I’m a college graduate.
Of course all the academy grads are college graduates.
Lots of smart very well read sailors out here who have the equivalent of a self-taught master’s degree.
Lesson Number 1: the Jones Act is essential, and it will remain unchanged, otherwise we will all be replaced with $600 a month foreign sailors.
Im trying to give him the “AUTHENTIC” NYC Tugboat experience here 
… life isnt honestly that bad on this side of the bridge.
This certainly holds true for arts degrees. I wouldn’t say this is the case for science and engineering degrees though, especially in professional trades like the maritime industry. I think a college degree tends to teach a person to be a good critical thinker, and this a quality necessary to be a good leader or manager. Obviously not everyone who goes to school, leaves with those skills, and there are many people who with no education with great critical thinking skills. One problem is that there are many jobs out there where critical thinking might be an undesirable quality in an employee. Critical thinking is an important skill for a bridge officer, a port engineer, a vessel superintendent, but it’s actually bad for a deckhand, or steward, because the deckhand in the long run is going to become disgruntled and butt heads with coworkers and management.
It’s great for the continental states but unfair to some other places. The US Virgin Islands aren’t subjected to it but PR is.
That can be anywhere!
The work can be back breaking on deck The pneumatic tools are heavy and heavy duty You may have to carry your tools 600-800 FT depending on the size ship you are on The vibration they produce can be debilitating dust and grime they produce require you to wear goggles which fog up a mask which aids thee goggles in fogging up Temperature extremes which sap your strength You will never be forced to work injured but pain is a constant once into your 40’s something always hurts Dude I am 64 and in damned good shape for my age I am also a 3rd Mate so I am not doing as much physical labor as the O/S’s and A/B’s and I am still in pain every 12 hour long day 7 days per week for 120 days straight Do the Storekeeper route I suggested You’re a dayworker who spends a lot of his work hours inside in the A/C Plus you can apply to the USCG for a Staff Officer License as Purser No other company that I know of uses payroll officers (Pursers) except MSC but you will make well in excess of $100K per year
Don’t do that then.
No.
I would look at attending a Maritime academy and short tracking the the first 2 years. The cost you pay now will pay for itself in the first year of employment. This is if you want to go the deep sea route. If you hawse pipe with sea time, it’ll take you about 3-4 years to get your AB unlimited for the deck route which is a requirement for a deck officer license. Then you will still need to attend classes and spend about 30 k and 4-6 months taking them. If you can’t wash your hands regularly, Engine and Deck unlicensed is not really an option unless you want live with continuous dirt and grime under your nails. I think that with a previous degree, you can complete the Maritime curriculum in 2 years, life as a deck officer, at least where I work is pretty chill and clean. I work with MSC and being a federal job, no problem being older. I started at 40 and many come in as a second career. Hawsepiping, although not impossible, is getting harder and harder as time goes on. Look into the Maritime schools and see what they have to offer. Marine Maritime, Great Lakes, Suny (sp?), Mass Maritime, and others. Great way to see the world and make a buck or 2 while doing it. Good luck
The current requirement is for a total of 3 years “with a minimum of 6 months of bridge watchkeeping duties under the supervision of the master or a qualified officer.” It no longer requires that any of the time be as an Able Seaman. But it is going to take 4 years or more to get the total service required.
More like 3. I’ve never heard of a transfer student completing the undergraduate program in 2 years.
Perhaps he meant a graduate program with USCG license?
Isn’t SUNY the only school with such a program? And isn’t it deck only?
My advice to the OP is to go work a beginning construction job as a laborer in all kinds of weather or go work as a line cook in a busy restaurant. Why? Because that’s essentially what you’ll experience on a ship as a newbie. Short of attending an academy there are no shortcuts. Those that you’ll work with who didn’t come up by way of an academy will help you out for sure but they also won’t cut you any slack no matter your background, though they might find you entertaining.
The romance and adventure of going to sea is long gone. It’s a demanding job that requires dedication to the craft. On the plus side, being cooped up with people that you’d likely never be associated with on land is a character building thing, broadens your thinking. However,those same people have near zero tolerance for people entering into their society on a lark. Were I in the OP’s position I can think of a lot less stressful situations to put myself into. Maybe a temp position a yacht?
A temp position doing what? A green OS, wiper or culinary assistant. If he was to get hired, against all odds, his co-workers, all experienced, will be in their 20’ and 30’s. I wouldn’t let a friend sign on to that because he wouldn’t last and whatever he learned wouldn’t help much in the commercial world. Polishing fiberglass is not a valuable skill.
To really get into yacht work he probably needs to work as a captain on ferries and dinner boats, then work his way over to boat charters and deliveries. Build some connections, then get a yacht job.
SUNY is deck only. I thought Texas had an Engineering one though?
“Yacht” can mean a lot of different things with varying levels of stress and work. I would hate being on a large yacht having to be more less performing in front of various offspring of Thurston Howell constantly. That would stress me to death. Deliveries are way more fun, for me at least.
Besides for that, being a US citizen is a huge negative for that kind of work. Unlike everyone else, we come without health care and have a tendency to sue. He would probably be the oldest person on the boat too that wasn’t the skipper.
People sure are putting a lot of thought into this. Seems the logical, straightforward and low-risk answer is get the TWIC and MMC for OS/Wiper/FH, go to work as an OS at one of the NY tug companies, and see how you like that first hitch. You can always leave if it doesn’t work out. If you like it, you can stay and grow your career or move to a different segment. Pretty sure OS pays at least as well as substitute teacher and probably has better benefits.
I honestly feel like it can’t be that hard. But I’m mostly going off youtube vids, various reddit stories. A deep-sea AB has an 8-hour watch plus 4 hours chipping, painting, and greasing? Hosing the deck down? Meanwhile, in the engine room, this young wiper woman of average build is mopping the floor, those slight Filipino dudes are taking apart a generator. That’s all I have to go off of. I don’t mean to sound insulting. The guy I spoke with at the union was also very optimistic. But all the realism here is good. Yeah, I’ll probably go that rout you mention. My big takeaway from this thread is that sea time is sea time. I thought, once you accrued time on one class of ship, you’d have to start over if you wanted to switch. It makes Piney Point, with the 0-AB deep sea in a year seem less of a good deal given the unknowns and the time commitment. The internet is rich with information, jargon, endless acronyms. This has been good.
@txh2oman laid it out for you. You’ve gotten more than enough free advice.
It’s time for you to put up or shut up.
Let us know when you have your MMC.
The job isn’t that hard, although a lot of people on here like to make it seem so. Go to Piney point or better yet the MS program at SUNY. You’ll make the money back in a year after graduation and have many options. Sailing as an OS on a tug is not what you want. The worst part of sailing is dealing with the people, but it’s also the best part.
The best part is the time off.
Ah yes. That too!
