Category: Sea School

New Friends, New Plans, and a Tour of La Rochelle, France!

New Friends, New Plans, and a Tour of La Rochelle, France!

anniedike

It isn’t a bad place to have to wait for the Lagoon, I will say that.  La Rochelle is exquisite right now.  Mist that fills the harbor every morning.  Vivid yellow leaves the fall leisurely from the trees to the cobblestones, always mesmerizing me when they fall right before my eyes.

And the food! Fruits de mer!  There are a thousand little restaurants, pubs, bistros, and—my favorite—fromageries!  I’m afraid I have knowingly cultivated a full-fledged cheese addiction, and I, in no way, regret the decision.  They eat cheese for dessert here.  I mean … I love these people.  J’aime La Rochelle!

Hello crew!  From the stunning Atlantic-coast village of La Rochelle.  I wanted to write you all a quick note from France before we shove off next week and begin our Atlantic adventure! I wanted to share a little more about our plans, our new friends, Kate and Cyrus, and why Phillip and I made such a drastic change to our cruising plans this year.  When we were working in the shipyard this past summer, we had pretty-set plans to sail our Niagara 35 slowly and intermittently from November through the Spring of 2019 from Pensacola, to the Exumas to explore what we missed last year, then eventually to Grenada for hurricane season. Yet, we decide instead to hop on a new boat, with new crew, and sail back across the Atlantic Ocean?!

We must be crazy right?

We kind of are … : )

Or just in full-fledged pursuit of adventure!  So, how did this whole opportunity unfold?  How did we meet Kate and Cyrus?  As Kate and Cyrus would tell you, all great stories begin with either “Once upon a time,” or “This ain’t no shit.”  Well, this, my friends, is no merde!

We actually crossed paths with Kate and Cyrus while cruising but did not know it.  Phillip and I were making our way back up the west coast of Florida after our cruising in the Bahamas this past season and we made an unplanned duck into Destin to get out of some not-too-comfortable conditions out in the Gulf: 18 knots on the nose that was set to continue well past midnight, well before we would be able to get to Pensacola Pass to get out of that mess.

So, we navigated the entrance to Destin Harbor for the first time, which was not easy.  It’s a bit of a tricky zig-zag, shoaly entrance, but we made it. And it was one of those moments, when you finally get out of the stuff, the boat is settled and in one piece, and you drop the hook and feel your nerves finally start to settle out.  Once the hook was set, Phillip and I both promptly made a boat drink (because that’s exactly what you do in that moment) and were kicked back in the cockpit heaving happy alternating sighs of satisfaction, when this large catamaran cruised by.

I saw a gal on the bow filming, which, being a bit of a fellow videographer, caught my eye.  I could see she had a remote for the winlass around her neck, and I shouted some comment about how it would be awesome to be able to drop and raise the hook with the push of a button.  We shared a lighthearted exchange or two and said “Cheers!” before their catamaran cruised on out of the anchorage.  I had no clue at the time that cheery blonde on the catamaran would soon become one of my very good friends, someone I would cross the Atlantic Ocean with, but it was.  That was Kate!

Kate and Cyrus were sailing with a captain to gain sea time towards their RYA licenses, and they were making the overnight run from Destin to Pensacola for bluewater experience.  The catamaran they were sailing on, s/v Makarios, actually stays in a slip in Pensacola just a dozen or so boats down from where Phillip and I keep our Niagara 35.  While Kate and Cyrus noticed our boat name, s/v Plaintiff’s Rest, as memorable when they were cruising through Destin Harbor, they didn’t think much more of it until they went the next week to Sea School for the necessary credits toward their USCG licenses.  Ahhh … STCW Sea School, that was a fun time.

It was their Kate and Cyrus saw the insignia I had left on the Sea School wall, put two and two together (HaveWind with the boat they saw in Destin), and Kate then decided to reach out to me.  There were here exact messages!

It’s connections and stories like this that will always make me feel grateful I created this (once very little) traveling sailing blog that has somehow reached so many.  Seeing young cruisers like Phillip and I, and many others who are sharing their stories via blogs and videos, Kate and Cyrus decided to similarly sell the house in Minnesota and downsize to life on a boat.  It was really neat, as we began to chat further, to learn about their plans to start a crew-chartered boat, CruiseNautic, on their Lagoon 42 in the USVIs as their quote-unquote retirement.  Kate and Cyrus had already created their platform and signed up with Dream Yacht Charters to act as the broker for the boat purchase by the time we connected.  The boat, a brand new Lagoon 42, was supposed to be completed early- or mid-November and their vague plan was to sail it from France to the Canaries to the USVIs from mid-November to early-January.  A very fun plan indeed!

I’ll admit, Phillip and I get offers to crew often at HaveWindWillTravel, which is very cool but most of them do not work with our schedule or our own cruising plans. This one, however, seemed to fit a particular niche for Phillip, the offer of an amazing journey during the holidays when his work is a bit slower.  When I told Phillip about the offer—mostly in jest—one evening while cooking dinner, I was surprised by his response:

“We would complete our first Atlantic Circle,” he said.

And, I remember thinking, then and there, there was a real chance this was actually going to happen. Phillip is an avid sailor and lives for offshore sailing and once he was thinking the voyage would fit with his work schedule and offer him something that is a true bucketlist item for him—completing an Atlantic Circle by sailboat—it was very likely he would work hard to make this happen.

That was July.  Only three months before Phillip and I had planned to set sail in our own boat headed eventually for Grenada.  But, the more we continued to talk about Kate and Cyrus’s offer, the opportunity to cross the Atlantic Ocean again was like this luminous jewel on the horizon.  Another epic voyage.  Another month of amazing challenges, memories, and bonds between new friends.  How do you turn that down if it’s even remotely possible?

Look at these two.  The answer is you don’t.

Phillip and I figured we would have plenty of time to sail our boat all over the Caribbean in the coming years, but another Atlantic crossing with a young fun couple felt like an opportunity we could not turn down.  And, we are very grateful for the commitment and work we have put toward making our lives, careers, and income as flexible as it is so that we can seize opportunities like this when they come along.  Phillip was the man who initially taught me the incredibly important concept of time-value.  That is, to make sure I valued experiences and time more than money and things, and it was his support and creativity that helped me begin my online marketing business (which has since grown across many avenues and platforms) that allows me to say, with resounding excitement—“YES!”—to adventures like these.

Once we began emailing, at first, then Skyping, with Kate and Cyrus to both get to know them and to discuss more details about the voyage, their travel plans, etc., Phillip and I started to get that tingly “Holy crap this is really happening” feeling.  It’s a prickle beneath our skin that tells us there is one amazing, eye-opening adventure in our future.  And, each conversation we had with Kate and Cyrus told us the four of us were very like-minded, in pursuit of the same goals, with a similar approach to challenges and provisioning, and collectively a very knowledgeable and fun crew.  While Kate and Cyrus do not have the extent of bluewater experience that Phillip and I do, we all compliment each other in different ways.  Cyrus is a mechanical engineer by trade, capable of dissecting and repairing virtually any system, with a good bit of sailing miles under his belt on he and Kate’s Precision 26 on Lake Lanier.  Big plus for an offshore voyage.

Kate also grew up sailing with her father on Lake Lanier, and is an adventurous, fun-loving, talented singer and songwriter.  Another huge plus for an offshore voyage.  Here is Kate jamming out with her Fleetwood Mac cover band!

I can’t wait to sing a duet with her during the passage!

The four of us clicked very easily and we all had a good feeling about crew comraderie for the voyage. The good thing, though, we knew we would be spending several weeks together in France in a tight little Airbnb—a great place to see if we really did mesh well together, before shoving off for good.

Kate, Cyrus, Phillip, and I been here a week now, cooking dinners together, sharing stories, laughs, worries, concerns, and we all get along fabulously and foresee an amazing experience ahead. It’s a goal worth every 12-hour days’ work we put into it.  Offshore voyaging is such a reward.  And, doing it with friends and fellow sailors who share the same joy and awe of it as Phillip and I do, makes it even more memorable.  We cannot wait to share this voyage with you!

Here is a fun video tour of La Rochelle—our haling port for the moment—as well as some very fun photos from Paris and our rendezvous with the infamous Captain Yannick from our first Atlantic-crossing in 2016.  We are soaking up every minute of this journey and looking forward to seeing and getting on the new Lagoon 42 next week!

Pics from Par-eeh!

This guy …

Boy did we miss Yannick!

And, it was great to have such a personal and knowledgeable tour guide in Paris!

Who me?  More to come about this medal of honor.

Love this man!

Pere Lachaise Cemetery in Paris.

This guy had a happy ending.  Google Victor Noir Pere Lachaise Cemetery.  Fun story there!

Shopping in the sail gear shop brought back some fun memories from our first Atlantic Crossing!

The Louvre!

Made it to La Rochelle!

High fashion.

Let’s Talk About This Captain’s Paperwork

Let’s Talk About This Captain’s Paperwork

anniedike

My, my, the paperwork for this thing!  It was almost as hard to complete as the Captain’s License exam.  Okay, not really.  That exam was no freaking joke.  But the paperwork was a bit of a hurdle to overcome too.

Applicant Annie, mailing off her paperwork September 13, 2017.

