North South and North again

Well, I'm once again in Anchorage and about to spend a really long day on the barge doing cargo.  I had flown up here a few weeks ago, hopped on to the Snohomish and took it south to Seattle, then sat in port for a few days before hopping onto the Polar Ranger for another trip to... you guessed it, Anchorage (and beyond).

Polar Ranger

So, it's Saturday the 18th around 01:00 and I'm standing security watch for a few hours before we head over to the barge and start cargo at 06:00.  It will be a long day, especially with only 3 hours of sleep under my belt since yesterday morning. This barge is fairly full, and it's supposed to get most of its contents unloaded and some of it will get back-stowed or re-loaded in a different spot. We were originally going to hit Nome on this trip, but things changed and now we aren't, so some of this cargo intended for Nome has to get pulled and placed in a different spot.

Our barge (the Westward Trader)

The trip north went well.  We popped strait out into the Gulf because the weather was looking good and "supposed" to be south easterly, meaning that the winds would be at our backs as we headed northwest... but not the case.  We had winds on our port side almost the entire time, putting us in the trough and rolling us around a little the entire time.  It wasn't terrible, but it was enough to annoy you after 4-5 days of it.

Once we wrap up our off load and re-load here in Anchorage, it's off to Dutch Harbor, then up to Bethel, Dillingham, Naknek and back to Dutch, or at least that's the plan as of today.  Things change rapidly in this business and the next thing you know, you're on a boat heading somewhere else, doing something entirely different with a completely new crew.  It doesn't always go like that, but it can and has.

I'm settling into my new duties as 2nd Mate pretty well.  The boat driving aspect is easy to do, but there's paperwork and reports that need to get done, so I'm learning.  I'm also still learning more about winch operations and other fun stuff that we get to handle when underway, but for the most part, it's all going great.

The most exciting part of this trip for me, is that my new room, even though it is smaller than the AB's room, has a really long bed.  Being 6'2", this is a big deal.  I'm always cramped on these boats because of my height, but this bed is an awesome 7' long and has nice little shelf at the end for my laptop, or what I call my "entertainment center". No longer do I have to lay diagonally to fit and I have been sleeping wonderfully.

Sleep is a funny thing out here.  When you're underway, you get too much sleep.  I average about 9 hours a day when we're at sea, yet in port we sometimes go 20-30 hours without much rest.  Somehow it all works out.  There's really not much else to do, especially when it's crappy outside and you can't go out on deck.  You eat, sleep, watch a movie, read a book and stand your watches.  Get's a bit boring after a while.  I try to workout, but I hate working out in the engine room, so if the deck is awash, I don't workout.  I have, however, been doing pushups on my night watch.  I'm doing 20 every hour x 8 hours/day.  Occasionally I'll take a day off to rest my boobs, but so far, I've done a crap-load of pushups and seeing good results... I'm already jumping up one cup size.  :-)

Anyhow, I'm babbling and should probably go make some rounds and ensure that the gen sets aren't spewing diesel all over the engine room.  more later.

OICNW

It's day 2 underway out of Anchorage and I've stood 3 successful watches as a mate and feeling really good.  In the world of "Coast Guardness", you have a series of assessments and requirements in order to be qualified and licensed as a navigational watch officer, or what they call "Officer In Charge of a Navigational Watch" (OICNW). I obviously have completed all of mine or the wouldn't be sailing as a mate. All of those requirements become a daily part of your life when standing watch.

My 4-hour watch, (2x/day), consists of log keeping, positional chart plotting, course adjustments, navigational arrangements with other vessels via VHF radio, vessel traffic check-in at set checkpoints, chart corrections, various paperwork and daily reports. It's not rocket science, but it does apply everything I've learned over the past 2 years.

There is a certain peace of mind when standing watch in the wheelhouse.  It's hard to explain, but that feeling of you and the sea working together in some sort of weird harmony. I have great respect for the water and feel almost honored to be allowed to drive a boat across it.  I like it.

Anyhow, it's 5am and I feel the need to watch some TV or maybe even a read a book.  I know one thing that I won't be doing on this trip... STUDYING!

New career: Day 1

Well, I'm sitting on a plane heading to Anchorage Alaska for my first trip as Mate, and essentially Day 1 of a new career.  

The last 2 years have flown by and it still hasn't hit me that schooling is over and that the licensing process is done with.  I'm excited, nervous and tired (from getting up at 03:30) all in one nice little package but mostly just looking forward to officially starting this new career in the maritime world.

The past 27 months were an essential part of the process, but they were all part of the training and licensing path to get me through to this stage where the career begins.  This what I envisioned about 3 years ago when I decided to get back into the maritime world.  

