I arrived back in port last Saturday after a month on the boat, stayed the night at some friend's house in Portland, watched the game and headed back to Seattle for a Monday start of Session 4.
The first week of school was Rules of the Road, lights, shapes and sounds. It's an important week because we have to score a 90% on the Rules test and there's much to learn. I've always understood the basics of the rules, so it wasn't too difficult, but the lights, shapes and sounds were a bit more to swallow. There are numerous configurations for lights and colors, that indicate what a vessel is doing, intending to do, or what direction they are heading. To make things even more challenging, they differ slightly between inland and international rules, so we have to memorize each. Fishing boats, tugboats, tankers, mine clearing vessels, sailing vessels, seaplanes, pilot boats, vessels at anchor, vessels dredging, and even police boats, etc. all display different light configurations and we have to be able to recognize the lights, determine if they are underway and if so, which direction they are heading. Lights also indicate the type of work a vessel is doing and tell us which side we should pass upon. A hasty mis-interpretation of the lights or the rules could cost you your life, your vessel, and/or the lives of others. At the very least, it could cost you your license and your career, so the Coast Guard is strict on the exam requirements of the course.
After that settled in, we picked apart the sound signals, distress signals (17 of them), the pecking order in which "right of way" is determined with each of these vessels, and what day shapes they would fly depending on their status. It's more interesting than memorizing formulas for determining the azimuth or amplitude of the sun on the horizon, but still challenging at the same time.
Yesterday, we took our Coast Guard assessments for lights, shapes, and sounds, then our 50 question exam on the rules. I did pretty well, only missing 2 on the exam, passing all assessments (pass or fail), but it was stressful.
Glad to have it done and moving in to our next subject, Bridge Resource Managment on Monday. The last week of this session is on ECDIS, which stands for Electronic Chart Display and Information System. Most commercial vessels these days, utilize an "electronic chart plotter". ECDIS is similar, but with many more bells and whistles, typically found on larger commercial vessels. Our program tends to train us above and beyond what we would typically see in the tug industry, but should we decide to seek work on larger ships, we'll be ready.
So, I'm currently enjoying a nice relaxing morning that doesn't involve an early class or studying. It's cold here in a Seattle, but the sun is out and it appears to be a nice day.
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| Much to study this week |
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