Ahoy followers!  Hello from … now I can officially say it … Captain Annie!  If you haven’t seen on Facebook yesterday, I GOT MY CAPTAIN’S LICENSE!!

Man, I take a lot of selfies!  But, I’m not ashamed; I’m mighty proud of mySELF! : )

That is super duper cool.  But, just like the exam, it was no small feat.  For any of you out there thinking about going for your USCG Captain’s License, too, we wanted to share with you all the process and what all was required for me to obtain my license.  I wrote previously about my experience studying independently for and passing the Captain’s Exam (whew!), article here.  Now that I’ve received the official license, I thought I would share with you all the process of compiling all of the necessary paperwork for my application and my experience with the Coast Guard submitting and supplementing my application.

So, what all is required to apply to become an Operator of an Uninspected Private Vessel (OUPV)?  The checklist published by the National Maritime Center (“NMC”) was, in my opinion, the most organized, easy-to-follow list I found that sets out the OUPV License Application Requirements.  So, let’s start there.  Here’s the link.

Looks pretty straightforward, but I did have some hang-ups.  Perhaps there were blonde moments on my part (likely), but just in case some of you run into similar issues, here’s how the process played out for me:

     1.  Transportation Worker’s Identification Card (TWIC)

No more bank robberies!  You’re in the system now, ha!  A TWIC card is basically an identification credential issued to Merchant Mariners to allow them unescorted access to secure areas of port facilities, outer continental shelf facilities, etc.  To get a TWIC card, you simply visit this website and fill in an application online or schedule an appointment and complete the entire process at one of their processing centers.  You can find an application center here by inputting your zip code.  The center closest to Pensacola was in Mobile, so not a bad 45-minute drive for me.  And, it was a quick 15-minute in-and-out process.  They took my photo and fingerprints and filled out my application.  I was then issued a TWIC card that came to me in the mail about two weeks later.  You will have to include a scanned photocopy of this card, front and back, in your OUPV application packet.

One rub.  I hate my picture!  The TWIC guy (we’ll call him that), told me specifically to not smile.  “Hold a slack face,” he told me.  And, look at me!

There, I do look like a bank robber.   Why couldn’t they have used one of my typical, open-mouth selfies?

At least that way people wouldn’t question as often whether the woman on the TWIC card is me.  But, c’est la vie.  Moving on.

       2.  Evaluation User Fee

This should be paid online, your receipt printed and included with your Captain’s License Application.  Initially, I did not know this and was planning to pay by check.  But, first I checked with my contact at the Mariner’s Learning System (recall this is the company I used to buy an independent study packet for the exam so I could study at my own pace).  I wasn’t sure whether, having purchased their Captain’s License Package, the Mariner’s folks would help me compile my application to make sure it was correct and complete, so I sent an email inquiring.  Lisa over at Mariner’s (who was phenomenal and very patient with my many, many questions) confirmed they do not offer a document check, but advised she was available to answer any specific questions I might have (which were many).  The first of which was this payment issue.  You’ll see here, Lisa sent me the link to pay online and advised me it would cost $145.

You can also access the Pay.Gov payment center through the National Maritime Center here; it just takes a little more navigating to get to the Captain’s License page.

I got confused, however (who me? nooooo …), when I got to the actual payment page as to whether I was paying for an “officer endorsement” or “rating endorsement” and whether I needed to pay my “exam fee” or if that was waived because I had purchased the Mariner’s system.  So, again, I reached out to Lisa and, again, she steered me in the right direction.  Here is what she advised (you’ll see the drop-down menus filled in appropriately below):

Once the payment was processed, the NMC emailed me a receipt, which I printed and included in my final Captain’s License Application packet.  You’ll also notice I had to select a USCG Regional Exam Center during my check-out process.  You have to be sure to send your Application to the same REC you select during the check-out process to make sure all of your license requirements and fee are processed at the same facility.  Here is a list of the centers.  I just chose the one closest to me, in New Orleans.  And, I love NOLA, so I was hoping it would make for a little good luck boost on my application.  : )

P-Dub and I biking the beautiful oak-lined streets of NOLA April, 2017.

    3.  CG 719B Application

 You’ll notice it says “CG 719B” application.  That means it is an official Coast Guard form.  Before I found this detailed NMC checklist, I didn’t know some requirements had to be completed on an official CG form and, as a result, almost made a big mistake on my medical certificate, see #6 below.  Here is a link to the CG 719B Application.  You can fill it out online or print and fill it out by hand.  It’s pretty straightforward, just be sure to read each section carefully and make sure it is a section they want you to fill out or one that is for USCG use.

OATH

You’ll note in this paragraph on the NMC checklist that the Coast Guard requires an oath, stating the oath “may be administered by a designated Coast Guard individual or any person legally permitted to administer oaths in the jurisdiction where the person taking the oath resides.”  Hmmpfh.  Again, I haled Lisa as I wasn’t even sure what the oath should say.  Again, Lisa saved me by directing me to this form in the “Resources” section of the Mariner’s Learning System website, which I was able to print and sign.

Also, lucky for me, Phillip is a registered notary in Pensacola, so I had a readily available notary to notarize my oath.  Done.  What’s next?

    4.  Form I-551 Alien Registration Card

Applies only to foreign nationals, so this was not a requirement for me.

    5.  Signed Conviction Statement

 Thankfully, this “statement” is included in the CG 719B application, Section III, page 5, so completing and signing this section of the application satisfies this requirement.

    6.  CG 719K Physical Examination Report

Here’s where I almost goofed.  As I mentioned, this NMC checklist was the most useful to me because it was detailed and explicit in the types of forms required by the Coast Guard.  Many other “license requirements” checklists I had found on other websites (example here) merely stated a “physical examination” was required, not a CG 719K report.  I made an appointment with a doctor here in Pensacola before I knew anything about this specific CG 719K form.  Thankfully, my doctor (Dr. Tim Tuel with Baptist Medical – “Thank You Dr. Tuel!”) was much wiser than me.  It’s a good thing I told him what the examination was for, just for fun.  As you can imagine, Applicant Annie was excited about this whole process and willing to share with anyone willing to listen.  “I’m going for my Captain’s License!” I told Dr. Tuel, which made him chuckle at my energetic burst.  This tan little toned-up blonde trying to be a Coast Guard Captain.  It is kind of funny when you think about it.  But, Dr. Tuel just smiled and asked, “Where’s your form?”  [Insert Annie’s look of bewilderment here.  Form?  What form?]  I asked, “How do you know it has to be on a certain form?”  To which Dr. Tuel replied, “This ain’t my first rodeo.”  Ha!  Love that guy.  He was a lot of fun.   Dr. Tuel Googled and pulled up the correct form himself right there in the examination room, took the time to fill it out and even printed it for me.  Nice guy, that Tuel.

Unfortunately, he missed one section of the Report (I’m telling you, these things are tedious).  The first response I received from the Coast Guard after sending in my application was this:

That’s right, “Notice of Incomplete Application.”  Uggh.  Not the best feeling in the world.  But, when I read through the email, it seemed it was just a simple mistake of Dr. Tuel failing to state on my CG 719K form which methodology he used to test my vision.  So, I went back to Dr. Tuel with my previous 719K form and asked if he would complete the section and initial it and then re-sign the certificate at the end.  Thankfully, I caught him on a slow day and it was just a 15-minute wait while he finalized my report.

Also, after speaking with Beverly at the USCG, I was advised the completed medical form could be emailed in for processing (as opposed to snail mail) and that was helpful.  So, one glitch there.  Fixed and re-submitted.  Moving on.

    7.  CG 719P Chemical Testing Report

 Ahhh … the drug test.  I knew I was totally clean there.  While I will readily admit that I love my wine and liquor, Captain Annie does not do drugs.  No judgment on folks who do.  It’s just not my thing.  But, mean ole’ Brandon had me really freaked out about it when I stopped by the shipyard to pick up some parts we had ordered right after I had already taken the test, and he told me they were going to analyze my urine for alcohol.  “If you still have alcohol in your system, they’ll pick it up.  Did you drink last night?” Brandon asked.  “Did I drink last night …. Is it a Wednesday?” I thought.  Of course I did!  I think most sailors operate on a pretty base-line low-alcohol level, am I right?  But, what was done, was done.  I had already pissed in the cup, and sent it up the chain, so I just had to be a little freaked out about it for a few weeks before it came back COMPLETELY NEGATIVE.

Take that Brandon!  Ha!  My piss is primo!  (Love that guy.)

But, how did I go about getting a test conducted that would be sure to meet the USCG requirements?  Again, like the medical certificate, the drug screen must be completed on the Coast Guard’s specified form, here, the CG 719P.  The gal at Mariner’s Learning System recommended I contact Quest Diagnostics to handle everything.  It was a breeze.  I called to request a drug screening specifically for my Coast Guard’s License application, paid over the phone (I believe it was $65.00), and set up an appointment online at a local facility.  Luckily, there are two facilities in Pensacola, so this was an easy 30-minute appointment to make and the results were emailed to me by Quest a couple of weeks later on the appropriate CG 719P form, which I printed and included in my Captain’s License Application packet.  Voila!  Next up?

    8.  Front and Back Copy of Driver’s License

Piece of cake!