It won't be easy and I don't expect it to be "fun" as some people might think, but it will be a good solid job, good income and will include something that is core to me, the water.  Don't get me wrong, I always make things fun somehow, but day-to-day life on a 40 year old boat and being away from family for extended periods of time is no joke.  I look forward to having good solid chunks of time at home and a job that allows my family to travel and have fun when those chunks of time arrive.

So, my boss has me flying into Anchorage and joining a crew on the "Snohomish" to bring a barge back down to Seattle.  It'll be a short run, but then I'm apparently staying onboard for yet another run back north, most likely hitting Juneau, Anchorage and maybe one other port.  Details to come...

My blog from this point forward will mostly be focused on the career, the people, the places and the experiences as I move forward and hopefully "up" over time.  My next benchmark is to get my upgrade to Master in a few years and eventually move up to Captain.  

Being a Mate is like being co-pilot #2... You take turns driving the boat with the other Mate and the Captain. My particular watch is from 12-4 morning and night (00:00-0400 and 12:00-16:00).  The Captain does the 8-12's and the Chief Mate stands the 4-8's.  When we are pulling in and out of port, the Captain usually takes the helm or he directs the Chief Mate via radio from the barge. The Cook, AB, and the engineer also stand watches parallel to us so that we always have a watch partner while the rest of the crew sleeps.

So, here we go... wish me luck!

Licensed! Pigs do fly!

I know that I said I was going to post up some progress reports while I was home studying, but the reality is, that when I got home from my 2 weeks of official test prep at PMI, I went into a headspace that I did not know existed.  For 4 weeks, my day consisted of getting up, making coffee, making lunches for the kids and seeing them off to school. After which, I would sit down at the kitchen table and stare at tiny numbers and formulas until the mid afternoon until it was time to pick up my son from school.  I would then come back home, squeeze out another few hours at some point before dinner and bed.  I was pretty religious about this because I knew it needed to get done in order for me to make it through exams.  It hurt, my eyes were fried, my back hurt, I was eating crap and drinking way too much coffee and hadn't worked out in weeks.  A very unhealthy month to say the least.

Our kitchen table for 4 weeks.

I started the official studying process in January with an app called Upgrade U.  I was home for a few weeks, so I would spend about an hour or so a day going through various modules, familiarizing myself with the questions.  I went out to sea in Feb and continued familiarization, but focusing more on Rules of the Road since the passing requirement for that module is 90%.  I got a few weeks off after that first trip and then went back out for a month and tackled all the Murphy books, page by page, trying to learn/memorize as much as I could.

My intention was to finish up that second trip, head to test prep at PMI and then go straight into testing, however, test prep reminded me that I had more work to do and I headed home for "a week or two" to finalize things before committing to exams.  Once I got home and started running practice tests all day long, I soon realized that I still wasn't ready and I needed to keep plugging away until my practice scores were consistently in the passing range.

By then end of "at home" week 4, I was completely burnt out on studying and the learning process was beginning to fade.  I got to the point where I just needed to do something different and decided to book my exam date and see what happens.  I was so fried from staring at Lapware and small numbers for 4 weeks, that I didn't care anymore and I just needed to get up from the kitchen table and either pass or fail something and move on.

I called and booked the exam for June 1st, the day after my 46th birthday. (yes, I know I'm old now).

Well, about a week ago (6/1), I headed down to Oakland and began a 3-day testing process, tackling 2/day, studying all night at a friend's house in S.F. and repeating.  I started with Rules of the Road and Deck General on day 1, passing both no problem! Day 2 was Deck Safety and the Chart plot, again, no problems, actually scoring a 100% on my Chart plot! Finally my 2 toughest modules... Nav General and Nav Problems... on day 3.

"Boo" helping me with some chart plots

So, I came back to my friend's house after day 2 and hit the books in the afternoon/evening for about 8 hours, completely stressing out about the last 2 exams knowing fully that Day 3 was either make it or break it.  I ran Nav Problem after Nav Problem and was still not sure if I was ready.  The next morning, I woke up at 3:57 am and hit the books again until 6am, grabbed my stuff and headed to Oakland where I studied for another hour before walking into the REC for Day 3 chaos.

Nav Gen went ok and it was easier than I had imagined, then came the Nav Problems test.  I struggled with one question because it threw a curveball at me, I skipped it, finished the rest of the easier problems, came back to the problem child, figured it out, turned it in and passed with a 90%!

No repeats, no hiccups!

I about passed out when she told me I passed.  I was so relieved, ecstatic, stoked, lightheaded? etc...  and could not believe that I had somehow managed to pass my exams.  In fact, it still hasn't hit me 5 days later.

