[QUOTE=RubberRhib888;101816]Re-read my post. I am referring to ABs not a potential Chief Mate.[/QUOTE]
I think the same goes for an AB trying to upgrade. If they are willing to take the time and pass all the tests and take all the courses, which you have done… how does that equate to laziness?
Another good Jemplayer post.
Money spent on educating yourself is never wasted. Ive seen guys refuse COMPANY PAID training because they wherent getting the travel pay, dumb shit like that. The only way your going to make it out here anymore, being a “hawsepiper” is to knuckle down and do it, losing a week here or there is the price your just going to have to pay, but alot of guys cant see the big picture, and its unfortunate.
I did it the exact way jemplayer just described it. I took out a small loan and went to class over a 3 year period. It sucked but was doable. If you want it bad enough you will find away. When I did it AB pay was 150.00 a day not 300.00 like it is now.
According to the NMC checklist, flashing lights and medical care provider are optional now. Also the tax returns are nice after turning in the school receipts.
[QUOTE=Jemplayer;101825]BULLSHIT!!!
I did it on my own, working 28/14 and making $225-$272 a day with rent, car note, and all everything else that goes with life. If you’re hungry enough you’ll find a way. 90% of the guys on deck say they want to be in the wheel house, but only 1% of them ever do it. Life’s about sacrifice and hard work to get the good things in life, but most want everything handed to them on a silver platter with no effort put into it.
How hard is it to take 2 weeks and at least get your 100 ton if you don’t want to deal with the hassle of getting your mates license? Hell most already have their BST, AB, Lifeboat, and RFPNW, which I did not have so it was even more of a burden on me.
That just leaves; Medical Care Provider, Advanced Fire Fighting, Flashing Lights, BRM, Radar and you can test for your 500/1600 with just that. That’s only 4 weeks of classes right there. If you don’t live in Louisiana but you’re working for a company out of Louisiana set it up with your company so that Fletcher can bill them so you get the in state rate, and you just pay back your company and that can save you a lot of money.
Then your left with VSO, ARPA, GMDSS, and with just your VSO I can point you to several companies with boats under 300 GRT that will hire you. Spend another 3 weeks and get you’re GMDSS and ARPA and the world is your oyster.
It’s even less of a hassle to get your DDE4000 no ARPA, GMDSS, BRM, Flashing Lights.
So explain to me how a guy who for the most part has already spent 3 weeks getting his AB can’t spend another 4 weeks and minimum getting the rest of his base classes done not being lazy? Especially when he can get a sizable pay increase and a chance at working even time so he can now really spend some quality time with his family.
The fact of the matter is that most of they guys know they cant pass the test, but it doesn’t stop them from dreaming of being the guy in charge.
As for $30 grand for an AB to get his mate’s license you guys must be adding the cost of snorting coke off of hookers tits in there somewhere. With just MCP, VSO, Flashing Lights, BRM, Fire Fighting, and Radar I am at $2000 using the instate rate for Fletcher for everything but VSO and BRM which I got from other schools.
Now Room and Board is where it starts to add up, but with Claudette offering rooms at $60 a night with a good breakfast a man can easily live on $75 a day, so for 28 days away from home that adds up to $2100
So now we are at a total of $4100. Still not an insurmountable sum. Especially when you spread it out over a year or two. How many of us have deckhands with rims and stereo’s worth more then that in their cars? If you want GMDSS and ARPA you will have to double that number.
If it’s a money thing, then they need to prioritize about how they spend their money. Hell even financing it with a credit card makes sense as the rewards are worth it, if they can get a credit card.
Now if you want to come up the way I did from 100 ton boats, pay out of state tuition or insist on using Houston which is even more expensive, and pay for every single class on your own including you’re two DP classes and Celestial, then yes you are looking at $30 grand including room and board.
Also between Youngs memorial and Fletcher who are constantly running classes eventually something will line up with you’re schedule so you don’t have to take much time off if any. Young’s sucks about posting their schedule but Fletcher is really good and they post them in 6 month interval’s giving you plenty of time to line stuff up. So you take a year or two to get everything done, but they key is to look at things in small chunks, not one huge bolder.[/QUOTE]
Well stated, Jemplayer. An additional caveat is that there may well be grant money available. I headed down to the oil patch in 2008 with a Master 100 NC. . Since that time, I’ve taken 14 classes on my own time, including GMDSS, ARPA and VSO. Grants paid for nine of them, my company paid for two (DP). and I paid for GMDSS, Flashing Light and Celestial.