    9.  3rd Party Release

This is needed if you want the NMC to be able to discuss, release or receive information or documents from a third party (i.e., spouse, employer, etc.).  This didn’t apply to me.

    10.  Evidence of Appropriate Sea Service

This is the real meat of your application (or at least it was for me).  In order to apply for an OPUV 6-Pack license, the applicant:

  • Must be able to document 360 days of experience on a vessel
  • Must have 90 of these days within the last 3 years
  • 90 of the 360 days must be on the ocean or near coastal waters, or the license will be limited to inland waters only.

The license will be limited to uninspected vessels of less than 100 gross tons.  When calculating qualifying sea time, you must have been underway on the water for a minimum of four (4) hours to count as one (1) sea day. (Only one day’s credit is allowed per date.)  And you must document the time on the Coast Guard’s specified Sea Service form, the CG 719S.

I had not been keeping up with my sea time since I started sailing in 2013, but I would recommend anyone who is thinking about going for a mariner credential at some point in the future to do this along the way.  Bring along a few blank Sea Service forms when you know you’re going to make a passage or be on the water for several days and get the Captain or Owner of the vessel to sign off for you once your sea time is complete.  Because I had not been doing this, I had to sit down with a calendar and re-construct my time over the last four years and obtain signed Sea Service forms from the various Captains and Owners I had sailed under.  It was actually a very fun escapade down memory lane and I did a brief write-up and tribute to each of those captains here.  Thankfully, with mine and Phillip’s many offshore passages on our own boat, our Atlantic-crossing in 2016 and the handful of passages and sails I have done on friends’ boats, all within the last four years, it was fairly easy for me to meet the “90 days within the last three years” and “90 days offshore” requirements.  It was really cool, too, to tally these up and see how much awesome sailing I’ve done in such a short time.  I’m quite proud of these days!

Total days experience:  368

Number of days offshore: 112

Wow.  I hope I double those numbers over the next three years.  Sail on Captain Annie!

    11.  Photocopies of all applicable Training Course Certificates

This is why Phillip and I went to STCW school back in June!

While the firefighting was wicked cool, and I got an awesome burn, the first aid, CPR, fire-fighting and water survival training included in this certification sufficed for my Captain’s License “training course” requirements, which is the primary reason Phillip and I took the course.  We went through the Sea School because they had a facility relatively close to us in Bayou la Batre, AL.  After completing the course (there were some moderately difficult tests involved, but the instructors worked hard to make sure you passed), the Sea School sent Phillip and I a packet of certificates for the courses we completed, copies of which I included in my Captain’s License application.

    12.  Course Certificate

Proof that you passed the MPT Captain’s Exam within the last year.  I took my Captain’s Exam on June 26, 2017 at a USCG testing facility (a.k.a. a conference room at a Holiday Inn here in Pensacola) and thankfully passed!  After Mariner’s Learning System was notified of my score, they emailed me a certificate documenting my accomplishment which I printed and included in my application packet to prove I had passed the exam.  That was a biggie.  Whew! 

    13.  Three (3) Letters of Recommendation

This was one requirement that was a little hidden in my opinion.  At least not every Captain’s License requirement checklist I found on the web included this.  For example the NMC checklist I cited primarily above did not mention this.  But, if there was anything I learned from studying for the Captain’s Exam, it was to consult a lot of different sources.  Several other sites I found mentioned this “letters of recommendation” requirement for original license applicants, meaning, those who were seeking issuance of a license for the first time.  ‘Tis me!” I said, and promptly Googled around to see what an acceptable “letter of recommendation” looked like and found this website, with a sample letter of recommendation.

I typed up three of these for three of the captains I had sailed under to sign and complete and that sufficed for this requirement.  But, I have talked to several other applicants during this process who did not know about this “letters of recommendation” requirement.  So, there are many potholes to fall into, so to speak.

The good news?  I found the Coast Guard folks were very forgiving and easy to work with.  They were responsive and notified me immediately of any deficiencies in my application, noting I had 60 or 90 days to fix each one.  So, that was comforting.  After my incomplete Medical Certificate issue was fixed, the next errors the Coast Guard caught were a few places I forgot to sign my own Sea Service forms (doh!) and areas on my Sea Service forms where I had filled in the vessel owner’s name, when I should have put my own.  However, the Coast Guard folks advised I could cross-through the wrong name, fill in my own and initial it and that would remedy things.  And, I was notified of all of these issues and errors via email from the Coast Guard and offered the ability to send in supplemental portions via email.  So, that made things a lot easier for me as I do most of my work remotely via email and digital documents.

In all, the OUPV documentation process took me about four months to complete (although, granted, I wasn’t focused on it every day, but there are many moving parts and you have to rely on the cooperation of other people, so it does take time).  I was advised by the Mariner’s Learning System folks that I had to complete and submit my application within one (1) year of successfully passing my Captain’s Exam (for me, that would be June 2018), so I was well within the time limit.  But, it is definitely a project you want to get started on early as there are a lot of hoops to jump through.

Many thanks to all of the Captains I have sailed under who were generous enough to review and sign my Sea Service forms and provide letters of recommendation and the very patient folks at Mariner’s Learning System and the Coast Guard who helped walk me through the process and answer my many questions.  I hope this post will help shed some light for those of you out there who are also thinking about pursuing a Captain’s License to get a better understanding of the paperwork and requirements involved.

I honestly can’t believe I have obtained this credential.  While Phillip and I decided this would be a good endeavor for me to help shape me into a far more capable and knowledgeable mate (and now sometimes Captain!) on our future travels, it still shocks me a little that I, who only started sailing four short years ago, was able to accomplish this so soon in my sailing career.  The training and education I have acquired have already started to show in mine and Phillip’s passages and cruising, and I am so proud that I am able to offer him, now, so much more insight, input as well as a sounding board for some of our very difficult decisions when navigating, weather routing, deciding on destinations, passages and – oh yeah – docking!  I’m getting better at that, too.  Primarily the goal was to grow my skills so that I can contribute more to help share the “stress of cruising” so that the entire experience is more comfortable for us both.  It’s also a very good benefit to know this license will help decrease our annual insurance premiums (yay!) and will allow Phillip and I to earn money on the occasional offshore delivery that works with our schedule and plans.  In all, it was an educational and enlightening process that I am proud and glad I completed.  If any of you out there are thinking about going for your Captain’s License and have questions this post and my previous “Let’s Talk About This Captain’s Exam” post did not answer, please feel free to email me and reach out.  I’m happy to share.

Now, when Phillip and I head off on our next adventure, it will be Yours Truly more often at the helm, scanning the charts, checking the weather, and shouting to Phillip, “Hey Swab, while you’re down there, tighten that hose clamp.”  Ha!

Thanks to my followers, as well, for your support and encouragement.

Captain Annie, signing off.

Captain’s Tribute

Captain’s Tribute

anniedike

A little over 10,000.  That’s how many blue water miles I’ve racked up since I started sailing.  In preparing my Sea Service forms for my Captain’s License application, I’ve had to mentally trek back through my many offshore passages and day-sails to calculate the necessary “days underway” that I need for my USCG 6-pack, and it’s been a very fun journey.  In order to meet the USCG licensing requirements for a 6-pack, I was required to have 360 days on the water, with 90 of those days falling in the last three years and 90 of those days being in ocean or “near coastal” waters.  Luckily for me, the majority of my sailing has occurred in only the last three years so the first portion of that requirement was easy for me to meet.  (It actually shocks me some days to look back and see how much sailing I’ve done so recently.  When you look at the big picture, I really am fairly new to all of this.)

But boy did I take to it!  The day we splashed and re-named our Niagara, just three days after my 31st birthday, May 31, 2013.  With only 400 nm under my belt at the time.  What a ride it’s been!

If any of you are thinking about going for your Captain’s License too, you may be thinking: “What is considered a ‘day underway’ and what does ‘near coastal waters’ mean?”  Good questions.  According to my research and the folks at Mariner’s, a “day underway” is “at least four hours underway,” and “near coastal” waters means seaward of the boundary line.  The boundary line for the western coast of Florida, which is where I’ve done a good bit of my blue water sailing, is 15 nm. Unfortunately, I had not kept up with my sea time from the start.  I would have definitely done that if I had it to do over again because a) it’s humbling and rewarding to look back and reflect on prior passages and b) it’s good to keep up with your sea time in case you ever need to apply it for something like acquiring your captain’s license.  I would recommend any of you out there who may be thinking of getting some accreditation in the marine industry someday keep up with your sea time and have the captains you sail under sign off for you each time you complete a passage.  Here is the Sea Service form the USCG requires for obtaining any license.

You’ll see for each vessel, they ask your “average distance offshore.”  I’ll tell you it was a very cool moment when I was filling out the form for Yannick and I had to think … my average distance offshore during those 30 days across the ocean, had to be at least 1,000 nm+.  That’s wild but so exciting!   I have also since bought a log book so I can do a short, one page write-up on each of the passages I have made, the dates, nautical miles, destination, and one or two memorable moments from the passage.  It’s fun to go back through when I’m feeling nostalgic—or just a little too landlocked—and let my memories take me back to blue waters.

Sunrise on our way to Cuba, December 2016.

It’s been an enlightening, educational and humbling process going back through all of my sea time and reflecting back on those passage.  In doing so, I thought it would be fun to share with you all, the many lessons I have learned from the many captains I have sailed under, the primary being my person, my partner, my forever adventure buddy: Phillip.

