Just check the “no” box on the form and move on.
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If you get a waiver it will be reviewed at every renewal of the medical certificate.
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You do not have to be anxious about this. Do some soul searching and see if it’s really in your heart to want this career change, but your medical concerns should NOT be the deciding factor. I am also a career switcher like you, I got into this even later in life than you. It takes a lot to walk away from everything to be a sailor and that little doubting voice in your head that is afraid of the change is giving you reasons to second guess yourself. But your medical issues are not a deal breaker. There are FAR more unhealthy sailors than you with serious medical issues who get their certs renewed like clockwork every two years. Morbidly obese guys with stacks of meds, high blood pressure, hypertension, diabetes, with what you’ve got im certain that you’ll be fine. Only thing is, if your migraines are legitimately disabling, you COULD get a med cert but you SHOULDNT. Lol. If you’re really anxious still, feel free to shoot me a PM and I can walk you though the process. (But I’m working right now so I may be delayed in answering).
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Thanks for this. I’m not looking for a career to provide fulfillment or anything like that, but you are right about the doubting voice a little bit. However, the doubting voice isn’t about whether or not I will like life at sea, be happy or fulfilled, miss my 9-5 career or anything like that. It is really just anxiety about the “what-ifs”, especially the ones outside of my control. What if I graduate and go $100k+ into debt and then the Jones Act is repealed (seems pretty realistic honestly)? What if I graduate and then the industry shifts to a downturn and I can’t find a job? What if I graduate and autonomous cargo ships have taken over (they already have them operating in Norway?)? All of these are basically out of my control but the “what if” about starting school and then getting denied for migraine history actually seemed realistic and addressable. As well, the other way to hedge all of those other what-ifs is to avoid as much debt as possible, and knowing I will qualify for the $64k tuition assistance would be massive to alleviate those concerns. After more research it still sounds like being approved for SSMP seems unlikely with my prescription history, and lying in this context is a felony. But the confidence that I can get through the license evaluation is the most important.
And this might sound pretentious or something, but the anxiety is a little driven by what I would be risking/giving up as well. It might be a little different if I were at a financial and career rock bottom with basically nothing to lose, but I will be objectively giving up a high paying career. As miserable as life is for me in my current situation, if the goal is simply as much time to spend thru-hiking and traveling around unencumbered by work as possible, then realistically I could probably grind it out with 20 years of misery and retire before 50, barring a total financial collapse or something like that. I would much rather not be doing that/putting off living life how I want to live when the potential to have a seasonal career exists, but that is what I am thinking in the back of my head - that if any of those what-ifs actually happened, and I end up in a mountain of debt with no high-paying sea career, and no chance to go back to my old career, then I just kissed the hope of having months at a time to thru-hike and retire goodbye, and in hindsight made an abysmally idiotic decision. But if everything goes according to plan, in 3 years I am sailing 4 months on/off with a $120k+ salary, then I imagine I’ll be happier than ever.
But yeah the migraines are not disabling at all, I am extremely healthy otherwise (and not colorblind), just the stuff I had been reading about people getting denied for military branches for was mind-blowingly dumb and reading through the Merchant Mariner Medical handbook has the same type of language for everything. People being denied for having 1 migraine a year, or moderate psoriasis (I have something similar), and stuff like that. Just want to make sure I do what I can to know I will pass those evaluations. I appreciate the help and may PM you the closer I get to starting school. Thanks!
While you are asking yourself “what if”, don’t forget to consider the possible future where you decided not to go for it, and you’ll be asking yourself “what if I had followed through with that plan to be a sailor?”. Nothing in life is certain, and not one of us in this industry receives a guarantee after we push off the dock that we will ever make it back to land again. There is as much or greater risk in inaction though. I am not telling you what to do but it seems like you already know what you want to do and need a little nudge to get going. You aren’t going to be medically disqualified and the door is wide open if you want to go for it, automated shipping isn’t going to close down the American merchant marine before you can get a third mates license in hand and some years of sea time under your belt and money in the bank. By the way, I also was a grad student and you should be able to make it out with far less than six figures in student loans. I paid off all my loans in under two years. I get it a downturn could happen, but it’s a reasonable gamble if you really have an unfulfilling life and career at the moment.
