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Two Finger posted:Yeah, but what would you do ashore anyway? gently caress that noise man, stay out here. Less stress, a stable job, a decent paycheck, a sanitary environment not surrounded by nasty chemicals all the time, time home with females... You are probably right, he should stay out.
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| # ? Jan 26, 2012 12:19 |
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| # ? May 25, 2013 10:29 |
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I just went and asked twenty girls and they all found me working on big ships a lot more attractive than me working as a mechanic. This entirely scientific (and not in the least made up) test determines that you should stay at sea.
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| # ? Jan 27, 2012 06:50 |
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Two Finger posted:Yeah, but what would you do ashore anyway? gently caress that noise man, stay out here. I have a lots of friends who work in offices, while they're turning into zombies, none of them ever show up to work wearing 30 pounds of winter gear. Two Finger posted:I just went and asked twenty girls and they all found me working on big ships a lot more attractive than me working as a mechanic. I went and asked all the females in a 35 NM radius*, so I think my sample is more representative. Two of them gave me a weird look, the other one just laughed. (Ok, I didn't actually ask them but I'm pretty sure that's what they'd say, since they're the only women I've seen in the last two month.) (* This is not an exageration) FrozenVent fucked around with this message at May 13, 2013 around 04:59 |
| # ? Jan 27, 2012 21:20 |
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FrozenVent posted:I'm a DECK officer in CANADA in JANUARY. You aren't suggesting you'd prefer to be down in the nice warm engine room, are you?
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| # ? Jan 30, 2012 07:56 |
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Two Finger posted:You aren't suggesting you'd prefer to be down in the nice warm engine room, are you? Its probably snowing in there. Ice ops rules should be in effect.
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| # ? Jan 30, 2012 22:06 |
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Two Finger posted:You aren't suggesting you'd prefer to be down in the nice warm engine room, are you? Hot, loud and covered in lube? That's not a job, that's a rave. There's ice everywhere. Ice. Slush. Ice. Ice in the water. Ice on the boat. Ice in the sky. The sky's white. The sea's white. I have to aim the boat toward the darker spots, but sometimes the darker spots are in the sky and I don't know how to point the boat in the sky. The motion of the boat fighting in the ice makes me seasick for some reason. This weird back and forth motion slowing down then speeding up again... gently caress ice. gently caress ice forever.
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| # ? Feb 3, 2012 09:57 |
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So, without sea experience and living in central California, what kind of job hunt would I be looking at after completing the safety training and getting the MMDs? Will it even be possible right now without knowing someone?
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| # ? Feb 7, 2012 00:36 |
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For any former/current Cal Maritime cadets: how casual is the classroom environment? I'm transferring from a community college where the instructors are often on a first name basis with students - are you required to address cma instructors as sir/ma'am? Also, do any transfer students ever graduate in under four years? I'm a mechanical engineering major with most of my lower division classes out of the way, so if I follow the standard 4 year ME curriculum I'll have a few semesters which will be pretty sparse (around 5 units or so).
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| # ? Feb 16, 2012 03:36 |
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tastyburrito posted:For any former/current Cal Maritime cadets: how casual is the classroom environment? I just used Mr. Some were a bit looser and some were a bit harder in how strict they were. I cant speak as to how it is now as I have heard they were tightening things up quite a bit. When I went it was fairly casual compared to the others but that shouldnt be the criteria for picking CMA. You should be pretty familiar with your instructors since the ones in your major, especially if you are ME, will know you from freshman year until you graduate. I know there are a lot of required classes that you wont be able to find anywhere else and are only offered at specific times which makes things a little tricky in graduating early. If you are interested you should talk to the ME chair since they would know.
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| # ? Feb 16, 2012 08:27 |
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lightpole posted:I have around 34 days to go. We are going to get in to port 5 days before I can get off without quitting and then head north where it has been especially nasty. Furthermore I took an 11.7% pay cut on 1/1 for pension reasons. I just did a 30 day trip with OSG as a third. That 11.7% is tough to swallow. Going to look shoreside much more seriously now. They did ask me to come back though, so that's good I guess. Might be able to pick up a permanent with ATC soon, I think my card is too young though at the moment. Fish Shalami fucked around with this message at Feb 16, 2012 around 18:03 |
| # ? Feb 16, 2012 17:51 |
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Fish Shalami posted:I just did a 30 day trip with OSG as a third. That 11.7% is tough to swallow. Going to look shoreside much more seriously now. They did ask me to come back though, so that's good I guess. That, 12 hour days and whatever else they changed in the MOU. They can't get 1sts and the ones on there are pissed. I had to quit to miss AK the 2nd time but I was pretty much at my limit and the chief gave me a good review. I wanted to get my 1sts or chiefs at least but now I don't know. SF has more than enough work and with the paycut the money is better and not as brutal as 12 hour days with OSG.
