Look up the Kwai. They are a converted fishing trawler that delivers cargo around the south pacific. If I didn’t have bills to pay I would spend a year or two on there.
They go places that tourists never go, places that don’t even have a dock that can accommodate a 120’ vessel. If you like sailing go do that for a while before you have too many bills to afford to.
The secret is be persistent. MSC opens up OS jobs occasionally. Tugs hire OS as do OSVs. It will be easier to get in with no experience on smaller vessels as opposed to ships. There are a lot of people wanting OS spots and not many spots, just keep trying.
[QUOTE=MariaW;59011]I didn’t say I wanted a 2 to 4 week rotation. The job ads I’ve seen mention that time frame for being at sea. Vessels have to come in to port sometime to resupply or deliver goods, etc. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I expect if there is a big emergency, if you get deathly ill, if someone dies, you aren’t a prisoner and can leave the vessel in port. The Piney Point school told me that if you leave there you lose all the time you spent there, and you have to stay there for 9 months through all three sessions. That’s a bigger problem to me than taking Family and Medical leave during employment.[/QUOTE]
I was referring to your statement that 2 to 4 weeks is within your comfort zone. You will be out at last 2 months but more likely 3 to 4 if you go deep sea. Yeah ships will come into port, but when you sign articles you are obligated to wait for a relief. Now, that being said if you have to get off for an emergency, I have never worked for a company that would deny that, but you could be on the hook to pay your own way home. And in some cases pay the travel for the relief coming out. Not too bad when coast wise, but could get spendy when in Singapore…etc. As far as getting deathly ill, if you are out in the middle of the ocean there is only so much that can be done. A ship would divert to the nearest port, or to a point that a helicopter can get you, but no one is going to make you stay on if you are that sick. Also some would say sea life is the same as prison life, just better pay
[QUOTE=Capt. Schmitt;59021]Well, legally you cannot be denied sea service. That is not what piney point is threatening. They are threatening to make you begin the program from the beginning.[/QUOTE]
They told me that it’s a complete package. If you don’t stay for nine months, you’re considered a “Quit”. You get no credit for any of the training, which includes sea time. So, for example, even if I completed my STCW training, I’d have to start over from scratch if I left because of a death in the family. If I spent 90 days on a ship, none of that time would count as sea time. If I spent 8 months there, then that would mean 8 months of my life thrown out the window. That’s what I’m afraid of. On the other hand, I read a post by someone on this board from two years ago who said his son came home for a bit after one of the sessions (there are 4 or 5), which isn’t what the lady on the phone told me. Maybe something changed and they got stricter. I don’t know.
[QUOTE=MariaW;59015]I can live without making money for a while, what I can’t do is pay thousands of dollars for education at an academy while not making any money. I understand the tall ship deal, but they aren’t at sea for 9 months, and they’re not going to tell you: “Sorry, you can’t visit your mom on her deathbed because you’re going to lose all the seatime you’ve accrued here”, which is basically what Piney Point told me. If you leave the tall ship for a legitimate reason they aren’t going to punish you by denying you your sea service.[/QUOTE]
Why cant you go to school and not make money? Where are you? State schools have financial aide. Are you young enough for Kings Point?
She already has a degree so would not qualify for financial aid unless going for a masters degree.
[QUOTE=Capt. Schmitt;59026]Look up the Kwai. They are a converted fishing trawler that delivers cargo around the south pacific. If I didn’t have bills to pay I would spend a year or two on there.
They go places that tourists never go, places that don’t even have a dock that can accommodate a 120’ vessel. If you like sailing go do that for a while before you have too many bills to afford to.
http://sites.google.com/site/sailcargo/[/QUOTE]
That’s interesting. Thanks for the link. They’re registered in the Cook Islands, just like the Picton Castle, which does something similar. I wonder if they’re connected. The Picton Castle charges a fortune for people who want to sail on her. This seems to be a similar deal. I imagine it would be harder to get a paying job on a ship like this than with a big commercial company.
The picton castle has paid crew, and dan prefers to have women as crew.
They are not related and it is possible to get a paid crew spot on the kwai. I dont think they take trainees anyway.
What about stafford or perkins loans?
[QUOTE=brjones;59029]I was referring to your statement that 2 to 4 weeks is within your comfort zone. You will be out at last 2 months but more likely 3 to 4 if you go deep sea. [/QUOTE] Sorry I didn’t express myself well! 4 months away from home is perfectly fine by me, but it doesn’t take 4 months to get to the next port for any kind of ship. I was talking about time between ports, time between seeing land, etc. Deep Sea and foreign ports actually sound attractive to me!
Pretty much all financial aid other than private bank loans require you to be working on a degree higher than what you already have.
Perkins may be an option but stafford is federal so it is not.