 

Captain Phillip

Where to begin …  To the man who—when I come barreling out of a slip at 5 kts and almost take out three boats with both my bow and stern—will say: “It was my fault, honey, I should have … ”  Phillip has had such patience with me from the beginning.  And because we were both so new to the liveaboard cruising lifestyle, it has been so much fun to learn, try, screw up and grow together, both of our hearts 100% invested in each other and our beautiful, frustrating boat.  The greatest lesson I have learned from Phillip is that no matter how hard, or trying or scary any aspect of cruising may be—from running aground, to docking debacles, to discovering you have rotten stringers—it will always be easier, less frightening and more fun to tackle when we do it together.  To my forever buddy and the many more adventures, mishaps and lessons we have in store.  Cheers!

March, 2016: Our first time (and drink – thanks B!) out on the hook after three months, re-building our rotten stringers, re-rigging and conquering about 1,000 other projects at the yard.  Ahhhhh …..

 

Captain Kevin

Kevin has been on this journey with us from the start, from our first boat-shopping days to the purchase of our 93.46% perfect boat and he taught us so much along the way, particularly on defining our cruising goals and how we really want to spend our time on the boat.  The best thing I learned from Kevin?  “Just shove it out.”  A great de-docking technique that will guarantee no wayward backing or unwanted collisions.  Fun video for you here from one of our day sails with Kevin aboard his stunning Pearson 36 cutter, Pan Dragon, where Kevin demonstrates this super simple, never-fail trick.  Just shove it out!

 

Captain Brandon

“Go slow, hit slow.”  The best thing Brandon ever taught me?  Only go the speed at which you’re willing to crash into something.  That’s a good lesson.  We also learned a thousand things from Brandon during our time at the shipyard, one of the most important was: Always label anything you take apart, so you’ll know exactly how it all goes back together.  That way you won’t have to, you know, re-step your mast just to flip a stupid little aluminum plate ninety degrees.  That was fun.  But, one final, very important lesson from B: How to dock under sail.  “Because what you are you going to do when your engine goes out?” Brandon asked as he shamed us into finally, for the time, docking under sail (fun video of that adventure for you here).  And, notice he said “when” not “if.”  Because it’s going to happen.  It’s a boat, right?  Thanks for everything you’ve done for us B.  Cheers!

 

Captain Mitch

Mr. While You’re Down There!  Lord, did we have a time with him bringing our boat home for the first time from Punta Gorda, FL to … well, as many of you know, we didn’t make it all the way to Pensacola the first time.  We only made it to Carabelle, minus a few essential boat parts.  (And if you don’t yet know that story, holy crap, go get yourself a copy of Salt of a Sailor stat!)  One of the most memorable things I learned from Mitch?  Sight sailing.  Or, sailing by the stars as I called it.  Mitch taught me how to sail at night not by straining your eyes at the compass or the GPS but by getting on your course, then putting some part of the boat (a stanchion post, the spreader tip, the clew of the sail, anything) on a star and using that to hold your course.  It was a fantastic revelation and one that made me love sailing at night that much more.  Thank you Mitch.  Oh and “While you’re down there, could you get me some curly fries.”  Mitch.  There’s just none such like him.  Fun video for you here of his Nonsuch 35, aptly named Tanglefoot.

 

Captain Ryan

 

The ambassador of offshore sailing adventures at SailLibra!  What does Captain Ryan say about sailing across the 500+ plus, sometimes gnarly miles of the Gulf?  “Easy stuff.”  As long as you don’t panic, you think first and act second.  After several fun, windy romps across the Gulf on his offshore adventure boat, Libra, I definitely learned from Ryan the art of staying calm.  Even when sailing through the narrow, reef-lined inlet to Cuba in 10 foot seas and 25+ knot winds.  “Easy stuff.”  But, he’ll be the first to warn you: “Oh, if I’m panicking, yeah, you should totally panic.”  A good sense of humor.  That really helps out there too.  Fun video for you here from mine and Phillip’s sail from Key West to Pensacola on Libra.

 

Captain Jack

Jack Stringfellow.  I swear that’s the man’s real name and wasn’t he destined to be a captain with that one?  I’ve only sailed under Captain Jack one time but, to date (and to be honest I hope it stays that way) it was the most extreme conditions I’ve ever sailed in.  From my recent Captain’s exam, I know it ranks a 10 on the Beaufort scale.  We sailed two days on a Leopard 48, into brutal headwinds, topping out at 43 true, 48 apparent, but the boat and crew handled it beautifully.  What did I learn from Captain Jack?  He’ll be the first to tell you, Jack can get a little … wired.  He’s a very Type A personality, very task-oriented and very (very!) energetic.  It’s one of the things that makes him a great captain, but he also taught me the importance of the need for a “safe word.”  Because everyone gets a little wound up at times.  His safe word?  TRANQUILLO!  Fun video here from our very windy delivery of the Leopard, a 400 nm, 60 hour sprint across the Gulf, Pensacola to Naples.  Whew!

 

Captain Ben

I can’t wait to get back to the Bahamas!  But I’m so glad I went when the opportunity struck.  Remember this trip?  My spur-of-the-moment jaunt off to the Bahamas to sail with Ben Brown on his 47’ Beneteau, Cheval, in the Abacos Regatta in 2015?  What a fantastic adventure that was.  And what did Captain Ben teach me along the way?  The beauty of Bossa Nova.  You see, Ben is a long-time musician.  A sax player, and a fantastic one at that.  He played for the Cheval crew several times during my trip and it was the first time I was ever serenaded on a boat.  I found music and the water go together.  Almost like they’re one in the same.  Now, even when there’s no music playing, when I look out on the water gracing our hull, I hear music.  Thanks to Ben, it’s often Bossa Nova and more often than not it’s the song Ben played for us that morning on Cheval — “When she walks, she’s like a samba, that swings so cool and sways so gentle … ” Can anyone name that tune?

 

Captain Yannick

“Don’t tell me I did a good job, if I didn’t do a good job.  If I f&*cked up.  I need to know.”  Love that man.  Captain Yannick.  Our fiery French captain across the Atlantic freaking ocean.  He was so driven, so focused, so phenomenally energetic (working on boat project after boat project, day after day across the ocean) and such a diverse, eclectic personality.

I’ll bet you didn’t know: Yannick was a film student, a fighter jet pilot, a desert race marathon runner, even a published author and a raging Daft Punk fan.  His was an incredible and surprising friendship to form out of our 30 days across the ocean and he still texts me often, just to say “WHOO!  HOO!”  The most important thing I learned from Yannick was confidence.  If you have something to contribute, speak up and say it.  Don’t use your “recommendation voice.”  And, like much of the French do, which I appreciate: Don’t placate.  If a crew member fails at something, placating them by telling them they did a “good job” is not going to help them improve.  A very bold, hearty sailor he is and Phillip and I will be forever grateful for the opportunity Yannick shared with us in letting us sail with him 4,600 nautical miles across the Atlantic Ocean.

To all the captains I have sailed under and learned from: Thanks for the lessons, the laughs and the many-invoked Annie “Whoo Hoos!”  But, mostly, to the man who made this entire journey of mine possible.  From completely ignorant second mate (more like deckhand) on our very first sail across the Gulf together, to now an ocean-crossing, aspiring captain, the sailor who has inspired me, challenged me and encouraged me every step of the way.  I can’t wait to sail the rest of the world with you my love.

April 3, 2013 during the survey/sea-trial of our Niagara.  Where it all began.

Let’s Talk About this Captain’s Exam

Let’s Talk About this Captain’s Exam

anniedike

We should, because I can’t believe how close I came to failing.  What I learned was the test itself is not really that hard … if you know how to study for it.  And if you know how to find the Niantic River.  Stay with me.  We’ll get there.

First, let’s talk about this Captain’s Exam.  Had I known exactly what it was going to be like going in, I would have approached my studies in a completely different manner.  And, it was partially on a stroke of wild luck in the last two days before the exam that I took the steps that actually enabled me to pass.  Otherwise, I’m 100% positive I would have failed.  I really would.

Here’s what I learned: The exam is all multiple choice, 120 questions.  30 are devoted to Rules of the Road, of which you can only miss 3 as you must get a 90% on that portion to pass.  (I’m proud to say I got a 100%, and I’ll tell you how.)  60 questions focus on “Deck and General” (think firefighting, environmental protection, life-saving equipment, marlinspike and seamanship, boat handling and boat characteristics, etc.) and you must get a 70% on that section to pass.  Meaning, you can miss 18 of the 60, but the wide range of topics this section covers requires immense studying to familiarize yourself with every potential possible question you might see on the exam.  I learned many folks struggle with this section for that reason—it simply covers such a vast array of obscure, rarely used or cited regulations.  Another 30 questions are devoted to Navigational Aids (think red and green buoys, nuns versus cans, channel markers, navigational lights, etc.), while the remaining 10 questions are reserved for plotting.