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| # ? Feb 16, 2012 22:25 |
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lightpole posted:That, 12 hour days and whatever else they changed in the MOU. They can't get 1sts and the ones on there are pissed. I had to quit to miss AK the 2nd time but I was pretty much at my limit and the chief gave me a good review. You sail out of the Oakland Hall?
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| # ? Feb 17, 2012 00:17 |
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Yes. Who was your 1st? Ben or Keith?
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| # ? Feb 17, 2012 23:02 |
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Just did some alumni meeting and greeting at GLMA. It was awesome, met some guys off the thousand footers, they were just normal dudes like us. Then I got super wasted with the other first-year engineer cadets.
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| # ? Feb 18, 2012 07:50 |
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shovelbum posted:It was awesome, met some guys off the thousand footers, they were just normal dudes like us. I've been starring at this quote for the past ten minutes. It's one of those "was I like that when I was a cadet?" moment. Admittedly I've never met anyone who work on a footer (740' represent!  ) but yeah, boat people are normal people. Although I'm coming up to 110 days onboard, so my definition of normal might be skewed.
FrozenVent fucked around with this message at Feb 27, 2012 around 08:31 |
| # ? Feb 18, 2012 09:24 |
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2 days ago an 82 m coaster was headed south on Route T towards the Great Belt in Denmark. The VTS noticed that it was off course and notified the Navy. The coaster didn't respond on VHF, nor were dispatched ships able to communicate with it. The ship went across a shallow bank at Sjællands Odde without grounding and was headed right into a coastline. When it was 4.8 nm away from the coast Navy personnel were lowered to the ship by helicopter and turned the ship around. This was around midnight and the morning after (on the 17th) they took a blood sample from the captain; he had an BAC of 0.218% and is now in jail. Here's a map with the ship's course. http://forsvaret.dk/SOK/Nyt%20og%20...ndeindsats.aspx This is far from the first time drunk Russian captains have mistaken Danish islands for deep waters.
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| # ? Feb 18, 2012 12:30 |
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Per posted:This was around midnight and the morning after (on the 17th) they took a blood sample from the captain; he had an BAC of 0.218% and is now in jail. Wait, what? The morning AFTER his BAC was .218? Isn't the legal limit for driving .08? Shouldn't he be, uh, dead?
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| # ? Feb 18, 2012 17:40 |
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Largest ship Ive ever worked on was only 950' 
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| # ? Feb 18, 2012 18:16 |
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Two Finger posted:Wait, what? .05 here. I don't think most people start dying before ~.40, but yeah, he was really drunk.
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| # ? Feb 18, 2012 19:53 |
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Having been underway with the Navy, and still not having my questions answered-- this is a very, very interesting thread.
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| # ? Feb 19, 2012 00:23 |
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Bob A Feet posted:Having been underway with the Navy, and still not having my questions answered-- this is a very, very interesting thread. What was the question? lightpole posted:Largest ship Ive ever worked on was only 950' 1027'  But it wasn't on the lakes, so I don't know if I can call myself normal.
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| # ? Feb 19, 2012 16:39 |
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FrozenVent posted:What was the question? Well, i won't even say questions. There was just a lot I didn't know. The engineering you guys know is so in depth. Where the engineering knowledge I got was only skin deep because billets changed and people rotated.
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| # ? Feb 21, 2012 15:49 |
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lightpole posted:Yes. Neither. Joe, 2002 Grad from Cal. Cool dude.
