Day 1 of Week 2 at PMI.
This week is Able Bodied Seaman Class (sorry- Able Bodied Seafarer)
This class includes a lot of topics- so we’ll be in here since Friday.
Teaching AB class is new (to us) instructor- SUNY Maritime graduate Christine Klimkowski. Jill has a wide range of vessel experience- including MSC contract work and Ro-Ros. Ro-Ro stands for roll on- roll off vessel. For example- a vessel transporting bulldozers. (Christine had a great sea story about a bulldozer coming loose in a hold- and piercing the hull- which she used to illustrate the importance of properly securing, inspecting, and re-securing cargo.)
All the cadets like Christine- she’s knowledgeable, easygoing, and is great at illustrating concepts in an easy to understand manner. She will also be teaching our upcoming terrestrial navigation class.
We were also joined by 2 non cadets. One is Coast Guard-works on a buoy tender. The other runs crewboats out of Port Angeles. They are both very knowledgeable and a great asset to the cadets:)
PMI gave us a large AB book to use as a study aid. I’ve seen other AB guides- from other schools- this one definitely has more info. It’s more in depth than I expected- which is a good thing. The one thing that I felt could be better so far- the sections on buoys and rules of the road is black and white. Very in depth- but color would be good.
The powerpoint slides are in color though- so you can label the entries in the book. Also- PMI loaned us all copies of “Rules of the Road” which shows us the different lights- in color. Lastly- they gave us a link to the Rules online- I’ll look for the address and post later:)
We went through a lot today. In brief-
The duties and responsibilities of an AB.
Types of AB- and seatime/tonnage requirements-
Unlimited
Limited
Special
OSV
(No mention was made of AB sail/fishing/MODU- I will recommend this tomorrow)
The Two written tests and 1 knots test we’ll need to pass. (If you pass the AB test you don’t have to test with the Coast Guard)
Vessel construction nomenclature- the names of all the different structural elements.
Freeboard, draft, and depth. Lots of other terminology- some I knew- but learned a lot too.
Taking draft measurements-correctly.
Different motions of the vessel- such as pitch, roll, yaw, heave-etc.
Dangerous situations to get into- like broach and pitchpoling- one of our cadets was pitchpoled on a sailboat- said it “felt like getting catapulted”!
Next up was aids to navigation (atons) such as buoys , ranges, daybeacons, lighthouses.
This was especially beneficial to me personally.
Lots of info in this part- types of aids to navigation, how to decipher the color, shape, markings, lights etc. Knowing this info helps you tell where the preferred or secondary channels are, where isolated dangers are, and generally- where you need to steer.
Then it was on to rules of the road- again pretty in depth.
We learned a little history of the Rules- then moved on to International VS Inland Rules, the rules themselves,classes of vessel- such as sail, CBD, RAM,etc- lights, flags and day shapes for various types of vessels, give way vs stand on vessels, the hierarchy of right of way for different types of vessels (everybody was impressed with the WIG)
Next we discussed the Rules in head on, overtaking, and crossing situations. Lastly- we did sound and emergency signals- indicating when you are altering (or intend to alter) course, danger signals, signals in restricted visibility for different situations and vessels, and distress signals.
Lights and signals are important- if you know what to look/listen for you can tell what type of vessel you’re looking at, it’s size, heading, etc. They can also keep you from colliding/alliding with a vessel- and vice versa. But only with vigilance and knowledge.
We did a little bit of marlinspike seamanship (knots/splicing) and called it a day.
We still have to do-
knots/splicing
lines
cargo
anchor operations
pollution
mooring- and a bunch more.
Whew- there’s a reason they call this the “Workboat Academy” and we’re not even on a boat yet:D
Anthony