[QUOTE=Captnstabn;85884]In 2002 I tested for my Six Pack with the intentions of charter fishing for the rest of my life. After the realization that I could make a living on the water I up-graded to a 50 GRT then 100 GRT, 200 GRT O/C 500 GRT O/C , Master 1600 GRT O/C and recently 3rd Mate Ulimited O/C. I’m 33 now and have up-graded 7 times in 12 years. I have served aboard Sport Fishing vessels / Private Yachts,Tugs, Osv’s, Psv’s, and now DP - 3 Heavy Lift. I have seen first hand the good bad and the very ugly of the REC’S and now the NMC. Some things are better and others could still use some improvements “it’s not a perfect world” I know. The long and short of things is it’s been a long hard road and expensive but it’s been an investment in myself and has paid off 10 fold. My biggest gripp lately would be testing for my 3rd. Had I held a Mates ticket this could have been avoided. Go figure Limited Mate to Unlimited Mate with no testing? They say the tests are different OK. My Master 1600 was much harder in my book and the questions between the 2 are the same just spread out different on the modules. I could go on for days on this but nobody wants to read about that. In the future I see myself holding an Unlimited Master and the 3rd’s test was a good refresher for the CM.[/QUOTE]
That’s awesome. Thanks for that Captnstabn. It’s pretty cool reading your story!