Always ask the school if there is any grant money available.
And thank goodness for good people like Ms. Claudette and her B&B to make the journey to an upgrade possible.
Great post buddy! I wish I had gotten it done that cheep. I am getting my taxes ready now and over the las 3 years in tuition I have spent right at 15000.00. That was going from a 100ton to a 500 master. In the first year I did my AB BST and life boat then year two BRM, Advanced Fire, RFPNW, VSO, ARPA and test prep. Then year 3 GMDSS, DP basic then DP simulator. Living in FL I paid more for some classes but took them while staying at home the money saved in accommodations offset that also spent way to much on GMDSS but MPT was the only place offering it when I could get the time off work. That being said it was well worth it and if I had it to do over again I would have started the process years earlier and put it on a credit card. I am not getting any younger and want to find my way to the big boats and big money in the next few years. Right now it’s counting down the next hitch to send my DP stuff to the NI for my DP limited then counting down another 5 hitches to send my stuff to the CG for my 1600. Whatever your doing make sure your upgrading as you go!
You guys are all right. After I got my 500 ton I had to work as AB to start getting time on boats over 100 tons. Going from captain to cleaning shitters wasn’t my favorite but I could see the light. I worked hard to get were I am. It sure is nice today sitting in this nice big wheelhouse on the Internet, looks cold out there.
How do people making hundreds of dollars per day qualify for government training grants?
[QUOTE=youngpup;101805]How does taking advantage of a company program paying for your upgrade come close to translating as laziness. Sounds financially responsible to me. Why pay $30k+ to upgrade if your company will pay it for you… “Should I refuse my company sending me to my Chief Mate courses and pay it on my own so I’m not Lazy”[/QUOTE]
It’s called initiative. He would rather advance his career than wait around, meanwhile time just marches on.
[QUOTE=“Jemplayer;101825”]BULLSHIT!!!
I did it on my own, working 28/14 and making $225-$272 a day with rent, car note, and all everything else that goes with life. If you’re hungry enough you’ll find a way. 90% of the guys on deck say they want to be in the wheel house, but only 1% of them ever do it. Life’s about sacrifice and hard work to get the good things in life, but most want everything handed to them on a silver platter with no effort put into it.
How hard is it to take 2 weeks and at least get your 100 ton if you don’t want to deal with the hassle of getting your mates license? Hell most already have their BST, AB, Lifeboat, and RFPNW, which I did not have so it was even more of a burden on me.
That just leaves; Medical Care Provider, Advanced Fire Fighting, Flashing Lights, BRM, Radar and you can test for your 500/1600 with just that. That’s only 4 weeks of classes right there. If you don’t live in Louisiana but you’re working for a company out of Louisiana set it up with your company so that Fletcher can bill them so you get the in state rate, and you just pay back your company and that can save you a lot of money.
Then your left with VSO, ARPA, GMDSS, and with just your VSO I can point you to several companies with boats under 300 GRT that will hire you. Spend another 3 weeks and get you’re GMDSS and ARPA and the world is your oyster.
It’s even less of a hassle to get your DDE4000 no ARPA, GMDSS, BRM, Flashing Lights.
So explain to me how a guy who for the most part has already spent 3 weeks getting his AB can’t spend another 4 weeks and minimum getting the rest of his base classes done not being lazy? Especially when he can get a sizable pay increase and a chance at working even time so he can now really spend some quality time with his family.
The fact of the matter is that most of they guys know they cant pass the test, but it doesn’t stop them from dreaming of being the guy in charge.
As for $30 grand for an AB to get his mate’s license you guys must be adding the cost of snorting coke off of hookers tits in there somewhere. With just MCP, VSO, Flashing Lights, BRM, Fire Fighting, and Radar I am at $2000 using the instate rate for Fletcher for everything but VSO and BRM which I got from other schools.
