The Advantages of Being a 100 Ton Captain

[SteveT]

Chance would be a fine thing for that kind of distraction!

Licence is not everything; like Nigel I have unlimited foreign going but experience counts for more. I would be happy to match skill and experience against anyone on large tankers, but would not have a clue in Nigel's line of work. As long ago he was in the same line as me he could pick up on my current work pretty damned quick but the opposite would not be true. FWIW under power I have well over a million sea miles (any doubters can work out 35 years x an average of 50,000 miles a year). Under sail I have barely 2,000 miles and consider myself a rank beginner. The licence is just a way of allowing me to earn enough to indulge myself in sailing [and a small discount on my insurance]

[boasun]

[QUOTE=deckofficer;881059]

Originally Posted by rebel heart

1) small boats
2) girls


advantage of Unlimited Tonnage
1) Containers
2) Impressing the masses

1)

2)

Impressing the masses does NOT allow you to do stupid stunts. Then you have those infamous words; I know what I'm doing. Crunching and scrapping sounds coming from the bottom of your vessel

[zeehag]

[QUOTE=deckofficer;881059]

Originally Posted by rebel heart

1) small boats
2) girls


advantage of Unlimited Tonnage
1) Containers
2) Impressing the masses

1)

2)

gooooood one!!!!

[Capt Phil]

Gee, 'Zee'... I thought we were friends! I do agree that learning from some of the 'old masters' was a whole different marine education than the eqivalent to the '90 day wonder' licensing schools that pop out 100 tonners like popcorn. It's the miles that count, the variety of vessels, tow and sail endorsements along with experience in all kinds of weather, sea and offshore conditions. Wouldn't trade my 'school of hard knocks' training on the northwest coast for anything... are you still in Maz by the way?... cheers, Capt Phil

[rgscpat]

To my mind, formal qualifications of any sort mean that the holder has demonstrated some minimal level of knowledge and experience, which varies by certification. It's possible that the holder's experience is quite specialized or that the holder's focus is not entirely professional or upon safety. And no doubt there are many vastly experienced and safe unlicensed skippers and a contingent of bad apples among the licensed. But, I would be willing to bet a lot of money that the averaged licensed skipper is more knowledgeable and safe than the average unlicensed boater (think of the average weekend drunk, or the 15-year-old who borrowed his friend's jet ski with not a bit of knowledge or training), among whom we can see lots of people who have no clue at all.

By itself, the license or other paper credential might be one clue. A sailing resume or even a blog history might be another. References another. Background check. Asking questions that might give you a feel for judgment. An interview. A short test sail. And, at some point along the way, you triangulate in on who you might be comfortable to deliver your boat or crew on the boat with you.

Some of it might depend on the stakes. You might put up with crewing for the skipper from hell on a three-hour inland race afternoon. You might be a wee bit pickier about a megayacht delivery or a circumnavigation -- I hope.

[osirissail]

I will get into the fray and say - I think what may be objectionable is the obvious sexist undertone. In that the photo is a guy surrounded by young girls.

Probably it would have been better if there was a second photo with a female 100ton captain and a bevy of young tight butted men around her. What is a small group of young tight butted men called?

Then it would at least have been balanced sexism. All of which is boring. You can't please everybody all the time.

[evm1024]

Originally Posted by zeehag

advantage--i have only seen from the attitudinal side-- seems that cpts under 500 tone have that--attitude. isnt always pleasant. license doesnt mean knowledge.

I beg to differ. Having a license does mean knowledge - at least at the time of taking your tests. Being able to apply that knowledge and remembering what you knew is something else.

Having good sea sense is more a function of experience, good teachers and the ability to pull real-world knowledge out of those experiences. And a pile of "smarts".

Attitude.... Under 500 ton Masters don't have a monopoly on attitude - think Doctors if you like. Attitude comes in all forms and to many people.

Regards

[evm1024]

Originally Posted by osirissail

I will get into the fray and say - I think what may be objectionable is the obvious sexist undertone. In that the photo is a guy surrounded by young girls.

Probably it would have been better if there was a second photo with a female 100ton captain and a bevy of young tight butted men around her. What is a small group of young tight butted men called?

Then it would at least have been balanced sexism. All of which is boring. You can't please everybody all the time.

Perhaps you have a point there.

2 stories:

My wife is from Ukraine and was is shock and disbelief when she discovered that many US women do not want to be noticed by men. I had to explain that was not exactly true. The problem was that they were very selective as to who should notice them. My wife had a lot to say about this and she summed it up with this: "In a barrel of apples some are rotten. But, you have to look at them all to find the best". She also called it a stupid >>attitude<<.

Secondly, I have a female climbing friend. She is a statuesque, tall Norse goddess and quite attractive. Married young and divorced later she got into climbing as a way to discover who she was. As it is at 45 she is having the time of her life dating young men. She explained to me that at first she resented guys 20 years younger asking for dates and then realized that it was a complement. With that realization she changed her >>Attitude<< and learned to enjoy the attention. (creeps are creeps but we are not talking about them).

Regards

[deckofficer]

My 0.02 worth (and it isn't even worth that)

I vote for experience. Even though I went the academy route, and have my Unlimited Tonnage Any Ocean (USCG) license, if I was on a 40' sailboat rounding the Cape of Good Hope during a storm, I would defer to Laura Dekker, and take orders from her.

And unlike Captain "Showboat" Schettino, my last ship was truly butt ugly, not going to impress anyone, and just one screw-up away from a environmental disaster.

[MacG]

Is that so strange? Many men apparently do the same when they discard there spouse for years for a younger model. Unlimited examples on both sides ....

[MacG]

@ Deckofficer: with your kind of guy I would not object to sail around the world.

[bene505]

Originally Posted by rebel heart

1) small boats
2) girls

Was it a batchelorette party? A captain friend on the east coast hosted one of those.

You look happy in your chosen profession.

Regards,
Brad

[rgscpat]

Maybe the picture the women would like to see is the 100-ton female licensee surrounded by ... some useful sorts of guys who take direction, respect competence in a woman, and don't leave the toilet lid up.

[deckofficer]

Originally Posted by rgscpat

Maybe the picture the women would like to see is the 100-ton female licensee surrounded by ... some useful sorts of guys who take direction, respect competence in a woman, and don't leave the toilet lid up.

I sometimes remind my lady friends I lifted the seat, and when done lowered it, so they don't think I just trusted my aim over the seat. lol

[downunder]

Originally Posted by rgscpat

To my mind, formal qualifications of any sort mean that the holder has demonstrated some minimal level of knowledge and experience, which varies by certification. It's possible that the holder's experience is quite specialized or that the holder's focus is not entirely professional or upon safety. And no doubt there are many vastly experienced and safe unlicensed skippers and a contingent of bad apples among the licensed. But, I would be willing to bet a lot of money that the averaged licensed skipper is more knowledgeable and safe than the average unlicensed boater (think of the average weekend drunk, or the 15-year-old who borrowed his friend's jet ski with not a bit of knowledge or training), among whom we can see lots of people who have no clue at all.

By itself, the license or other paper credential might be one clue. A sailing resume or even a blog history might be another. References another. Background check. Asking questions that might give you a feel for judgment. An interview. A short test sail. And, at some point along the way, you triangulate in on who you might be comfortable to deliver your boat or crew on the boat with you.

Some of it might depend on the stakes. You might put up with crewing for the skipper from hell on a three-hour inland race afternoon. You might be a wee bit pickier about a megayacht delivery or a circumnavigation -- I hope.

Excellent post