Minutes after passing my final exam, outside REC Oakland 

2 years, 83 days after I started the training and licensing process, I'm done and licensed (although still waiting for the official MMC to arrive, which should be in a day or two).

Wow, me... a licensed deck officer?  Still not sinking in.

Now, I'm back home and awaiting the arrival of my MMC before I can head back to work.  My boss said he'll have me on a trip in a few weeks, which is perfect because I can now actually relax and have a some time to chill, go camping, work around the house and spend some quality time with the family before jumping right back on a boat.

I have to say that without the support of my wonderful wife Erin, my awesome kids, all my other family members and friends, I would not have been able to pull this off.  There were times, where I was just tired and wanted to take a side step.  All the travel, studying, back to back trips and being gone... but the end result is well worth it.

All in all, a quick 2 years and everything went smoothly.  It was stressful at times, but completely within reach with a little effort and some passion.  I have a good luck charm that my wife Erin gave me when I started this process in March of 2013.  He is "Voodoo Pirate", designed to ward off bad juju and he accompanied me into the exam room (in my pocket) and I now have good faith in this guy.  He's been with me for the past few years and things have gone quite smoothly ever since.

Voodoo Pirate Lucky Charm

My fortune cookie inspiration that is taped to my laptop.

I'll continue to blog about the life as a mate on Ocean-going tugs and beyond.  This is just the beginning of my career and I'm looking forward to learning more, doing new things and tackling whatever life throws at me.
-cheers!

Studying...

For the past week and half, I've pretty much been sitting here and running practice tests and Nav problems.

Gettin there.

Graduated!

Last Friday, I finished up 2 weeks of test prep and officially graduated from the Workboat Academy at Pacific Maritime Institute.  It's been a tough two years, but it went by quick and now I just need to get through licensing and start working as a licensed deck officer in the Merchant Marines!

Workboat Academy, Graduating Class 2015

Meg and I on the Space Needle

Quite a few family members showed up for graduation, which consisted of a few hours of speeches, food and simulator tours.  It was a nice, simple and brought great closure to 2 hard years of training.  My daughter flew up to Seattle for the ceremony and I managed to take her on a whirlwind tour of Seattle before the ceremony.  We then left Seattle and headed south to Portland where we stayed with some friends before driving home to CA.  I'm home now and studying like a madman.  Test prep was good and cleared up quite a bit, but also presented some new info that I hadn't been privy to, so the list of material grew a little and I'm working through some new stuff to get ready for exams.

I've been approved to test and should be at the Coast Guard sitting for exams in a few weeks, and a few others just put in their packets and should be getting approval letters within 3-4 weeks.  The race is on to see who gets their license first.  I'm not rushing myself, but I should be all done in a few weeks.  The pre-test anxiety is strong with this guy, but I know somehow I'll manage to pull it off.

For the next 2 weeks, I'm basically camped at the kitchen table with about 50 books, charts, laptop and various utensils.  The weather outside is beautiful, but this needs to get done and my sole purpose in life right now is to pass these exams.

I've mentioned it before, but the exam process consists of about 7 tests spread out over a week's time.  you get 3.5 hours for each exam and once you've finished, you can re-take any that you failed.  You get 2 re-takes on each module and you can't start the retakes until you've gone through all 7 for the first time.  The difficult part is that they don't tell you how you scored, only that you passed or failed, so you essentially never really know what you screwed up on.

At any rate, you just have to study hard and shoot for a 100% on all modules/exams so that you have a little cushion in there.  Some of the modules require a 90% to pass, others require a 70%.

I'm hoping to be knee deep in exams in 2 weeks from now, so hopefully this week and next week go well with regards to study-time. Still some barriers to bust through, but I'm confident that I'll get there.

Stay tuned for more chaos.

Awakening

It's day 3 of test prep at PMI and I've begun to think that maybe painting and cleaning isn't such a bad thing after all...   Yes, the realization that there is way too much information to be mastered has begun to set in and right now at this point in time, I'm having a hard time fathoming how it will all get organized into this brain of mine.  Topics that were once clear, are fuzzy, yet new topics are crisp and understandable.  I'm accepting the fact that there's no rush for testing and that if it takes me X months to prep, then so be it.

Update:
I realized after reading my initial post above, that it sounded somewhat negative and what I really wished to convey, was that I'm not going to rush things and I'll be ready to test when I'm ready.  I am however, a bit overwhelmed with the amount of information that I have to go over and study before actually sitting for the exam.  It's amazing how much we've learned over the past 2 years and when it's all laid out on the same plate, it's a bit much to swallow.  I/we, will get through it and I look forward to being done with the testing process so that I can just focus on work for a while.

Tomorrow is a new day, so let's play it day by day and see where the currents take us.