PMI, Phase 5. GMDSS, Meteorology, Adv. Firefighting

After a whopping 9 full days home following a month long hitch, I'm now back in Seattle to begin Academic Phase 5. It's hard to believe that it's been over a year since I began the Workboat Academy, and that I only have 2 sessions to go after completing this one.

The next 2 weeks will entail a great deal of studying as we learn GMDSS, Global Maritime Distress and Safety System. GMDSS is defined by Wikipedia as "an internationally agreed-upon set of safety procedures, types of equipment, and communication protocols used to increase safety and make it easier to rescue distressed ships, boats and aircraft". It works as a relay system to bounce safety broadcasts to other ships or shore based search and rescue stations. Most larger ocean going vessels are GMDSS equipped and require at least 2 officers to be certified. The only boat that our company has with GMDSS is the Phyllis Dunlap, which is the last boat I worked on for the Hawaii run. She's a SOLAS boat and therefore required to have GMDSS.

At any rate, it's a good certification to have under your belt as we enter the industry. My only fear is that I'll get placed on the Phyllis quite a bit after getting my license, but Hawaii isn't all that bad of a hitch as long as your bring tons of movies for the long transit to-from.

The class consists of two weeks, one classroom and one lab. I've heard that it can be one of the toughest topics that we will take due to its overwhelming content and required memory abilities. There's much to learn and memorize with regards to frequencies and protocols, so I'm guessing a fair amount of study time.

After these two weeks are done, I'll get a 9-day break and then it's back for meteorology, advanced firefighting and a few days of simulator training. I'm glad we are getting the tough stuff out of the way first.

I flew up to Seattle from Sacramento this afternoon, leaving blue skies and 75 degree temps, landing in Seattle with clouds and rain. Getting used to it, but much prefer the flip-flop and shorts attire vs. the goretex and pants. It's hard to leave home when the weather is so damn wonderful, but the greater good awaits. And with that, I head to bed to prepare my head for 2-weeks of "drinking from the fire hose".

 

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