Ruth and Randal Johnson have not posted for a while but I hope they still check the site. I want to ask if you took the Chapman course in Stuart, FL and what you thought of it?

I visited Chapman's a couple of weeks ago and they have a very nice facility but the course is 9 weeks and it seems to be training more for the career seamen. I am sure that what they teach would be useful for a recreational boater but I was hoping to find a less lengthy, hands-on course.

Also, I think Dave and Dorothey Nagel took courses at the Seattle Maritime Academy. I was wondering what their opinion of the courses are now several years after.

I would appreciate any comments or opinions for good hands-on training in electrical, diesel, navigation, weather, electronics, etc.

Thanks!

Dorothy and I have nothing but good things to say about Seattle Maritime Academy -- the teachers, the curriculum, the staff are all wonderful. We rented an apartment just the other side of the Ballard bridge from SMA, and took night classes in the winter quarter -- marine diesel (Dick Raymond) and marine electric (Al Bruce) for recreation boaters. Monday / Wednesday for one course, Tuesday / Thursday for the other. Great, directly-applicable training I use everyday aboard DE.

During the day and on weekends, we also took courses at Pacific Maritime (the watchstanders Marine Weather course, 5 days, taught by Lee Chesnau) and Dorothy did a 3-4 week program at Crawford for her USCG Captain's license. (I already had mine, but from looking at her materials, and the results I can say that this was a quality course.

We also did a single engine boat handling course taught by Patrick? at SMA which was excellant like everything and everyone else there. Should you be interested in SMA, contact the Administrative Assistant, Deneva Flath, and tell her we said hello.

We liked SMA so much that we are going back and I will be doing the majority of the 3 quarter marine engineering program starting this September (just going to skip the at-sea internship).

PS the Ballard area of Seattle has Northern Lights, Village Marine, Hatton Marine (great folks there, we get most of our spares through the parts manager Barb, at Hatton); Fisheries Supply is just down the road. The Crittenton locks is a great place to watch boats; the Jolly Roger brewpub has wonderful beers on tap, that you cannot buy in a store -- Nightwatch Ale is my favorite; Chinooks at the commercial marina, not to mention Armchair Sailor, Captain's Nautical, and Second Wave (2nd hand boating parts, supplies, books etc in Ballard and up in Bellingham also... if you're into boats, hanging out in Seattle for a couple of months is a real treat.

If you are in the Southern California area, you might check out Orange Coast College School of Sailing and Seamanship. It's located in beautiful (and expensive) Newport Beach. Their website is http://www.occsailing.com/ I took a couple courses there and was very impressed.

Mike Pate

Joseph
Yes, the course at Chapman's is designed around a marine career and those seeking jobs in the industry. The complete course is twelve weeks long but the final three weeks is a review for preperations for the test, including the captain's certification test. The first nine weeks is the mariners course and in my class of about 23, there were only two of us not staying for twelve weeks.
The course was very thorough and included 58 hours of boat handling in different engine configurations, inboard, outboard, twins, singles, etc.
The tuition is high but would be higher still if the school was not subsidized by contributions of boats which the school sells for income.
We had nine weeks of classes, five days per week and eight hours per day. The most rewarding for me was the navigation course which was mostly reading and understanding paper chart navigation.
The class also included understanding and maintaining a boats power system with an extensive class on diesel engines. While I was there, Catarpiller contributed four new diesel engines to the school including a huge V8.
The classroom instructors as well as the boat handling instructors are comprised of mostly retired captains and or retired coast guard personel.
If you have the time I would highly recommend the course. It was surely worth the time and money I spent for it.

Randal

Thanks everyone. Along with the help of my hometown Aux. Coast Guard instructors I think I can make a good decision now.