simple question does private yacht experience mean anything?

[Veit]

I have been turning down jobs left and right on large 100-200 ft private yachts in hopes of landing a good tug job.

My question is would getting on board one of these yachts be helpful for my resume or does it not help towards my sea time etc.

[seadog6608]

In this economy? Get aboard a yacht. I understand that if you have the right boat owner its a sweet gig. If you're getting all these offers and you have the wrong owner it should be pretty simple to get another boat. And yes. The sea time counts depending on tonnage and where you're working.

[Veit]

i guess i should also ad in that i'm not just a guy sitting on a couch getting offers. I am the dockmaster at a megayacht marina, have years of navy engineering experience (shoreside) and stcw and worked as crew on a classic america's cup yacht for charter. But yeah about every week I get an offer to come aboard, but since I have a steady job i've been debating on just hanging out till i get an entry job in the tug boat world. and the boats from what i understand are about 150 tons usually captains have a 200 ton license, some 500 to run them. . .

[kfj]

a job on a tugboat wont be steady ether.

[seadog!]

If you're going to the Engineering side, this sounds like a real fast-track to a license.

I don't know of any tug companies hiring unlicensed Engineers anymore.
My company just hired 4 schoolboys to sail as A/E's just to have new (cheap) blood in the pipeline.

[cappy208]

a job on a tugboat wont be steady ether.

Depends on where you get a job.

The original question about: "Is the time worth anything." ALL time accrued 'counts' towards licensing. It just depends on the tonnage, and type of vessel you get your time on. Time on yachts can count for up to a 1600 ton license (provided the majority of your yacht time is aboard vessels over 100 GT) BUT, making a transition over to towing vessels is a little more complicated.

Even starting out on a towing vessel is a 3 or 4 year process to get licensed, and get a 'apprentice' towing license. This apprentice license does NOT allow you to make Mates pay, it just allows you to train to become a mate. That throws another year (or so) onto the time frame. But to answer your basic question sea time is sea time, wherever is comes from. Does that answer your question about seatime on yachts? However consider the following.....

Another thought for you to consider, Yacht time is usually not really helpful towards commercial towing, or 'shipping out' experience. Yacht time may add to the required time to GET a license, But as far as getting a job on commercial vessels that's a different story. As far as deckhands work: Polishing brass, cleaning up after the owners, waxing the skidoo, or making the bunks for the owner is not really the same as working on a commercial vessel. As far as wheelhouse experience maneuvering: Yachts are VERY high horsepower, highly maneuverable, (usually with bow thrusters) and are usually non displacement hulls, or semi displacement hulls. They experience garnered on yachts is NOTHING like operating a full displacement vessel, with alot smaller horsepower to tonnage ratio. This may not mean anything; a typical yacht is around 2000 HP. around 100 GT. So you can figure out the horsepower to tonnage ratio = 20:1. my particular tugboat is 4300 HP, But mated to a 8000 ton barge (actually 16000Deadweight tons but I'll stick with GT for this one) The tug unit HP ratio is 1.8:1. A little bit different, huh?

I would imagine you have seen some pretty amazing sights of boat handling prowess (or not!) around the docks. The difference between the yacht coming in and banging up the topsides, or scufffing the topsides is a little different on a tug and oil barge. If I 'dent and scrape' steel usually it is NOT just a scuff, some gelcoat and some buffing. When I have a screw up it usually involves petroleum in the water, a dent, gasfreeing the barge (or tug) a trip to a shipyard, a drydock, hauling out, cutting, burning, welding, and repainting. OH yeah, losing the contract because I screwed up too. It's not quite the same in yacht world as in tug world.

[kfj]

I just meant youcant be sure anything is steady. he says he won't jump on a yacht since his job is steady

[cmakin]

Depends on where you get a job.

The original question about: "Is the time worth anything." ALL time accrued 'counts' towards licensing. It just depends on the tonnage, and type of vessel you get your time on. Time on yachts can count for up to a 1600 ton license (provided the majority of your yacht time is aboard vessels over 100 GT) BUT, making a transition over to towing vessels is a little more complicated.

Even starting out on a towing vessel is a 3 or 4 year process to get licensed, and get a 'apprentice' towing license. This apprentice license does NOT allow you to make Mates pay, it just allows you to train to become a mate. That throws another year (or so) onto the time frame. But to answer your basic question sea time is sea time, wherever is comes from. Does that answer your question about seatime on yachts? However consider the following.....

