Tag: mariner’s learning system

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.

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!

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!