Captain Bob

The Off Season

During the winters, I usually concentrate on more serious stuff like working on my little software projects or music or some such thing.   In the winter of 2011-2012, I had big plans for some of these projects.

Then I got this email from Boston Sailing Center. It said "Earn your Captain's License at BSC".   Ok this is something I always wondered about but would probably never do anything about.  I knew there were various online courses around, but it seemed that a classroom course might be a good idea.  I thought if I committed to it (and paid the tuition), I'd probably stick it out and and finish.  So that's what I did last winter.

The classes were two nights per week for nine weeks.  Well that's what the email said but it actually went into 12 weeks start to finish.

How to get a coast guard captain's license

• First, chose a coast guard accredited school and take the classes.  Pass the tests and earn a diploma.  The tests are in four parts.  Basically two really hard parts that you have to score high on and two easier parts that you only need 70% to pass.  The hard parts are the chart-plotting and the rules of the road.  I was well prepared for the chart-plotting part because Linda and I had just taken (and passed) ASA-105 at Black Rock Sailing School which is mostly... chart-plotting.   I was the only one in the class to get 100% on this part.  The rules of the road is tricky.  There are LOTS of rules.  You have to practice and practice and practice some more.  I found several really good iPhone apps to help.  It's mostly memorization - a LOT of memorization.  I missed two questions on this test and got 96% (you need 90%).  Some of the others got 100% on this.
• Now, the rest of the fun...  You need a TWIC (Transportation Workers Identification Card).  This is the same card that the guys who work at the airport behind security have.   It's also required for some truck drivers (depending on what they truck and where I guess).   This should be a fairly straightforward process.  But in Boston it absolutely sucks.   There is one regional facility where you apply for this.  You book a "15 minute appointment" online and show up.  Then you wait in a waiting room with a lot of very angry people for hours.   Once you finally get your time with the examiner, the equipment they use to scan your documents and fingerprints... well it just doesn't work very well.  I don't even want to write about this experience anymore.  It was a nightmare.  I'd suggest NOT doing this in Boston.  Cost $135 and a LOT of aggravation. 
• CPR.  Ok cool, you need a CPR/First Aid certificate.   Linda and I signed up and got it done in one night.  I think it cost $150.  Shortly after taking it, my employer offered it for free at work!   I could have saved $150 AND gotten out of work!
• Drug test.  This should be pretty straightforward too but it's a bit of a pain.   In Boston, you can have it done by the same people who do the TWIC.  But there was no way I was going to go back there.  I ended up at a Quest Diagnostics office in Boston who then sends the samples out to some lab in Colorado.  Anyway, they liked my pee enough to pass me.  This cost around $100 I think.
• Now all that's left is... you have to sail a whole bunch!  You need 360 documented sea days since your 15th birthday.   The pain here is that I had to go back to people I'd sailed (or motored or fished) with and get them to fill out a form.  I also had to get Boston Sailing center to sign off on all the days I had when we were members there.   I needed to get about 50 more days in on Fujin before I could reach the 360.  So I did a LOT of single-handed trips at night after work last summer.  

I walked into the Coast Guard office in Boston on August 6 to submit my application.   Here is what the process looks like:

I was immediately put into "awaiting info" status.   I had checked "yes" to several medical conditions and I was supposed to have my doctor write a little blurb about them.  Ok so I got them that and  within ten days I was through the first couple orange boxes only to hit the big snag.   I was put in "Awaiting Info MEB" status because of two the aforementioned medical conditions.  I had to get my doctor to write more detailed documentation about these.   A week later they had it, but put me right back into the same gray box.  They sent me a letter with a detailed request of medical procedures and exams they wanted me to undergo. I needed consultations from two different specialists.  Here is where I considered giving up.  For one thing, these were going to be seriously expensive tests and would my insurance pay?  But I called around and got the appointments set up and started.  I had to wait over a month for one of the doctors to have an opening.  I sort of put the whole process on the back burner.   So far, so good with the insurance!

About two months later, I had all the requested reports and results in hand and I submitted them.   I was fully prepared to get put back into a gray box or just be rejected.   But what I got instead was an email saying they had granted the waivers for the medical conditions and now I would be in "Professional Qualifications Evaluation" (you know the part about if you know anything about boats).    Things went fast through the rest of the orange boxes.  Within a few days I was "Issued".  Notice the first word in the letter "Congratulations!".  This is the first and only communication from the coast guard that is not totally dry and procedural.  But right after that word the letter gets very dry and procedural.

So this winter, I'm recording Music