (expired now) and self taught the celestial, and can say that the celestial was the hardest and most useless exam that the coast guard required of me. I had used celestial for a number of years before I studied up for the exam and found there to be very few similarities between real world celestial and what the coasties put on the exam. It might be a different story on the deck of a large ship, but for the smaller boats that I sailed on it didnt seem relevant. I have to admit that doing celestial on a passage was one of real joys of being at sea.____Grant.

deckofficer · 17-01-2012, 23:48

Quote:

Originally Posted by IslandHopper

Also.....i would rather sit buck naked on a fire ants nest for the rest of my life, before ever setting foot in a maritime collage again.....

Did you have a hard time adapting to some wet behind the ears 20 year old upperclassman giving you demerits for a belt buckle that wasn't shiny enough when you were old enough to be his dad? Oh wait, that was me, and I really thought it WAS shiny enough.

IslandHopper · 18-01-2012, 00:27

Quote:

Originally Posted by deckofficer

Did you have a hard time adapting to some wet behind the ears 20 year old upperclassman giving you demerits for a belt buckle that wasn't shiny enough when you were old enough to be his dad? Oh wait, that was me, and I really thought it WAS shiny enough.

hahaha...i've never worn a shiny belt buckle or epaulets in my life, actually i have never worked anywhere that requires them....

My background started with Pearling then a bit of charter work and commercial fishing, followed with about 5 years coastal cargo work, then i made the jump to Rig Tenders in the offshore oil & gas....

But you are correct, sharing a class room with a bunch of clean cut pre-pubescent whipper snappers was painful at times......but we always got our own back with the drinking contests on a Friday night......

captain58sailin · 18-01-2012, 04:33

For me, my family and I left Seward, AK on a 47' Skookum in '77, and started off on a circumnavigation, of earth. Till that point we had been commercial fishers, at that point none of us knew celestial nav. pure DR, with a sextant and a book titled " 10 easy steps to celestial navigation, by the time we reached Seattle, we all knew how to use the sextant. After the trip, which we did not complete the circumnavigation of earth, only the pacific, we returned to Alaska via HI, and 4 of the 5 family members became licensed Masters. I continued on, on the Merchant marine and commercial fisheries. True enough the only thing the USCG celestial navigation test has in common with celestial navigation, is they both have celestial navigation in the title.