I wrapped up my 3-week vacation at home, packed the car, kissed the family, hugged the dogs and drove straight through to Seattle arriving yesterday afternoon in a car plastered with NorCal bugs.
It's a 12hr drive, but I don't mind it too much. After getting my room set up and everything unpacked, my roommate and I headed down to the Georgetown Liquor Company for a few cold ones. The weather up here has been awesome, and a one-mile walk felt great after sitting in a Subaru for most of the day. The walk home was uphill and slightly more challenging after said cold-one.
School kicked off this morning at 08:00 and it was good to see all the familiar faces again. Everyone had stories to tell about their sea phases, and for the most part, it sounds like everyone enjoyed their time on the water. A few classmates had their worlds turned around when the companies they were supposed to be working for, decided not to take them at the last minute. But a few phone calls from the admin folks at PMI and they soon found other companies to take them in (special thanks to Crowley and Sause Bros for rescuing my shipmates).
We are now combined (at least for this phase) with the "AB to Mate" program students, so our class size grew from 14 (we lost one) to 23. All good people so far, but I've only met a few. One of them is an retired Navy Lieutenant that is beginning his Merchant Marine career as an AB.
So, we spent the day going over the basics of Nav., talking about how the earth is broken into segments, meridians, longitudes, parallels, then magnetic variation and deviation etc. and then went on to refresh on what we will find on charts (I.e. buoys, lights, depths, scales, etc.). It was mostly a refresher since we've learned basic navigation stuff in Phase 1.
After lunch, we pulled out the charts and ran through about 15 questions similar to what we would find on the Coast Guard exam. Lots of questions that contain too much information to confuse you, and details that aren't pertinent to the question. My lab partner and I powered through them pretty quickly after scratching our heads a little. It's mostly plotting positions and Dead Reckoning (DR), then taking bearings from objects to determine your position following your last known spot and figuring Lat/Long. We also had to cross reference the Coast Pilot to determine which buoys/ATONs where which (Aids to Navigation).
It's going to be a ton of information to swallow in 3 weeks, but somehow people manage to pass the exam. We have to score an 87% or higher to pass, which doesn't really allow much margin for error. The most difficult part so far is getting your head around magnetic variation and compass deviation, which are two completely different factors that have to be considered and adjusted for when taking bearings and plotting positions. Mag Variation is the difference between true north and magnetic north, and it varies depending in where you are on the earth. Magnetic Deviation, is the forces around you (essentially stuff on the boat) that causes your compass be slightly off. There are a few formulas that help you compensate for all these abnormalities and a few acrostic sentences, like "Can Dead Men Vote Twice", or the opposite "True Virgins Make Dull Companions" (if using the formula in reverse). They stand for Compass, Deviation, Magnetic, Variation, and True. So, you basically fill in the grid of the components that you know, and use formulas to find the missing variables... Then add or subtract here and there for the magic number in bearings... I know, sounds boring, but one small mistake and you're cruising to China instead of Hawaii.
At any rate, this was just the first day and it will only get more complicated as we progress. We were told to put our social lives on hold for a few weeks while we eat, drink, sleep Nav, but I'm gonna need a few power-breaks in between.
I'll add more pics and updates as we move through the course.
BTW, If you read the very early posts in my blog, you will understand why I regurgitate and get technical about the content of the classes. It's a learning mechanism for me and also the main reason why I began this blog in the first place.... But feel free to comment if you have questions.
if you're curious about any of these classes, or others. Click here
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