In response to the question of whether to physically go to Captain’s School or go at it on my own through an online course like I did, I got many mixed messages from folks who had taken the exam in the past.  (Boaters … the only people on earth you can guarantee will have conflicting opinions on any given topic.)  Some licensed captains told me the school was five days of the teacher simply reading to you, directly from a script with a final exam at the end.  That was one of the main reasons I chose the online course.  I know myself well enough to know I do not absorb information well when it is simply read to me.  For hours.  In a monotone voice.  My brain turns it into that wonka-wonka-wonka of Charlie Brown’s teacher and my mind would totally wander—if it didn’t shut down entirely and take a nap—and I wouldn’t absorb a thing.  Then others told me—after I’d already decided to go the online route—that the school tests you every day, over and over.  That their specific intent is to teach you the answers to the questions.  If that’s the case, had I had it to do over, I would have gone to school.  But, I kind of did, on my own, just before the buzzer, and it literally was the decision that saved me.

So, the “Captain-in-a-Box” package I purchased from Mariner’s Learning System consists of five study books (both hard copy and digital), which cover each topic on the exam with a practice exam at the end of each (hard copy and digital, so two practice tests for each topic), as well as a chart and chart-plotting tools.

The hard copy materials are for your own independent studies, but you must take and pass the online course (trying as many times as you would like) before you are provided the necessary certificate that enables you to sit for the Captain’s exam.

The materials were very thorough, dense at times, but jam-packed with information, which was nice because you could read and try to absorb the knowledge at your own pace, then test yourself at the end to make sure the information actually stuck.  This was one of the reasons I chose the course.  What I was not aware of, however, were the massive amounts of regulations, rules and tedious USCG requirements that were buried in the materials, but not included on the practice exams as well as the intentional trickiness of the questions.  Even if you know the applicable rule for the situation, by heart, many of the questions are tricky and designed to trip you up.  Often, the answers seemed to range from maybe right to arguably righter, but there was only one Coast-Guard approved rightest answer that mattered.

Let me give you a sample.  This was one question that irked me from the beginning.  Particularly because it was a Rules of the Road question, so a very important one, but if I could, I would lodge a complaint about it.  It’s just … arguable in my opinion.  Rule 17 of International Steering and Sailing Rules states that the stand-on vessel (meaning the vessel with the right of way):

“[M]ay take action to avoid collision by her maneuver alone, as soon as it becomes apparent to her that the vessel required to keep out of the way is not taking appropriate action in compliance with these Rules.”

Sounds simple enough, but let’s look at these two different questions applying that rule:

The answer to #8 is C, while the answer to #13 is C.  Are you in any way confused?  Doesn’t the B option in #8 look awfully like the C option in #13.  The catch?  Whether the action is one the stand-on vessel may take versus must take.  In #8, they ask what is “required” meaning the rule needs to state it is an action the vessel must take.  Although I would argue the “should” in question #13 and “must” fall awfully close together.  But, this is just one example of how tricky the questions can be and how easy it is to pick the wrong one.

The good news?

They’re going to look just like that on the exam.  Exactly like that.  Word.  For.  Word.  Every single practice question I took in the months and weeks before the exam, when it appeared on the exam, read verbatim (both the questions and the available answers) from the questions and answers I had studied.  So, any question I had seen and studied before, always appeared exactly the same in subsequent practice tests, so choosing the right answer was easy.

My main fear going in, however, was that the questions would not look the same on the exam, or there would be others, dozens maybe, that I had never seen before.  For instance, if I had never been asked how many and what type of life preservers are required for 7 adults and 3 children on an uninspected vessel in the practice exams, I was not going to know the answer to that question on the exam.  Is it the materials?  I’m sure.  Buried somewhere along with the 8,043 other tiny little tidbits of information in the 500 pages I read through that seem almost impossible to commit to memory.

While the Mariner’s materials are comprehensive and do provide everything you need to know to pass the exam, for me personally I felt I needed to be quizzed—over and over—on everything that might possibly be on the exam.  Knowing this, on a whim, two days before the exam, I Googled around looking for other practice OUPV exams online and I hit the mother-load.  Thank you BoatSafe.com!  As I started taking practice exams available on other websites, I realized how many more possible questions there were—some straightforward, but many very confusing—and I was failing the exams left and right.  Failing!  I’ll be honest, I kind of freaked out a little.  Thankfully Phillip was out of town those few days because I spent about 10 hours straight each day taking practice exam after practice exam after practice exam.  I literally answered, I’m sure, in those two days over 5,000 multiple choice questions.  I’m not kidding.

I wasn’t sure what else to do.  I felt I could either read through the materials over and over and hope the tiny little tidbits, hidden in the riff raff, would stick, or I could bank on a hope that the questions would look exactly the same on the exam.  I chose the latter and spent hours of time on these sites, until I could ace every single exam, 100%.  I highly recommend these if you are thinking about taking the Captain’s Exam.  They were invaluable to me:  

http://boatsafe.com/uscgboat/  (my favorite, covering all potential topics on the exam)  NOTE: Blog followers have told me this link no longer works – Boatsafe must have decided to take it down.

http://www.raynorshyn.com/NavRules/Default.asp (a very good one, but only covering the Rules of the Road)

http://meiere.com/CreateExam/start_Exam.php (again helpful, but only covering navigation) NOTE: Blog followers have told me this link no longer works – Meiere must have decided to take it down.

With this basis going in—the undeniable fact that I only knew specific answers to specific questions, far more than I knew the actual, entire wealth of material they covered—I was really nervous about the exam.  Despite Phillip’s persistence that I was going to pass, I was not so sure.  I distinctly remember telling him in a text message: “If the questions are the same, I’m home-free.  If they’re different, I’m f*&cked.”  Pardon my French.

So, there I sat on the day of the exam, with four other guys—each of us with parallel rules and pencils in hand—waiting to take the test at a Comfort Inn conference room in Pensacola.  Before the exam, we all started chatting and I found this nervous-looking chap next to me had apparently done exactly what I did.  Memorized all the answers to every single question he could find and hoped they would look exactly the same on the exam.  Then the two guys next to us—each of whom had failed the exam once and each of whom looked far more saltier and weathered than Chap and I did—laughed and told us, that wasn’t the case at all.  “Some of the questions are the same, but others are different,” they said.  You’re screwed, basically, was the message Chap and I got, which pretty much ended the pre-exam conversation.  Then we just sat there and chewed our pencils until it was time to sign-in and start.

Chap and I had already decided we would take the Rules of the Road exam first as that was the one you had to get at least a 90% on to pass the exam.  Meaning, you could only miss 3 out of the 30 questions.  Just three!  I sat first, opened my exam booklet and started working my way through.  After 4-5 questions, I looked up and caught Chap’s eye.  We both smiled.  Huge grins and nodded.

The questions were exactly the same.

Exactly.  Word.  For.  Word.  Chap and I were golden!  We breezed through the Rules of Road.  (He and I both getting a 100%, thank you!) and started tackling the others.  Now, the Deck and General was a little more difficult as I mentioned.  It just covers so many topics, from vessel stability, to emergency procedures, to CFRs, to six-pack specific regulations, to the marine radiophone, marine engines, you name it.  While there are 60 question on the exam, so this allows you to miss 18 on that section and still pass, the world of possible questions they might ask you probably peaks in the 1,000 range, perhaps.  I’m not being precise on that, but it is a lot.  And, I also say with 100% certainty that I would have failed the Captain’s exam had I not gone rogue in the days before and started taking dozens and dozens of sample captain’s exams online because many (many!) of the questions I encountered that I recognized and knew the answer did not come from the Mariner’s materials, but, rather the online exams and—again—they were worded exactly the same.  Say it with me again: “Thank you BoatSafe.com!!”

As I worked my way through, I marked each question I came across that I did not recognize.  And, trust me, they were very easy to spot.  When I say Chap and I memorized the questions and answers, I mean it.  If it was a question you had studied before, you knew it by the time you read the first three words of the question.  You then stopped reading the question and started looking for the specific phrase you knew was in the right answer.  I hate to say that’s the best way to pass the captain’s exam.  But, for me, it just was.  In the Deck and General section, I marked 16 questions I did not recognize and breathed a sigh of relief.  I was 100% confident about my answers on the other 44, so I knew I had already passed.  I simply had a 25% chance on each of the remaining 16 to increase my score above 70%.  Although it wouldn’t matter.  What’s the joke?  What do you call a lawyer that failed the Bar twice before he passed?  A lawyer.  Same here.  A captain who gets a 70% on the Deck and General section of the exam, as opposed to a 100%, is still called a captain.

I breezed through.  With the first three sections (Rules of the Road, Deck and General and Navigational Aids) behind me, knowing I had passed each, I felt I was on the downhill stretch.  Just a coast to the finish line.  While I wasn’t an absolute whiz at the chartplotting.  I generally got 100’s on those exams when I would take my time, re-plot, re-measure and re-calculate, but even when I goofed up somehow, I got an 80 or higher.  I had yet to score below 70.  And, here I was allowed to miss 3 out of 10.  Those are some pretty good odds.  Everything was gravy then, right?

That was until the stupid Niantic River.