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| # ? Feb 21, 2012 17:24 |
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Fish Shalami posted:Neither. Joe, 2002 Grad from Cal. Cool dude. I think I know him as welll. Everyone from Cal is a cool dude. Almost. Bob A Feet posted:Well, i won't even say questions. There was just a lot I didn't know. The engineering you guys know is so in depth. Where the engineering knowledge I got was only skin deep because billets changed and people rotated. We go through a 4 year program spending almost all our time learning everything there is to know about the engineering side. Then we get out there and have to figure out anything we did not cover or did not learn the first time because we were too busy sleeping in class as rapidly as possible. The Navy uses like 20+ people to do one persons job on a civilian ship as well, so instead of spreading knowledge over all of those people, it all goes to that person. lightpole fucked around with this message at Feb 21, 2012 around 18:40 |
| # ? Feb 21, 2012 18:13 |
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What the heck is an "Electro-Technical Officer"
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| # ? Feb 22, 2012 21:15 |
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shovelbum posted:What the heck is an "Electro-Technical Officer" Technically, an electrical officer.
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| # ? Feb 22, 2012 21:48 |
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So I just clicked on this thread out of curiosity, but once I started reading, I couldn't stop. Something about this line of work just appeals to me, and now it's got me rethinking my life plan. Well, technically, my lack thereof. I'm about to graduate from college in May with a BA in some useless liberal arts poo poo, and I have literally no career opportunities that aren't boring secretarial jobs. I can't stand sitting on my rear end for 8 hours a day, and I've done manual labor my whole life both home on the farm and as I went to school, so I'm not afraid of some work. I'm from Georgia, and I've got zero experience with boats and ships. The most I've done in fishing in ponds and rivers in our little boat. But I've got a pulse and I'm willing to learn, plus the pay seems decent, and I might have a chance at actually getting employed in this field. My first question, though, is what exactly are limitations on physical disabilities? I've got a below-the-knee amputation on my left leg, but it's never held me back outside of being disqualified for military service. Basically, I've been doing manual labor my whole life, and this has never gotten in the way, but I think there must be stricter rules on a ship? Anyone out there know if I've got a shot?
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| # ? Feb 24, 2012 06:37 |
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Let me ask around - someone I know will have an idea. You aren't the only one - I spent years doing IT work and loving hated it, and my older brother said to me 'gently caress dude, why don't you give this a shot?' There's also the Cruise ship thread, which may be worth a read http://forums.somethingawful.com/sh...hreadid=3392478
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| # ? Feb 24, 2012 06:55 |
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Serf posted:Anyone out there know if I've got a shot? I am not a doctor, but at least in the Danish rules there is nothing specific about amputations. It would be up to your examining doctor to evaluate whether your condition poses a possible threat to you and the other crew in emergencies (and it sounds to this layman like it doesn't). Anecdotally, I once had a chief officer whose entire left arm was paralyzed. I was too polite to ask where he had gotten his medical checkup.
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| # ? Feb 24, 2012 12:14 |
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Serf posted:
At my school there is at least one cadet who is missing a leg.
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| # ? Feb 24, 2012 12:55 |
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Serf posted:My first question, though, is what exactly are limitations on physical disabilities? I've got a below-the-knee amputation on my left leg, but it's never held me back outside of being disqualified for military service. Basically, I've been doing manual labor my whole life, and this has never gotten in the way, but I think there must be stricter rules on a ship? Anyone out there know if I've got a shot? The year after I finished, a girl started at my school who was missing her left arm below the elbow. Apparently she was the best in her class at splicing motherfucking wire. Splicing wire is hard as gently caress with both hands, a spike, and a pair of plier - Even if you have another guy helping you. But she did get her medical, so I can't see why half a leg would be a problem. Can you climb a ladder? Can you climb down a rope ladder? Worst comes to worst and you get a really annoying doctor or examiner, can you shimy down a knotted rope? (They won't make you do it, but they might ask.) If you have doubt, I'd go see an approved doctor and get my medical certificate right off the bat, before you spend any time on this. If you tell us what country you're in, we can probably point you in the right direction. In Canada, the only reasons I've ever seen people declared unfit were color blindness and sometimes diabete-with-needles. Sometimes. Had a Captain who was just recovering from a triple bypass, that gives you an idea. (Whenever he'd get annoyed at us mates, he'd rip his shirt open to show us the scars - "SEE? You did this! You and other idiots like you gave me this loving heart attack!", it was hilarious. The company fitted his boat with the fleet's first AED.) Edit: Another fun fact about the marine medical: I don't need glasses to drive a boat, I need them to drive a car. 
