Passed my Master's License tests today

[jrd22]

Hi All, I posted a navigation question here a while back and got a lot of good advice and help, I just wanted to say thanks. I passed my 50 ton Master with Aux. Sail endorsement today. I home studied and it was a real marathon, about 3 months of 2-3 hours a day 7 days a week. I learned a hell of a lot, and I thought I knew a lot when I started! Not planning to do anything commercially with it, but I feel good about having it. By the way, I didn't have an intercept problem on the Nav. test, but I did learn how to do it! Thanks again, John Davidson

[werebeagle]

Congrats John

[tdw]

Well done that man.

[sailaway21]

Congratulations, Captain!

[sailingdog]

Congrats...

[CapnHand]

Well done, Captain.

[Valiente]

I intend to toast your accomplishment this evening. Do you prefer if I have dark rum, or darker rum?

[Denr]

I just renewed my 50T Masters licence, what a MAJOR pain in the ass the coast guard is now that they are part of Homo Land Security, I now know why so many let thier licence expire! Would rather ask sailormitch to give me three root canals during a prostate exam while in ten foot seas in shark infested waters while sinking at the same time.....

[btrayfors]

Congratulations to both you guys. It really IS an ordeal these days. As some posters here know, I was stupid enough to let my 100-ton license (held for over 25 years) lapse. And, worse, to go beyond the 1-year grace period.

If you're dumb enough to do that, as I was, the only recourse is to go back to the very beginning. I've done the OUPV (6-pack) bit, and am about to tackle the upgrades later this month (masters, offshore, sail endorsement, etc.).

And the physical. And the drug test. And the eye test. And the hearing test. And the references. And the detailed listing of sea time/place/boat/dates/signatures, etc., etc. etc. And, the shelling out of considerable sums of $$ at every step.

As Denr said, these days it's easier to get a root canal.

Shark-infested waters don't scare me. They don't like rum, particularly good rum like Mt. Gay, so I always manage to maintain an acceptable level to ward off their attacks :-))

Bill

[jrd22]

You're SO right about the CG. A normal, intelligent human being would have decided it wasn't worth it after looking at all the hoops you have to jump through just to submit an application. It's almost impossible to get them to answer the phone, closed every other Monday and all Fridays, office hours are NOT the same as the testing room which is part of the same office etc. I'll give em credit though, they were helpful when I did get through to them. I would recommend anyone wanting to get a license to just take a class, it would take the hassle of having to go to the CG to take the tests out of it and shorten the timeframe considerably. I'm sure you wouldn't learn nearly as much because they tend to just teach what they know is going to be on their test though. Going at it alone you have to learn it all because you could be asked anything out of the entire database of over 14,000 possible questions. I was doing it to learn as much as I could, and I learned way more than I expected to, so I am happy I did it this way. However, I don't think I'll remember what CG form 2692 is for, or what the fine is for not reporting an incident of sexual harassment is($5000), or who publishes the Tide and Current Tables for very long :-)). There is a phrase that I picked up during my studies that has become a favorite of mine. It relates to when there is a pilot on board and the Captain gives a command that contradicts the pilot. The question is which order do you obey. Answer: "Obey the Master!". Wifes not crazy about it. John