I sat there in my chair, shaking my head back and forth, not fully believing what was happening.  I had studied so hard and it was going to come down to this?  The stupid Niantic River!?  I huffed.  The rules said you could not ask the proctor any questions while taking each module of the exam, only after.  But, nothing made sense!  He must have given me the wrong chart or the wrong light list or something.  The question was: “What chart would you refer to for more information on the Niantic River?”  It wasn’t a question, or even the type of question, I had been asked during my many, many chart-plotting practice sessions.  The question was always: “What’s your ETA to the lighthouse?” or “What true course would you need to steer to arrive at Faulkner Island?” or “What was your set and drift at 18:45 on a heading of 43°?”  Any of those I could have answered.

I flipped frantically through the light list, searching for a listing for the Niantic River (although the question had not asked specifically about the light marking the Niantic River) and while I did find a listing for the river but it didn’t in any way match the numbers on the multiple choice answers before me.  I was stumped.  Irritated.  A little pissed off, frankly.  I marked the Niantic conundrum as one question I was probably going to miss and moved on.  The next question asked me what megahertz frequency I should tune to in order to get mariner’s broadcasts for Hartford, Connecticut, and I huffed audibly. Every other plotting test I had taken was just that, an exercise in plotting.  It required marking a lat and lon position, drawing a line, finding a heading, converting true to compass, vice versa, or distance to time.  All of that stuff.  No one had ever asked me what the freaking megahertz was for Hartford freaking Connecticut!  What the hell?  Frustrated, I marked that question as well as one that I did not know the answer to, frustrated to find two of my three gimmees already gone, and I was only on question #4 out of 10.  Things were not looking good for captain-to-be Annie.  The only comfort I took was in watching my buddy Chap flip through his light list just as I had done, shifting feverishly back and forth between the numbers listed in the book which in no way matched those on the exam.  At least I wasn’t the only one who was stumped.

Thankfully #5 was the exact type of plotting I’m used to.  Find the ETA for my arrival at Horton Point if I leave at 11:35 at a speed of 8 kts.  Perfect.  I’m golden.  I start working through a few more like that, hopeful I could get the remaining 8 questions right in order to pass, then I saw it.  While working a heading toward the compass rose, my parallel ruler landed right on it.  The Niantic River!  I had no idea it was even on the chart.  You’re probably thinking: “That might have been a good place to start, seeing how it is the chart-plotting portion of the exam.”  And I would say: “You’re funny.  You think I know what I’m doing.”   Silly you.

I had to hold back laughter when I saw right there by it, too: Niantic River, refer to Chart number such-and-such.  I looked back at the multiple choice questions on dreaded question #2 and there it was.  C. number such-and-such.  How freaking easy!  And what a dunce I was for not being able to answer it.  For not even referring to the chart to try to answer it.  My eyes then started darting around the chart.  What other really helpful things might I find here …  Then I found it.  The megahertz for various marine stations around that area.  And, there was one listed for Hartford Connecticut.  Right there.  On the chart.  I felt like such an idiot.  But a happy one at that!  I was about to pass this sucker!  I made my way through the rest of the plotting feeling like I probably got them all right, but you always guess a little on those when the distances or headings are just a few degrees off.  It’s hard to be that precise with a parallel ruler.

Regardless, I stood excitedly before the proctor and asked him to grade my plotting portion right there on the spot, and he did.  100%.  I nailed that shit!

I can’t tell you how glad I was to know I had passed and to have all of that behind me.  I’m sure a lot of those tidbits about cumulus clouds, MARPOL regs, and the reflective material on lifejackets started to dribble out of my head the minute I left the room.  But that’s fine.  I knew that stuff when it mattered, and I had done it!  Passed the Captain’s Exam!

While I do still have a little bit of work ahead of me in rounding up my necessary Sea Service forms, getting my physical and drug test, the really hard part is behind me.  Now it’s just a formality.

If any of you out there are thinking about going for your Captain’s License, I highly recommend it.  If only just for the education and training.  STCW school was awesome and I have a lot more confidence now that I will respond more calmly and effectively if we do face an emergency out there.

But, for the exam, I also highly recommend you take every single practice exam out there you can find.  Learn the materials, try to make them stick, but after that, try to remember all the answers.  Oh, and don’t forget to actually look at the chart.  Amazingly, there’s a lot of really helpful stuff there.  Who knew?  Stupid Niantic River ….

The pic I texted to Phillip right after I found I had passed.  Happy Cap’n Annie right there!

If any of you are curious about the process or have any questions for me about the study materials or the exam itself, feel free to reach out.  As always here at HaveWind, we’re happy to share!

Top 5 Lessons from Sea School

Top 5 Lessons from Sea School

anniedike

Ahhh … Sea School.  What a great experience.  It was five full days of classroom and hands-on training primarily on how to respond to emergencies on-board a vessel but also personal safety, emergency medical response and how best to prevent emergencies in the first place.  Phillip and I went to the Sea School in Bayou la Batre, Alabama.

You actually stay there on the “campus” for the course, sleep in dorms (no co-ed … doh!) and eat three square meals cooked daily in the kitchen.

Total cafeteria style food, but it’s perfectly edible and fills you up.  The whole set-up really starts to make you feel like you’re on a ship with fellow crew mates, sharing chores, clean-up, meals and plenty of sea stories during every break.  Many sea school graduates have also left their mark or insignia on the block wall that leads to the classrooms.

Lookie there.  Annie Girl!  And a nanner!

And while I’ll admit, many of your days look like this.  Eight hours of classroom lessons with a quiz at the end, and it seems hard sometimes to just stay awake …     ZZZZZzzzz

Some days look like this!  Yowza!

In all, it was a great balance of hands-on versus book learning lead by some great instructors.  While Phillip and I learned a TON, I thought I would share here five of our favorite takeaways from STCW training at Sea School:

5.  First Aid and CPR

I’ll be the first to admit, I had NO first aid training prior to this course.  While I had a general idea of how to administer CPR, I learned in our first aid class that things have changed and the approved method is now different.  Rather than 15 chest pumps followed by 2 breaths, they now recommend 30 pumps followed by 2 breaths.  We also had a very knowledgeable and insightful instructor for this course, Vietnam veteran (26 years in the Navy) and career firefighter (24 years with the Mobile Fire Department) Karl Ladnier, who opened my eyes to the reality of the force needed to correctly administer CPR.  He told us with the first few chest pumps you’re going to feel some “crackles.”  He said this was the cartilage breaking up.  That would be followed by more cracks which likely meant you were breaking the patient’s ribs, and you know what he said: “I’d thank anyone who broke a few of my ribs to save my life.”

Here is a photo of Karl during our firefighting training.

You cannot be timid, Karl said.  CPR requires a lot of force or it will not be effective.  We also learned what the true purpose of CRP is.  While the hope is it will revive the patient to full thriving order (like it does often in the movies), the reality, as Karl explained it, is that that rarely happens.  Only in a very small percentage of the cases does the administration of CPR itself bring a person back.  Rather, the CPR is much like putting the patient on a “machine” where outside forces are physically pumping the body’s heart to move blood and blowing in air to maintain oxygen, simply to keep the body alive, but the minute you “pull the plug” or stop CPR, the body will go immediately back into cardiac arrest.  Most times the CPR is only intended to prolong the period of time in which shock from a defibrillator machine might save the patient.  And, this is only if the CPR is administered within the first few minutes after the cardiac arrest.  You see?  All good, true, eye-opening things to know about something I thought was quite simple and often saved lives.

A snapshot of Karl teaching us in class.  (You weren’t really supposed to have your iPhone with you in school so I had to sneak it … Shhhh!)

4.  Firefighting!

Boy did Phillip and I learn a TON in this section of the course.  I had no idea there were different types of fires (Class A, B, C or D) that each call for different types of extinguishers.  I’ll admit, I thought the canister fire extinguishers we all have on our boats were designed to put out any fire.  But, it turns out, the fuel source of the fire can have a great impact on what agents will actually extinguish it and what agents may only feed it further, spread it or cause you more danger in trying to put it out.  For instance, if you were to use water or even a foam fire extinguisher on an electrical fire, you could inadvertently shock yourself because both water and foam conduct electricity.  Also, using water on a flammable liquids fire can splash the burning liquid and spread the fire to areas that were not yet ignited.  Who knew!

I can tell you this newbie firefighter didn’t.  

After spending a day in class learning about the different types of fires and the different types of extinguishers that should be used to put them out, as well as how to administer them, it was time for a field day!  Off to the fire hut we went to enter a burning room (a repurposed cargo container) in thick smoke and heat up to 800 degrees, with oxygen packs on to learn how to spray a stream of water to put out a fire.

That’s Phillip in his suit there.  He actually had an issue with his oxygen hook-up and was without air for close to a minute.  But the ever cool Marine in him didn’t panic and handled the situation perfectly. 

And there he goes!  Off to fight the fire.

