Will be going to GLMA for the first time for engineer license in the fall. Any advice welcome.
Should I buy a leatherman?
Other tools I should absolutely know how to use?
Life/school/work advice for someone like me?
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Just wing it bro. Buy a knife you like, a flashlight you like, and a good pair of boots. Everything else you’ll learn along the way.
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Just general advice because I’ve never been to an academy…
Show up. Don’t focus on buying things. Your success will come mostly from your efforts and dedication, and a little bit from your apptitude. Be the tool, Danny.
Good luck!
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A truism of human nature you’ll understand twenty years from now:
When your mouth is open your brain is off.
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If you have to live on campus and are required to share rooms make sure your roommate is also an engineering student.
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Folding knife, flashlight (that takes normal easily found batteries like AA - get a nice rechargeable one later once you’re done with training ship etc where you might not have an outlet of your own to charge it), watch with alarm/timer/stopwatch, crescent wrench that fits in your pocket. Waterproof note pad like rite in the rain and regular cheap ballpoint pen. 6 in 1 screwdriver if you’re into that. It all needs to fit in your pockets because as an engineer you’ll be crawling, no goofy utility belts or whatever.
GLMA is pretty chill, most people are not 18 when they go there, just treat it like your 9-5 job and treat people like adults and you’ll have a license in no time without much hassle there.
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Always carry channel locks also It’s one of the most useful tools you can own
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If you can’t fix it with a hammer, then it’s surely an electrical issue.
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Also known as the “deck department knurling tool”!
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Can also be a hammer!
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But first try the other tool in the mate’s tool box - the bigger hammer.
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My personal preference is a 36 ounce calibrator with a 12 inch synthetic (non-conductive) handle. This provides a wide range of applications for most fitment and disassembly projects, both mechanical and electrical. It’s nearly a surgical instrument if you know where to apply the love.
I don’t understand why anyone would attend an academy when we have all the answers here in this forum… perhaps John can work on accreditation? I believe we can take the truth to the youth!
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The art of mechanical repair — by deckies:
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Hahaha!
1st law of engineering Get a bigger hammer: 2nd Law of Engineering: Get the WD40 3rd Law: Fuck it get the first!
Laws of painting are easier: Rule one: If it doesn’t move paint it Law B: if it moves tie it down and paint it Rule 3A If it wiggles F@@k it!
Don’t bring or buy any tools while at school. Your classmates will steal them and/or you will lose them and you didn’t even know how to use them properly, yet. Besides, as people quit/drop out/get expelled, you can get their tools as they leave. And don’t forget about bilge-diving! There is a lifetime supply of flashlights and pocket knives in any ship’s bilge, particularly when cadets are around.
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I may have had a lot of issues with school, but classmates stealing them wasn’t one.
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Im also engine, currently enrolled there. You dont need anything but a notebook and your uniform. It’s assumed that you know absolutely nothing, they explain even the most basic things such as the types of hammers, wrenches, etc. Definitely buy a flashflight to bring on the training ship. Really just enjoy the time you’re there, the instructors are not hard once you get used to the way the teach (study USCG questions, look up Sea Trials).
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It is a good thing you engineering. You can bail out if you do not like sea life and still get something acceptable ashore.
If I were you, I’d bail rn if you not EA/ED or whatever and have not committed. Any maritime academy is not worth it. 4 years is a waste at any of the 6 and not worth the time spent. Regular engg or lib arts / science is a better option.
Try something academic, may be more rewarding and I mean any univ or comm college. It will be something you might like yourself for in the long run. XX years and I wish I never wanted to see the world on a boat.
You do realize that after undergrad as a lic officer you will still need to deal with unions. They pretty much control your job opps in the end. Not to mention union halls… lol.
Something you probably don’t know yet.
As an engineer, you have a better chance at a regular shore job as well.
But hey, if you still think you the cream of the crop like GLMA quotes it’s program to be with very low acceptance, so be it. I think it is a boat load of garbage on the deck side anyways. And the guys teaching are just as stupid - very little intelligence but a lot of “I know it all”. They will even teach you to interpolate coz you considered a dumb nut… lol. That is after you probably did asymtotes in HS.
Good luck.