FrozenVent fucked around with this message at Feb 24, 2012 around 14:14 |
| # ? Feb 24, 2012 14:10 |
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FrozenVent posted:If you have doubt, I'd go see an approved doctor and get my medical certificate right off the bat, before you spend any time on this. If you tell us what country you're in, we can probably point you in the right direction. I'm from the United States, but I have no idea what doctor I should speak to. Is there some type in specific I should be looking for to get a physical exam? I know some jobs require a physical, but do marine jobs require a specific one? Also, thanks for all the responses. Seriously considering this as a career, since I've got no job prospects lined up. I'd also like to get out of Bumfuck, Georgia and see something else for a while, even if that is just the inside of a ship. It doesn't look like there's many places around here to get started on the STCW stuff. Anyone have any experience with Savannah? There's a decent port there, so I figured it might have some resources.
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| # ? Feb 24, 2012 16:40 |
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Thes a specific USCG Merchant Mariners physical, but any doctor can fill it out. Find the sleaziest doctor in your town and you're good to go.
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| # ? Feb 24, 2012 17:20 |
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camino posted:Thes a specific USCG Merchant Mariners physical, but any doctor can fill it out. Find the sleaziest doctor in your town and you're good to go. Thanks! I've already set up an appointment with my doctor. He's a pretty good dude and has been dealing with me for my entire life, so I'm pretty sure he'll give me a pass. So, given that I'm just now finishing up 5 years of school, I really don't want to go back. My student loans aren't bad, <$10k, so I'm not too worried about them. Would going straight into the market and looking for a job be my best bet? Could I work for a couple years, then maybe go to school to become an officer?
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| # ? Feb 24, 2012 20:31 |
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Serf posted:So, given that I'm just now finishing up 5 years of school, I really don't want to go back. My student loans aren't bad, <$10k, so I'm not too worried about them. Would going straight into the market and looking for a job be my best bet? Could I work for a couple years, then maybe go to school to become an officer? Fake edit from the future: Holy poo poo, wall of text. It's me, I'm the sperg. There are two ways of approaching it. If you want to make this a long term career as an officer or engineer, you'd do best to go to school right off the bat. It'd give you a huge boost regarding exams, and the school's placement office might give you career opportunities you'd never thought off. Plus it's pretty fun, and you get your first license (OOW / 4E, whatever they call it in the states) in four years. (Three for engineers in Canada, the fourth year is about that 3rd class license) On the other hand, shipping out deckhand or MA allows you to find out right away if you're going to enjoy this BS or not. It's also a pretty good job; Christ, OS on a Canadian self-unloader is like sixty grands a year. High school education not required. It's pretty hard to give up that kind of money to go back to school, but if you save wisely (IE, don't follow the guys to the VLT machines every time the boat docks) you could probably pay cash for school. That said, I'd get bored as gently caress painting and clamping hatches all day, but I'm easily bored (And, according to my last AB, an intelectual snob.) The best unlicenced job on a boat is AB (The guy who steers the boat); on some boat they barely even go outside. Right now in Canada you can get that job with about a year's experience and a Bridge Watchman Certificate. This is the exam that famously has a question that includes "Make a fresh pot of coffee" as an answer, it's not exactly hard. It does require a little more independence, however - You'd need to get your MMD and STCW certs by yourself, then youd need to find a job, either via an union or by calling people up. Starting on a ferry or diner cruise boat helps, from what I've seen. It's not like the military, where you just sign a paper and they drag you through the entire process, or at leasst tell you where to go. Right now you're at step 1; step 2 is to get your medical and MMD. Nobody cares if you ever complete step 2. Once you get to step 2, nobody cares if you complete step 3, and so on. Take me for example: Right now, I'm home on "vacation". I'm not on leave, sabatory or anything - I've been laid off. Since I'm a temporary employee, my employer has no obligations to call me back or anything, although they're likely to. If I want to work right now (I don't), I have to get off my rear end and start calling people. If I want to get a higher license, I have to start studying and scheduling exams with TSB. If my medical expires... And so on. Nobody will hold your hand through any of this. The office won't call and say "Hey, don't you want your first mate's license? TSB's having a NS/I examination session next week!" School kind of gives you a four year long "Launch ramp" where they halfway hold your hand and let you go more gradually. Many people don't really need that... I did. I understand how this industry works now, but I had no loving clue what to do when I started out. There's also the possibility of going up "Through the hawsepipe", basically doing your seatime unlicensed and doing the exams and simulator courses on your own. It's been done before; a lot of the older mates and captains on the lakes did it that way, especially people with Near Coastal