Workboat Academy: Academic Session #3

After two weeks home, I packed up and headed north again. Before coming up, we had an epic week of cleaning out our storage unit and selling off a bunch of stuff that was taking up space. I also decided to sell my mountain bike, which hadn't got much use this year. This school thing is about making good on a career path that will let me "be somebody" before retirement comes, so sacrifices have to be made and the mountain bike had to go. School isn't cheap and the extra funds from miscellaneous things that I don't have time for, come in really handy. Once school is done, I'll have more time to ride my bike and can build up another.

At any rate, I'm here in Seattle digs, renting a room from a friend of a friend. My accommodations are awesome and I'm fortunate to have made this connection. The person I rent from is down to earth and his kids are cool as well. They remind me of my kids in many ways.

This is week one of a 5-week session. This week we are learning about Vessel and Port Security in the "Vessel Security Officer" module. Friday is "Leadership" and then we move onto Radar, Radar Plotting Aids, Search and Rescue, Construction and Stability and Emergency Procedures. This is one of the longer sessions, but at least it's a bunch of smaller, simpler topics. Our class is combined with about 10 other mariners from various backgrounds and jobs. We have salty captains and newer deckhands who are all in need of this certification class for some reason or another. It's fun hearing various stories from other parts of the world and industry.

 

Today, we discussed vessel security, bag searches, bombs, terrorism and other fun things that pertain to boats in today's world. We did some mock security checkpoints and discussed how someone might be able to "pull a fast one" on you in an attempt to smuggle contraband or weapons aboard your vessel. Once the class is over, we will be awarded the Vessel Security Officer Certificate, which isn't required for the Mate program, but essentially adds a nice piece of marketability to our résumé.

So far, the Pacific Northwest in the fall is everything that its cracked up to be. It has rained off and on since my drive up, but its not terrible cold. I don't mind it so much, but I'm sure after a few more weeks of this I'll be ready to head south. I'm looking forward to getting out this weekend to explore, or do some hiking. I'm assuming that its going to be too wet for riding, and I'm kinda itchin to hike anyhow.

I posted up a few older posts that apparently never made their way onto the site.. One of my classmates told me that they ran across a shipmate out there that follows my blog and was bummed that I hadn't posted anything in awhile, so I decided to sit and update. So, whoever you are, I apologize and I'll try to keep up on a regular basis. :-)

Off to study!

 

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