Now Room and Board is where it starts to add up, but with Claudette offering rooms at $60 a night with a good breakfast a man can easily live on $75 a day, so for 28 days away from home that adds up to $2100
So now we are at a total of $4100. Still not an insurmountable sum. Especially when you spread it out over a year or two. How many of us have deckhands with rims and stereo’s worth more then that in their cars? If you want GMDSS and ARPA you will have to double that number.
If it’s a money thing, then they need to prioritize about how they spend their money. Hell even financing it with a credit card makes sense as the rewards are worth it, if they can get a credit card.
Now if you want to come up the way I did from 100 ton boats, pay out of state tuition or insist on using Houston which is even more expensive, and pay for every single class on your own including you’re two DP classes and Celestial, then yes you are looking at $30 grand including room and board.
Also between Youngs memorial and Fletcher who are constantly running classes eventually something will line up with you’re schedule so you don’t have to take much time off if any. Young’s sucks about posting their schedule but Fletcher is really good and they post them in 6 month interval’s giving you plenty of time to line stuff up. So you take a year or two to get everything done, but they key is to look at things in small chunks, not one huge bolder.[/QUOTE]
Extremely well said as usual JemPlayer. My company has Union contract negotiations coming up in a couple of months; I’d like to solicite your services! You must be a trial lawyer on your spare time. haha. More seriously, I went through schooling from 2010-early 2012…at that time ALL of the OICNW courses had to be taken and completed in order to be approved to test. That is why it was so expensive for me. Also I included all travel, lodging, and food. My schools spanned from RI to Florida. It just lined up for me that way. I am not bitching. The classroom time made me a better mariner at the end of the day. I don’t regret any of the time or money spent. I simply responded to the thread with frustration regarding ABs WAITING for their company to send them to school instead of getting the ball rolling themselves. Everyone is different and has unique circumstances within their life. Respected. I just think that a motivated deckhand who shows initiative to upgrade on their own time and dime will propagate some serious positive echoes to the senior mates and masters on their prospective vessels. I was an AB for almost 10 years. I took my position serious and did the best job I could do. I went to school and upgraded when the time and money was right. Imho, a lot of ABs in our industry are giving the rest of us a bad rap. AB pay is pretty good across the board. However, If you want more money and the like, make some sacrifices and get your asses to school and stop bitching.
A guy on a Harvey boat said ABs are making $450 a day. With pay like that, why move up?
I think that’s QMED’s that are making that . Still AB’s are making great money I think 350 plus or minus
[QUOTE=ryanwood86;101913]A guy on a Harvey boat said ABs are making $450 a day. With pay like that, why move up?[/QUOTE]
Think of the dumbest mates you know. Now imagine working for them.
[QUOTE=bryanx220;101914]I think that’s QMED’s that are making that . Still AB’s are making great money I think 350 plus or minus[/QUOTE]
Why would anyone pay that much for an AB or a QMED on a mudboat?
I have a bridge for sale Ryan, real cheap and youll make your money back on the tolls.
[QUOTE=tugsailor;101842]How do people making hundreds of dollars per day qualify for government training grants?[/QUOTE]
Most of the grants were under the LRA (Louisiana Recovery Act). That was 2009 - 2010. Don’t know if that money is still available.
The grants are given to the schools (in this case, Young Memorial and L E Fletcher) to disperse to students.
Took VSO at Delgato early last year, and the announcement that they had the grant money for that specific class was posted on their web site. I stumbled across that one when I was searching for a VSO class on dates that I would have off.
Bottom line is to ask the schools what grant money is available for any classes when you contact them. The most they can do is say no.
I only found out about grant money by word of mouth.
My thoughts exactly
Supply and demand
[QUOTE=ryanwood86;101988]Supply and demand[/QUOTE]
I don’t believe that there is any shortage of ABs. No, not at all. I don’t believe that companies are actually paying over $350 for an AB either (maybe they are paying $450 for a guy with a Master 1600 tons license, and having him sail as an AB).
However, it could be that companies who don’t recruit, don’t advertise outside the bayou, don’t bother to read resumes, don’t reply to emails, don’t return phone calls, and just wait for prospective ABs to travel a thousand miles at their own expense to knock on doors — are starting to find that there are not as many guys walking through the door.
Maybe companies are rejecting too many applicants with excessive physicals.
Maybe the bayou boat companies are going to have to start using normal HR recruiting practices, like other companies in the US do, but there is no shortage of ABs.