Become a firefighter - fdny is open rn.
You won’t regret it and you can get weeks off at a time if you play it right. They won’t find anything disqualifying during the medical if you’re relatively fit.
Trust me on this one. I know.
Also, no independence loving person associated with the us military. I know this one as well. Good luck.
Do both, fdny and suny - you have time.
Yeah I think you are understanding where I am coming from a lot and how I feel. As every day goes by, I am more and more certain this is what I want to do and the risk of inaction is too high. I still find it hard to imagine getting through with under $100k in debt though. I mean, the program will take 3 years basically, 2.5 years best case - and just living expenses alone with like a $700 split apartment and (I burn a ton of calories) food, car, gas, etc. in 2024 prices will have to eat up like $2k/month if I live as basic as possible. So that’s maybe $70k right there to live, plus $10k+/semester, 2 sea terms and so on seems like $100k at least from a tuition perspective. Either the SSMP or working part time would help a lot, though. I also won’t qualify for shit from FAFSA. But I will definitely reach out for more guidance as I get closer. Trying to find out from the schools right now if I could start online in the spring while still working remotely and saving up money before the in-person activities begin. If not I’ll just keep grinding and saving money before next Fall. If I could continue working full-time remotely in the Fall too that would be awesome but I know once the summer sailing term arrives I would have to quit.
Dude def go for fdny at the same time anyway.
What about active duty → gi bill → suny masters-> maritime career at 38
Not sure what ur skills are but logistic officer usn could be ur jam, or intelligence, or maybe just line officer 
There are ways to game this, you gotta be smart. I was like you 25 years ago, i could not work a “real” job soI did Fdny with uscg reserve - looks like I’m not going to fully live the dream with the license but i could pay cash for it now and I had a good young life with lots of time off. Now is another story but what was lived was lived well!
Also if u do incur 100,000 in debt you could find a way to pslf it hopefully…there are ways
Another option is to hawsepipe, could make 70-80k a year while you gain sea time and finish the required classes and then test. Bet you could make it into the wheelhouse in 4 years and essentially come out debt free.
Interesting suggestion. As you can see I’m not great at being concise but the problem is I want to be able to have months off at a time completely uninhibited. I know wildland firefighters can make this work but the problem is they work all summer, and summer is the main season for thru-hiking. So far I had been in a cycle of quitting my job and then thru-hiking for a season and then trying to find a new job but it’s not sustainable anymore for many reasons so this is I why I want a career that aligns with my lifestyle. I figured I would probably just grow out of it and want a traditional life but the older I get, the less I want that and all I do is dream about that pure freedom again. At least if I go into sailing I could always eventually fall back to more inland type stuff with a more normal schedule or even a desk job again probably (CS degree + sailing-focused Masters would hopefully be helpful if I ever wanted that again). It is hard to predict what you will want out of life 10+ years from now.
The main goal here is to sail 4 months, go thru-hike for 3+ months around summer/fall, back to sailing for 4 months, then travel in a van or visit family in winter/spring (and knock out the 2 weeks of Reserves commitment during this one), back to sailing, back to thru-hiking, etc. Being able to make $120k+/year with 0 living expenses for 6 months and then travel like this for $2k/month for 6 months would also be allowing me to dump at least $60k+/yr into ETFs and retirement accounts. At that rate, with compounding interest, I could pursue my dream while simultaneously building wealth for eventual financial independence, likely before I am 50. And the closer I get to that point, I could just sail 4 months/yr (higher rank at this point) and make like $100k+ in the course of 4 months and have 8 months a year of freedom. All with either fixed contracts or a straightforward job board to make the process as simple as possible. As well, I don’t have some dreamy vision of the work I will be doing, but I do seem to enjoy navigation at least and the marginal camaraderie that might exist during some hitches is better than sitting in front of a screen, slowly going blind, completely isolated by yourself for 50 weeks a year.