licenses (No astronomy!). Nowadays (Warning, stuff ahead) they've upped the non-cadet sea time requirement to 36 months in five years, and there's a stabillity exam right there at the OOW level. The MED and professional ed centers have been kind of slow in catching up and offering a stability prep course. Part of that is that there's not enough students requesting it. General Ship Knowledge is also nothing to sneeze at, but it's all rote memorization. It's likely that it will take longer to get your first license than by going to school.The majority of wheelsmen I've sailed with have some sort of story as to how they were THAT close to getting their license but the examiner hosed them over / they did a burn with their bike on their way of the parking lot because they didn't want to be a slave to the man / they just didn't care enough / their wife got pregnant. I've never met anyone younger than thirty who'd gone through the licensing process independently. You might be able, if you know someone who knows someone, to ship out for a few months without much STCW training. (Or you could in Canada a few years ago anyway) That would give you a taste of what you're getting into, without requiring too much of a commitment. The best, if you do want to make this a career, would be to apply to schools, get in, ship out the summer before then if you like it attend school. If you don't, move on to something else. That's, IMHO, the best way to go at being an officer. Not saying that unlicensed jobs aren't good jobs, mind you; they're perfectly valid career choice. But if you already have a college degree, you're probably gonna get bored chipping and painting all day. (Or steering a boat, God that's boring.) TL;DR: A four year program is likely to be the fastest way to get your license, and leads to an easier time getting higher license. Shipping out unlicensed is the fastest way to find out if you like this job, but you might not want to go back to school afterward, and if you don't it'd take a while to get your license.
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| # ? Feb 25, 2012 14:52 |
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Edit: There were pictures here but now I can't afford for them to show up on image search, sorry.
FrozenVent fucked around with this message at May 13, 2013 around 05:02 |
| # ? Feb 25, 2012 16:40 |
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Thanks for all the information, FrozenVent. I think I will go to school, but not right now. I really need to do a little work in the field for a while, just to make absolutely sure I want to do this job. Also, a little time doing menial labor is just the kind of vacation I need from academics. So, after some research, I think the requirements to get a job as an AB/OS are as follows: 1) Get my medical. 2) Get a TWIC certification. 3) Get my MMC certification. 4) Look for a job. Did I miss anything? I'm unclear on is the STCW. Anyone want to help me figure this thing out? As best I can tell it's some sort of exam for anyone wanting to get out into international waters. I've found some courses for it and the like, but no solid information on what applies to me. For instance, at one place, it had a Basic Safety Training course, but then said it didn't apply to AB/OS, oilers, etc. That seems odd to me, though maybe I'm reading it wrong. Like I said, I could use some help with this part of it.
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| # ? Feb 25, 2012 18:53 |
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Alright, so I posted in this thread a few times, but last week I applied for the course. Now I just have to go get the physical and make sure that unlike the CF, having mild athsma won't cock me over. Also, FrozenVent, where are those pictures taken? I saw that there were some job openings for deck crew on some CG ships, but it was in like the McKenzie river, and I said no thanks, too far north for me!
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| # ? Feb 26, 2012 00:26 |
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Gilmour73 posted:Also, FrozenVent, where are those pictures taken? I saw that there were some job openings for deck crew on some CG ships, but it was in like the McKenzie river, and I said no thanks, too far north for me! That's a Quebec region 1200 class ice breaker. They are ALWAYS hiring for the McKenzie (Central & Arctic Region) because well, nobody wants to go up there. It's like a four month stretch in mosquito Central. I've been told it's a good way to get your foot in the door with the CCG central and Arctic, but... No sea time, and I'm not that interested in the C&A region, so that's that. There's a competition open on jobs.gc.ca for CCG (Central and Arctic - Once you're in a region, you're pretty much stuck there forever apparently) unlicensed crew, if you're interested, but you'd definetly have a leg up with your MED and such.
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| # ? Feb 26, 2012 00:46 |
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| # ? May 25, 2013 10:29 |
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Serf posted:Thanks for all the information, FrozenVent. I think I will go to school, but not right now. I really need to do a little work in the field for a while, just to make absolutely sure I want to do this job. Also, a little time doing menial labor is just the kind of vacation I need from academics. So, after some research, I think the requirements to get a job as an AB/OS are as follows: For what it's worth, Great Lakes Maritime Academy offers a three year program for people that already have bachelors degrees. Bonus of not having to call 19 year olds in regiments "Sir@".
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| # ? Feb 26, 2012 00:57 |
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