Actually the Picton Castle only has 5 or 6 paid crew. and one or two knowledgeable deckhands, the rest as Maria states have to pay for the ‘pleasure’ of working aboard. If you have money and time you can buy your way across and around the south pacific. Sounds tempting… for about a week~!
Maria- you sign a statement to that effect with the application ‘if a trainee leaves for any reason they will receive no certificates from the school’ I think its only 7 mo, there is a break btw phase 2 and 3
I didn’t say the picton castle doesn’t have trainees, just that they do have paid crew so it is possible to be paid crew on it.
[QUOTE=Capt. Schmitt;59051]I didn’t say the picton castle doesn’t have trainees, just that they do have paid crew so it is possible to be paid crew on it.[/QUOTE]
No thanks. People in the “tall ship” scene might admire the captain of the Picton Castle, but I toured the boat in its home port and heard lots of negative stories from people who crewed on it. I got the impression from speaking with people that sailed on her that there were safety issues. Crew didn’t wear their safety gear because it slows them down, and there’s competition to see who can be the most reckless and macho, as I’ve seen on a few other sailing vessels. This was all BEFORE the tragedy with the Canadian crew member who was swept overboard and lost at sea. When I heard about that, I am very sad to say I wasn’t surprised. I crewed on another tall ship for several weeks and I was shocked at the cavalier attitude of the captain. He sent people aloft at night in rough weather with no lights on and no harnesses. He stated that if someone went overboard they would probably die. He also told the crew to dump broken glass and pots and pans overboard during clean up day while we were anchored within a few hundred yards of the Canadian shore in the St. Lawrence. I can’t help thinking this violated some kind of law. I kept my mouth shut, of course, since I might have been wrong. Mind you, this was not a privately owned or commercial vessel, but an American flagged non-profit boat. Two other vessels I crewed on were very responsible and safety minded, but they were both vessels run entirely by volunteers instead of paid crew, and not American flagged. I figure you have to choose your ship wisely.
Alaska state ferris have about 5 ships that are week on week off good bennys and retirement they also have vessels that you make your own schedule on, day for day vacation all ships are unlmt GT if you choose to hawspipe it this sounds like it mite be a good fit for you. You can jump in to the deck department but most people start as steward and move to ether deck or engine within a year. The SE ships are kinda sessional but you can always do yards if you need to, an AB makes 50 to 85 a year depending how much you want to work it’s a good job just cold. I agree stay away from SIU I have sailed with them and only had one good experience with them in three years of work.
[QUOTE=Horatio;59049]Maria- you sign a statement to that effect with the application ‘if a trainee leaves for any reason they will receive no certificates from the school’ I think its only 7 mo, there is a break btw phase 2 and 3[/QUOTE]
Thanks for that information! I’m going to call them again to clarify. The people in that office aren’t exactly friendly. The lady I talked to last week insisted there was no break for nine months. I’ll ask her if something has changed in the past two years.
[QUOTE=Ianmmd;59061] The SE ships are kinda sessional but you can always do yards if you need to,[/QUOTE] What does this mean? Please clarify what “SE” , “sessional” “doing yards” means. Sorry, and thanks!
[QUOTE=Ianmmd;59061]I agree stay away from SIU I have sailed with them and only had one good experience with them in three years of work. [/QUOTE] Haven’t got an answer yet to this question, are you “stuck” working only for SIU if you study at Piney Point? How long is that committment? Can’t you work with the union and then work for someone else if it doesn’t work out? Does the federal government hire through the union?
There are two different class vessels southeast Alaska and southwest Alaska SE ships are week on week off with vacation, sick leave and two retirements with one mor that is optional. SW ships are day for day vacation and once you are a permeant employe you can come and go when you want for instance you can work 6 months on and take 6 months paid or 2 weeks on 2 weeks off paid but only on SW ships, it’s week on week off for SE ships. Sessional means that the ship have to go in to ship yard every winter because they are passenger vessels and they keep them crewed up in yards. I know many people that have hawspiped it and gotten there 3rd mate OC Unlmt by this route it is one of the better unlicensed jobs out there in my opinion and is not hard to get hired.
[QUOTE=B ry;59000]Chouest is a great to work if you want to go the hawsepipe route . They have there own schools . All the classes are free . DP is the only class you have sign 2 year contract . Had alot of cadets getting the DP classes and heading to the rigs . It’s a hard route but at-least your getting paid . Chouest pays 185 + for os 300 for AB 385 + for Mates and 550 + for capt. 300 a day isn’t bad when your basically learning the job and advancing your career .[/QUOTE]
Thanks, What’s “DP”. How do I find these OS jobs, are they all online? What are they looking for? What does someone with no professional experience put on their application or resume?