Another thought for you to consider, Yacht time is usually not really helpful towards commercial towing, or 'shipping out' experience. Yacht time may add to the required time to GET a license, But as far as getting a job on commercial vessels that's a different story. As far as deckhands work: Polishing brass, cleaning up after the owners, waxing the skidoo, or making the bunks for the owner is not really the same as working on a commercial vessel. As far as wheelhouse experience maneuvering: Yachts are VERY high horsepower, highly maneuverable, (usually with bow thrusters) and are usually non displacement hulls, or semi displacement hulls. They experience garnered on yachts is NOTHING like operating a full displacement vessel, with alot smaller horsepower to tonnage ratio. This may not mean anything; a typical yacht is around 2000 HP. around 100 GT. So you can figure out the horsepower to tonnage ratio = 20:1. my particular tugboat is 4300 HP, But mated to a 8000 ton barge (actually 16000Deadweight tons but I'll stick with GT for this one) The tug unit HP ratio is 1.8:1. A little bit different, huh?

I would imagine you have seen some pretty amazing sights of boat handling prowess (or not!) around the docks. The difference between the yacht coming in and banging up the topsides, or scufffing the topsides is a little different on a tug and oil barge. If I 'dent and scrape' steel usually it is NOT just a scuff, some gelcoat and some buffing. When I have a screw up it usually involves petroleum in the water, a dent, gasfreeing the barge (or tug) a trip to a shipyard, a drydock, hauling out, cutting, burning, welding, and repainting. OH yeah, losing the contract because I screwed up too. It's not quite the same in yacht world as in tug world.

GT (Gross Tons) has nothing to do with displacement (deadweight tons). The HP/tons ratio does not work in this instance. A better indicator would be the displacement of the vessel than GT, no matter how it is admeasured.

[cappy208]

GT (Gross Tons) has nothing to do with displacement (deadweight tons). The HP/tons ratio does not work in this instance. A better indicator would be the displacement of the vessel than GT, no matter how it is admeasured.

admittedly, I referred to it, but that is pretty complicated to describe to a neophyte! I was looking for an easily understood simple metaphor.

[KennyW1983]

Do you like being someones b!tch? A friend of mine is the mate on a yacht she works 0700-2200 7 days a week for about 340+ days a year. If you are making good money at the marina I would stay there. If you are wanting to get into tugs and just want to start off with a license of some sort (not that it would matter to the tug crews or captains) I would say go for it. You will still start out as the new guy on the tug, yacht experience means nothing on a tug, and you will be a deckhand for a few years at least until you get you Mate of Towing license even if you get that you will likely still be a deckhand for quite a while. But to go back to it if the marina job pays well I would stick with that.

And in this economy a tug job is no safe bet either...

[seadog!]

With years of engineering experience I suspect you are being offered Engineer positions.
With a DDE it won't really matter that the experience came from yachts.

A good, experienced Engineer ain't nobody's bitch.

[KennyW1983]

^ ^

Thats true. I was thinking more along the lines of a deck position. An engineer is an engineer there jobs stay about the same no matter what type of boat it is.

[injunear]

^ ^

Thats true. I was thinking more along the lines of a deck position. An engineer is an engineer there jobs stay about the same no matter what type of boat it is.

I beg to differ......

[junbug]

How can I join a union??? I have no seatime an going in as entry-level??? Is real difficult trying to get a job with experience....

[cmakin]

I beg to differ......

And I agree. . . . .

[Flyer69]

I have been turning down jobs left and right on large 100-200 ft private yachts in hopes of landing a good tug job.

My question is would getting on board one of these yachts be helpful for my resume or does it not help towards my sea time etc.

Better make sure the boat moves instead of sitting in the marina if you want seatime for a deck upgrade.

[PR-9]

^ ^

Thats true. I was thinking more along the lines of a deck position. An engineer is an engineer there jobs stay about the same no matter what type of boat it is.

An Engineers job can be very different from boat to boat. For example in a mud boat (OSV) they take care of loading a liquid cargos (Liquid Mud, Diesel (cargo), water, completion fluid, ext..) and they have to calculate for stability. In a subsea contraction they don't do cargo but they have a lot more equipment to take care like heave compensation towers, cranes, spider hatches, ext... And on a Tug they don't have any help! They are usually the only engine department personnel in the boat and when the Tankermen can't fix something in the barge then they become barge engineers.
By the way I am not an Engineer but I have worked in different class vessels and everyones job is different from boat to boat!!!

[cmakin]

I am an engineer. While I have not sailed in the oil patch, I do know that on many vessels, the engineer doesn't do a lot of work on the machinery, i.e. this is carried out by contracted mechanics (at least on supply boats). Specialty vessels, especially in the offshore construction business are quite different.

I have sailed on tugs where I was the only engineer. I that case, the barge was on the string and I had little to do with it. At terminals where the company owned the facility, there were shoreside personnel who did the ballasting and deballasting of the barge. When we went to other "out ports", then that became my job.

I have sailed on ATBs where the barge becomes part of my daily routine, as well as in port when cargo ops were ongoing, to operate the generators for the deep well pumps, as well as checking on the mooring equipment to carrying out necessary maintenance and repairs. The tankermen didn't do a lot of work on the mechanics of the barge. Those are just "small" vessels. On ocean going ships, the job is VERY different from vessel to vessel and to which position.