Some advice Please

[Girvin]

Hi just walked from my job driving whale watching and crew boats. I hold a 100ton nc and 200 inland I was wondering where I should be going from here. I thought about crew boats in the oil fields but I am living on vancouver island so something around seattle. Could I get a tug position with my licenses or do I need an AB. Any suggestions would be great. I am new to the commercial side of things. I would love a tug gig bc we are moving back to hawaii in a few years and there are a few tug companies out there.
Are there 100 or 200 ton crew or supply boats in the PNW? Or would Santa Barbra be my closest port for that stuff?
Sorry for being such a newby I am sick of driving little boats for tourism.

[Capt. Phoenix]

You should not have left your job before finding a replacement.

Get a job as an AB on a tug and go for a 500 ton license or better ASAP. All the west coast towing companies I am familiar with require at least a 500 ton license. You will need to complete a TOAR as you are nearing the submission of your application as well.

[Deuce]

Go ahead and send me the contact info for the company that you left as it sounds like a cool gig!haha

Yeah not the best move but if you have your finances in place, it's all good. Good luck to you.

[Girvin]

Unless you have dual citizinship you cant work there its canadian. I had my reasons for leaving. Its not worth losing your license for a little money. If you think driving a 25 ft open boat it 14 ft seas and cleaning up puke all day I can pm you there name. I hade to drive home from a remote location in 27 ft seas and 40knts of wind in a 30 ft boat with the customers vomiting and pissed off. I just found out I qualify to take mat of tow license if I can get 30 days on a tug.

[Capt. Phoenix]

I just found out I qualify to take mat of tow license if I can get 30 days on a tug.

How do you qualify for a towing license?

[Girvin]

not a towing license just mate of tow 1080 days on a vessel while holding a masters license. Thats what my school i used for my 200ton just told me. Its funny I can drive a tug in canada with almost no time compared to the USCG sea time requirements. I only really care about my USCG license since I am moving back to the states. Unless I get the local tug job I applied for.

[Capt. Phoenix]

That is a towing license. You still need a TOAR and to pass the apprentice mate exam. And as I said, a lot of those companies don't hire licenses under 500 grt.

[jdcavo]

not a towing license just mate of tow 1080 days on a vessel while holding a masters license...

You also need to complete a TOAR, and that will most likely take you a lot more than 30 days to complete if you don't have previous experience on a tug.

[Oldsalt206]

If you think driving a 25 ft open boat it 14 ft seas and cleaning up puke all day I can pm you there name. I hade to drive home from a remote location in 27 ft seas and 40knts of wind in a 30 ft boat with the customers vomiting and pissed off. I just found out I qualify to take mat of tow license if I can get 30 days on a tug.

Did you check the forecast before you left the dock and monitor the NOAA weather radio broadcasts? An experienced seaman would not have taken a risk like you described.

[cappy208]

Unless you have dual citizinship you cant work there its canadian. I had my reasons for leaving. Its not worth losing your license for a little money. If you think driving a 25 ft open boat it 14 ft seas and cleaning up puke all day I can pm you there name. I hade to drive home from a remote location in 27 ft seas and 40knts of wind in a 30 ft boat with the customers vomiting and pissed off. I just found out I qualify to take mat of tow license if I can get 30 days on a tug.

If you have 1080 days experience as an operator and have not learned how to avoid this type of situation I am NOT sure you would be able to fulfill a TOAR in just 30 days. Perhaps your expectations are not in alignment with the stars today.

[Girvin]

Did you check the forecast before you left the dock and monitor the NOAA weather radio broadcasts? An experienced seaman would not have taken a risk like you described.

LOL Yeah those are the condition we work in we run up to 15 ft and inside route to 18. THis isnt florida its the west coast of Vancouver Island. I drive most ther year in 10 -12 and alot of 15. hate to say this but NOAA cant get a report right here in the winter. We have to many variables.
I guess I am not experience but any boat under 100ft and I have more rough weather shallow water miles than anybody I know under 30. Like I said we try and cut it at 15 in the winter but with a GOV forcast saying 15ft with light winds I have come home with the bouy reading 27ft at 17 with high winds. I also drive the rescue boat on days that would make me "unexperienced" watch what you say about people you don't know. Most of my work is in vessels under 100ft but I still drive in conditions where alot of big boys come home crying. Maybe You?

Thanks for the Helpful advice I see i am going to need to be an AB for a while to get my 500 or if its gone my 1600. I feel a little stuck with a 200ton. I didn't know the Toar was that much work.

[Girvin]

If you have 1080 days experience as an operator and have not learned how to avoid this type of situation I am NOT sure you would be able to fulfill a TOAR in just 30 days. Perhaps your expectations are not in alignment with the stars today.

Also having my masters for 5 years and running boats full time I have a perfect safety record. Its not like anywhere else here. You do your job even on the worst of day or you quite. I chose to quite. There where also 2 other companies out that day since the report said 15ft with light winds. Gotta love how people think the world is the same everywhere. Maybe I should run boats in Florida/carribean so I can complain about 6 ft waves LOL. Next delivery I do to Hawaii I will make sure to check the forcast and it will be double the size like it always is.

[Swampfox]

Thanks for the Helpful advice I see i am going to need to be an AB for a while to get my 500 or if its gone my 1600. I feel a little stuck with a 200ton. I didn't know the Toar was that much work.

For the 500/1600 Master you only need to qualify as a AB when you submit your paperwork to test. Since you already have a master's license, you simply take an AB class, along with some RFPNW assessments (simulator) and submit along with the rest of your application.

[cappy208]

Its not like anywhere else here..

and THAT is your perception,

MHO. I was corrected by another excellent mariner on this site:


Each of our industries both merits and holds separate distinctions.

[Clear Solution]

Ahhh.. another super captain... stick to the whale boats.

[jdcavo]

... NOAA cant get a report right here in the winter. We have to[o] many variables...

More likely a lack of data. Vancouver and Queen Charlotte Islands are too sparsely populated to have significant observation stations, and there is aslo a scarcity of reported ship observations. If you don't have a lot of data points, you need to guess at what's going on in between the ones you have.

...but I still drive in conditions where alot of big boys come home crying. Maybe You?...

Insulting/denigrating the experience of your audience is probably not a good strategy for getting helpful advice.

[Cal]

Insulting/denigrating the experience of your audience is probably not a good strategy for getting helpful advice.

Also an excellent manner of dealing with deckhands, that's how you stop docking the barge 10 feet after the dock began....

[Girvin]

I was asking advice on licensing not if the conditions we run in makes us " and experienced seamen" or not. Never said I was a super captain. Its usuallly the people who attack first that have a issue seams to be wave size. Do I think we should run in these conditions with passangers? NO but the way the companies push each other here we have to in order not to lose bussiness. I am inexperienced in tow and anything over 150 ft thats why I was asking. I think it got to me you called it a risk but its just how it is here. I think of risky as doing something beyond your comfort level or ability. It was not. just isn't comfortable for passengers.