 

 

Okay, it’s clear I was having a great time donning all that hefty gear.  I mean, learning is allowed to be fun, right?  I pick July for the FireGals calendar!  Smokinnnn’

What we also learned during this exercise was how to properly walk up to and away from fires and effectively attack the fire to make sure we wouldn’t spreading the fire to more places or put ourselves in the center of a burning fire holding an empty extinguisher.  It was surprising to see how short-lived these extinguishers were.  Some only 17 seconds.  That can be a long amount of time if you know how to effectively approach a fire, but a very short time if you don’t, then you find yourself in the heart of the fire with no more extinguishing agent to use.  We also learned a very valuable lesson to never turn our back on a fire, because you never know what it might do.  This was a hard one for many of us to remember.  Here is a great video showing some of our exercises and what the instructors were teaching us:

 

And, I can report only one small, teensy burn from this training.  (And I, of course, lucky Annie, was the only one to get burned, but I was honestly kind of proud of it.  Look at that hideous thing!  I hope it leaves a little scar. : )

3.  Launching, Righting and Entering a Liferaft

Liferaft training was one of the primary reasons Phillip and I signed up for Sea School.  To really get a feel for the liferaft.  Phillip and I purchased a 75-pound 4-person liferaft in a soft pouch (not a valise or canister) which we keep in our port lazarette when we sail offshore and had read a lot about them in making that purchase (and great article from SAIL Magazine for you all here on how to choose the best liferaft).  But, Phillip and I have never actually deployed our liferaft or practiced getting in, out, righting it, etc.  So, the training at STCW was invaluable in this aspect.  We learned in class how to launch the liferaft manually or using the hydrostatic release.  How to cleat the painter line to secure the raft to the boat during deployment and also how to manually inflate the raft and enter the liferaft safely from the vessel.  I also learned each life raft’s painter line is manufactured with what is called a “weak link” that is designed to break under a certain amount of pressure if the raft is still connected to a sinking vessel (so the raft won’t go down with the ship).  Good to know.

In the pool, we practiced getting in and out of the liferaft, which can be a more physically straining than you realize, particularly considering you will likely already be pretty exhausted at that point, and how to right the liferaft by using the handles on the underside and standing on the side of the raft.

This is the 4-person raft we used during our pool training:

So liferaft learning.  Check!  I’m hoping if Phillip and I ever have to use ours, we’ll look this chipper and dry when we get in.  What do you think the odds are? ; )

2.  Using Your Pants as a Floatation Device

This was definitely my favorite take-away from STCW school, probably because I didn’t think it would actually work and I was shocked to find how well it did in fact work, and how easy it was to do.  While you can do it with a long sleeve shirt, too, by holding the neckline tight around your face just under your nose, breathing in through your nose and out (into the shirt) through your mouth, the shirt method was more difficult and more tiring than the pants.  The pants trick is a great resource for anyone who voyages often offshore and may someday find themselves treading water without a floatation device for God knows how long.  So … the method:

I found a good post and video for you here demonstrating the technique.

While this guy uses the method Phillip said he learned in the Marines, that is flipping the pants over your head to scoop air in, the method we learned in STCW class seemed more efficient with less use of energy.  (It can be a bit harder than you think to tread water and effectively flip wet pants over your head to capture air, particularly when you will probably be pretty exhausted by that point already.)  Rather our instructor had us put the pants, deflated, around our neck, hold the waistline opening under the water with one hand and scoop air down into the water and into the waist opening with the other, while the pants are already in place around your neck.  This proved to be a much easier, quicker method, particularly for the necessary periodic refills.  I was really blown away by this trick.  It can get very tiring treading water and this is a fantastic way to use something you probably already have on your body to give you much-needed rest at a time when you are probably tired, a bit panicked and in need of a moment to just float and assess your situation.  One other tip we learned: shoes will really weigh you down if you’re treading water.  They should be the first to go, BUT pull the laces out of them first as those may prove very useful for tying or fastening things later.

1.  The SEA STORIES

As Karl, one of our favorite instructors put it: Stories start one of two ways, “Once upon a time,” or “This ain’t no shit.”  Pardon my French but I think that accurately captures it.  This one, Numero Uno on our list, was actually Phillip’s pick.  One of his favorite takeaways from our week in Sea School were the Sea Stories.  Most of Karl’s stories fell in the “no shit” category.  It seemed for each teaching point in the book dealing with how to attack certain types of fires, how to check a hot door, how to approach an injured victim, on and on, Karl had a real-life personal firefighting story that would make you shake your head in disbelief but put some real life experience to the lesson to really make it stick.  After twenty-four years serving as a firefighter, he had clearly racked up some stories.  He told us about crazed people who had pulled a weapon on him, sad children who went back in to save their dogs and never made it back out, fellow firefighters who had made simple but grave mistakes, and of course some very funny stories as well.  The best one involved a beautiful topless woman and a request that he help hold up her chest.  I won’t repeat the details here, but trust me, it was rich!

Many of our fellow students also had some wildly bizarre stories to share as well.  One was a long-time tug boat captain who had dealt personally many times with fires aboard the ship, a breach of the hull, fouled props, failed engines, you name it.  It seemed everyone had so much to contribute in the way of real life experiences.  (Thankfully  we had a few too from our voyage across the Atlantic Ocean, that were fun to share.)  One, however, that our personal safety and pool instructor, Larry, focused on in discussing the design elements and equipment in the liferaft was Adrift.

Have any of you read or heard about this book?  Steve Callahan survived 72 days at sea in an inflatable liferaft and he shared his harrowing tale in this sobering book.  It really is eye-opening.  Larry, our instructor, also told us of another recently confirmed survival story about a guy who floated in a fishing boat from Mexico all the way to the South Pacific, spending 438 days and drifting over 7,000 miles at sea.  It’s unreal.  But it is also very real.  What we learned primarily from this course is how to deal with emergencies, yes, but primarily how to prevent them at the outset, how to follow procedures and safety precautions designed to ensure you never have to deal with an emergency in the first place.  But, if Phillip and I ever do find ourselves facing an emergency out there, I’ll at least know we have a good working foundation to initiate the best response in light of the situation.  For anyone thinking about preparing for extensive offshore voyaging or, in particular, working in the maritime industry, this would be a great foundation for your training.

You’re looking at two fiery grads here.  Five days at Sea School.  Done.

Good Stress

Good Stress

anniedike

It’s actually called eustress.  Have you heard that term?  I first saw it in Timothy Ferris’s Four Hour Work Week.  Definitely an exciting, kick-in-the-keister read if you’re looking for a book to make you rethink and reform your work habits.  But, I remember seeing the word for the first time and having one of those Aha! moments.  Ferris opens the book with a scene where he is preparing to perform in an international tango contest.  He is nervous, anxious, scared, excited—many of the same emotions we feel when we are stressed—but he is feeling them for a good reason.  Because he is doing something exciting and challenging.  I remember stopping mid-sentence on the word, snapping my head up and laying the book in my lap.  Eustress.  What a great concept.  It is a form of stress, in that it is exciting, it makes you a little frightened, a little anxious or worried, but it’s good for you.  It’s invigorating and healthy.  That is what I am just now learning cruising can be.  Good stress.

Actually a recent article in Cruising World (Good ole’ Fatty, does it again) inspired me to write this post when one particular line stuck me like a harpoon.  Cap’n Fatty was quoting a female sailor who had, like his daughter, grown up on boats, but who was just now starting to learn how to actually handle, maintain and sail her own boat and she said: “I felt like there were a thousand decisions to make.”

That is exactly how it sometimes feels when you’re living aboard cruising.  Deciding which weather window to seize, which route to take, which port to go to, when to reef, when to fuel up, where to provision, when to make repairs and how best to make them, where to moor, when to leave.  Then it starts all over again: which weather window to seize, which route to take, which port to go to …  On and on.  It can sometimes feel overwhelming making all of the decisions necessary to keep a boat and crew in good running shape and actually cruising her around different parts of the world.

A big part of mine and Phillip’s decision for me to go for my Captain’s License this summer was the goal that I not only become a better sailor and boat owner, but also a much more helpful mate and partner for Phillip.

Since we bought our boat in 2013, I will be the first to admit, I have been lazy.  I have.  I have relied on Phillip to handle the helm 100% of the time, to make all of the decisions about when we would leave, where we would go, which ports we would stop in.  All of the navigation and weather decisions I left to Phillip.  He would occasionally run things by me, probably more as a matter of courtesy than anything, because I didn’t have the knowledge to actually help him make the right decision.  (Although we all know there is no “right” one, only that an un-made one is the wrong one.)  But, this last trip in April/May, when we brought our boat back up from the Keys, I was infinitely more involved and I felt just like that gal said.  Like there were a thousand decisions to make.

Phillip and I watched the wind graphs and radar the days before leaving and decided when was the best time (both which day and what time of day to ensure arrival at the next port in daylight) to leave.  I pulled the boat off the dock.  You all remember that harrowing, heart-pounding moment.  *gulp*

Together, we planned the route together from Stock Island across the Gulf Stream, into San Carlos Bay to Ft. Myers Beach.  I was at the helm when we snagged a mooring ball there.  While at Ft. Myers, we assessed again the movement in our rudder post as we had noticed still some slight movement starboard to port in the rudder during our passage up and Phillip and I talked at length about the best temporary fix as well as the possible permanent fixes once we got home to Pensacola.

After Ft. Myers, we decided our next stop would be Cayo Costa, a national state park north of Captiva and a place we had never been to before.  We had been told by fellow cruising friends that it was a beautiful, secluded spot but a little “tight” coming in.  Meaning, we would have to navigate carefully around the shoals to find enough depth, a decision which also required us to watch the tides and try our best to time our entry during high tide.  Decisions, decisions.