Any other career I know of that allows for a thru-hiking geared lifestyle (there are actually many perennial dirtbag thru-hikers out there) has some sort of massive tradeoff, usually financially. One of the most common jobs is being a ski-bum in the winter and traveling/hiking in summer. But you usually can’t even afford health insurance and will end every year up $0 as everything you make during the ski season will immediately be spent in summer. So one day you wake up and you’re 39 with 0 retirement savings. One step up is travel medical careers like nursing or rad tech (very great since summer is their slow season), but again best case you can make $60k in 6 months, but the majority of that money is going to go to housing, duplicating expenses and surviving. So early retirement could still be a pipe dream. The best option is probably just owning a business (so just being rich with no boss), but I don’t think I am wired for that and that’s easier said than done. Other potential options are trades, especially with per diem type work, but again, less money and usually more destructive to your body. The final and most common “fancy” white-collar option is either some type of contractual tech work or being a seasonal accountant and landing some tax-prep situation where you crank out 80-hour weeks from Jan-Apr and maybe clear $70k and then have 8 months off. But being in a desk is too miserable and its mostly luck and chance to score a situation like that.
Just saying I have given this a lot of thought and explored just about any option I can think of and I really keep coming back to this career as what I want. The main risks just seem to be the Jones Act getting repealed and eventual automation replacing me, getting stuck with a mountain of debt and no job, and then therefore never being able to do either of the two main goals (thru-hiking and early retirement).
I am not sure I grasp why the Master’s degree is so important? You could likely get through GLMA in 3yrs as you already have a degree. Cheaper tuition/cost of living (by a little) and you would get an Ocean license plus Lakes pilotage. Sail where/when you want.
The hawsepipe option is an idea to consider, too.
The Masters isn’t really that important, it just seems maybe I would save like $10k-$20k at GLMA and from what I have read the Masters degree is at least marginally beneficial if you ever want to try working shoreside in a corporate role. Maybe after 7-10 years sailing I would want that. I figured if I get a whole new degree it might as well be a Masters if its roughly a similar cost. But I am still considering GLMA.
Hawsepiping seems potential as well. But the people on reddit make it seem like those with more white-collar backgrounds won’t enjoy their time as much and the cost-benefit analysis, even considering debt, seems to be balanced or still weighing toward academy (and if I can do the SSMP program that would be huge). I honestly don’t mind the idea of the debt since I would be able to pay it off so fast assuming the current state of the market, just the fact that there’s no guarantee the Jones Act doesn’t disappear one day is terrifying.
I get it. Well as someone 15 years your senior, odds are that the person you are 25 will look a lot like the person you will be at 45, preferences wise. You’re not going to want kids someday if you don’t want them now, sames for the house and the dog and the lawn.
So…go for it? Take a chance because otherwise you have no chance at the life you want.
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Appreciate the insight and yes that is the plan! Just want all my ducks in a row before fully committing, and figuring out the medical concerns was a big priority.
When you do become an officer, all the unlicensed guys you are in charge of will respect you much more knowing you’ve been there done that. They don’t respect the ring knockers much anymore these days.
Valid point, and this is also the first I am hearing you could hawsepipe to 3rd mate in 4 years. Is this because of new reduced sea time requirements or just assuming you sail much more than 6 months a year?
1080 days. 182.5 days a year x4= 730 days but if it’s on an OSV or ATB(tug) you get 1.5 days of seatime for working 12 hour days which is 1093 days.
If you don’t like the grind you are in now, you definitely won’t want to work in an office.
Stop posting, stop worrying, apply to an academy, somewhere, and get in with it. You MAY still squeeze in yet this fall at GLMA if you get on it. After the paperwork is submitted, chill…your level of anxiety is making ME nervous.
Remember these words of advice:
“Yup, I am a sailor. Spent most of my money on booze, strippers, fly rods, and duck hunting stuff. I wasted the rest.”
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Only thing I will add to this is, if you’re going to go through with this, get masters degree. Getting a second bachelors is worthless.
And chill! You’ve done enough planning. Have to go learn to be a sailor now.
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