I was at the helm when we pulled into Pelican Pass and I recall how stressful it was, watching the depth gage and trying to steer my way toward depth without knowing whether the shoal was on my port or starboard, or dead ahead, much less which way to turn to find deeper water.  I think we got down to 6.5 at one point and I found that’s not a number I like to see on the B&G.  And, the big lesson learned there: If you pick your way into an anchorage, lay down a freaking track on the B&G so you can pick your way back.  We ended up getting into Cayo Costa just fine but it was a mutual half-educated, half-guessing game and it was stressful.  But the good kind.

And well worth it.

And, the most important part was, Phillip and I were actually now doing it together.  I suddenly saw all of the work and thought and research and worry he put into all of the passages and trips we had taken before while I did not.  Sure, I’m a hard worker and will help with any sort of manual labor aspect of cruising, but it instantly dawned on me how little mental effort I had been putting in while Phillip had taken on the lion’s share.  For the first time I appreciated all that he had been doing.  And, Phillip, for the first time, appreciated having a true, equal partner.  Someone to help carry the mental load, to talk through all of the variables and possible outcomes and help make those thousand decisions.

We need challenges in our life.  Things that frustrate us, cause adversity that we must overcome and make us feel alive.  Captain Yannick, in fact, chose to bear down the very difficult path of buying, maintaining and sailing a boat across the Atlantic Ocean so he and his family could move aboard and go cruising as a means of keeping himself occupied and stimulated after retiring as a Navy fighter pilot.  While I’m not sure cruising can ever be quite as stressful as re-fueling a fighter jet mid-air, I do believe there were moments during our Atlantic crossing that pushed Yannick to his mental limits.

But it is much more rewarding to worry and stress about something you are passionate about and love to do, rather than something you don’t like or even dread doing. I remember worrying myself sick over motion deadlines, asking the wrong questions in deposition, disappointing my partners.  I was an absolute stress bomb.  Twenty pounds heavier, out of shape and shoved into pantyhose every day to go sit and work and worry in front of a computer all day.  Bad stress will kill you!

Cruising stress, good stress, I can assure you, will not but you should fully expect to feel worried, scared, anxious and nervous at times.  I guarantee you will feel very much alive.

And while I do still worry sometimes about disappointing my partner, now Phillip.  It seems as long as I keep trying, I never do.  We now make all of our cruising decisions and mistakes, together.

Captain’s Quiz!

Captain’s Quiz!

anniedike

Tow lights, fog horns, distress signals … OH MY!  As many of you know, I am currently studying for my Captain’s License and *man* is some of this stuff mind-boggling.  I chose to do the study-at-your-own-pace program through Mariner’s Learning System and have been very pleased with the decision.  Captain Bob Figular who runs the Mariner’s Learning program has also answered many of my questions personally and helped me every step of the way.  After speaking with him and others and learning that the school (where you attend for several hours each evening for ten days before taking the test) is 100% scripted–meaning, the instructor reads to you verbatim for several hours–I know myself well enough to know I probably wouldn’t have learned much that way.  My mind would drift, the teacher would start to sound like the one from Charlie Brown (various pitches of honking horns) and I would snap to at the end wondering what in the heck I just missed.  With the books, I am able to read and re-read if necessary, then quiz myself using the practice exams at the end, taking them as many times as I need to, to make sure the information stuck.  I am still blonde remember … 

I highly recommend the program if any of you out there are thinking about going for your Captain’s License and I thought it would be fun to share a little of what I am learning with you.  I have been told the “Rules of the Road” section, about navigating oncoming and crossing ships and understanding the many lights, bells and whistles, is the hardest so I dove into that one first.  Let’s see how some of you do on these.  Three questions.  Leave your answers in a comment below and I’ll come back later and let you know what the correct answers were.  No Googling or checking outside sources.  Just go straight from the ole’ noggin.   It’ll be fun.  Go!

 

#1  Steering and Sailing Rules

BOTH INTERNATIONAL AND INLAND:  You are in charge of a stand-on vessel in a crossing situation.  The other vessel is 1.5 miles to port.  You believe that risk of collision exists.  You should __________.

A.  take avoiding action immediately upon determining that risk of collision exists

B.  immediately sound the danger signal

C.  take avoiding action only after providing the give-way vessel time to take action, and determining that her action is not appropriate

D.  hold course and speed until the point of extremis, and then sound the danger signal, taking whatever action will best avert collision

 

#2  Lights and Shapes

BOTH INTERNATIONAL AND INLAND:  Which statement is TRUE concerning a towing vessel which, due to the nature of her work, is unable to keep out of the way of another vessel?

A.  By day, she shall carry a black cylinder shape.

B.  By day, she shall carry two black balls in a vertical line.

C.  By night, she would show the same lights as a vessel not under command.

D.  By day, she would show the same shapes as a vessel restricted in her ability to maneuver.

 

#3  Sound and Light Signals:

BOTH INTERNATIONAL AND INLAND:  In restricted visibility, a towed vessel must sound a fog signal when it is _________.

A.  the last vessel in the tow

B.  the last vessel in the tow and it is carrying a crew

C.  manned, regardless of its position in the tow

D.  None of the above are correct

 

I can’t wait to see how you guys did.  While much of this stuff has been intuitive, and I’m thankful for my time on the water which taught me these things via so-called “on the job” training, the rest has been tedious and new and simply a game of memory.  But, I’m plugging away at it.  Hope you guys are plugging away toward your own goals too!

Captain’s School: Conquering Fears

Captain’s School: Conquering Fears

anniedike

“I figured that was the best reason to do it.  Because I was afraid to.”

This was something a very good friend of mine told me years ago.  (Sonnie, if you’re reading this, thank you!)  She was talking, at first, about starting triathlon training because she was afraid to swim long distances, but she found the principle so inspiring she applied it to many other “obstacles” in her life—becoming a single parent, moving to another state, starting a new job—and she succeeded in all of them.  The theory always stuck with me.  So simple.  So true.  If you’re avoiding doing something you want to do because you are afraid, that is the very best reason to do it.  Conquer your fears!

That’s what I am doing this summer.  As many of you may have seen in the announcement at the end of my most recent YouTube video, I will be joining in the Pensacola a la Habana race this April with SailLibra in order to get more days on the water for a goal I have set for myself this summer.  While the big goal is to get my Captain’s License, the bigger accomplishment I seek to achieve is to get over one very big fear I have had for a while.  One I have had for too long.  It frustrates me, frightens me and makes me want to do just as Sonnie said: Do it because I’m sick of being afraid of it.

What am I afraid of?

Steering the boat.  Not so much when we’re out there in the big blue.  (There are many, hundreds, of reasons why I love offshore sailing, but one is … there’s not many things to run into out there.)  And not so much when we’re on a steady tack and just holding a heading.  But I am terrified of steering our boat in and out of the dock, through tight channels and around shoals and other obstacles.  I have a huge fear of crashing her into pilings, other boats, rocky bottoms, big concrete sea walls.  I’m seeing this all in my mind as I write this, just as I always do when I think about docking our boat.  And, that’s awful!  I want to travel the world by sailboat.  I want to go cruising!  While it’s great that Phillip is an excellent helmsman and I’m a pretty kick-ass First Mate, I shouldn’t let that fear get the best of me.  Something could happen to Phillip.  He could fall overboard.  Become incapacitated.  Or heck, maybe I will want or need to single-hand at some point.  Just to give him a break or because, whatever, life happens.  Some of my very best friends are single-handed female sailors because their husbands passed away immediately and unexpectedly and they inspire me to no end because they still get their boats out and go.  (Bridgette, Pam, I am so proud of you!)  All of that to say, you never know what the future holds and there is no excuse for living in fear.  This is the year I conquer my fears.

So, this summer Video Annie is going to sea school!  We’re focusing on education, training and, most importantly, sticking Annie behind the wheel.  Even when she’s scared.  Even when the boat is nearing the bock.  Even when it’s a difficult situation and she wants to throw her hands up and have someone else take the wheel.  Captains Randy and Ryan with SailLibra have been gracious enough to offer me time on their day charter boats (an Irwin 37 and Beneteau 35) while our Niagara is still down in the Keys.  Phillip and I are planning to bring her home in April and I’ll plan to take the helm the majority of that trip and our many trips this summer.  I am docking our boat dangit!  And then I’m de-docking it (Annie term) and docking it again.  I’m sick of getting this nervous knot in my stomach every time I take the wheel.  I want to look like this behind the wheel.  All kicked back and confident.

“Yeah buddy!” my Dad would say.

While the helm work is the pinnacle for me, Phillip and I also want to increase our training and education.  We have signed up for an STCW class (Standards for Training, Certification and Watchkeeping) in April and I will also begin Captain’s School in May.  After counting my days on the water (I can’t believe I have racked up so many in just over three years!), I only need a few dozen more to be able to apply for my license so I will be gathering Sea Service Forms and all of the other elements necessary to apply.  While I am excited and will be so proud to obtain my Captain’s License, it is all part of a bigger goal to become a more educated, knowledgable and a confident sailor.  I will be way more proud when I pull our beautiful Niagara into the slip and dock her all by myself.  Then de-dock and dock her ten more times in a row not because of luck but because I know how and can do it in all kinds of conditions, comfortably and confidently.  That is a day I will be incredibly proud.

So, my time has come.  I’m going to push myself and bring guys along for the ride.  Watch, learn and grow with us.

Step aside fear!  And give me that helm!