Sea School Online?

[Grande Mariner]

I want to get my OUPV license and have the time to do it online. We plan on getting hands on training when we finally get a trawler. Any opinions on Sea School online training/licensing?

 

[BandB]

It's better than nothing. I don't mean that as praising or as negative. It's not ideal, but you can learn some basic navigation rules.

How much sea time do you have? I ask as you mention your OUPV and 360 days is required.

What kind of boating experience do you have? I would hope some to really get benefit from the course.

 

[Grande Mariner]

All of my recent experience is inshore and near shore in small boats (less than 25ft). I have no significant offshore experience or experience with larger boats.

 

[Obx]

In preparation to buy a trawler and to see if we would like living on a trawler, My wife and I went to Southwest Florida Yachts and took classes.
They offer class for Yachts, sail boats, trawlers. They will train you on your trawler.
We took 3 courses P101 (general knowledge of boats and navigation), P102 (boat handling and navigation with plotting courses/reading charts and executing the course), P103 (Open Ocean Navigation) we took a 42 ft grand banks from Cape Coral Fla to Key West and back.

I've been on boats for 45 years and They teach you things that everyone operating a boat should know. We had tests at the end of each class.
They make sure before you rent a boat from them or go out on your boat you know what you are doing to protect yourself and other boaters.

The staff and Office personnel are superb Captn Bill is a great instructor.
He took the time to make sure my wife and I understood everything in the course. I recommend them to anyone we had a great time and learning and found out what it's like to live on a boat.

 

[psneeld]

Any course is a foundation......not a towering structure of knowledge.

The OUPV courses, whether on line or in person are really just Captain mills designed to get you your license with some good knowledge thrown in along the way.

You can use that as an advantage to understand how much more you will have to learn to be a good boater/captain....or use it as a crutch to think you already are.

There are few real boaters/captains that think the OUPV is much more than a drivers license....but it shows that you did put some interest in learning the very basics.

I taught in person licensing for 5 years. Some students walked in with more knowledge than required, some walked away with fools gold.

I am guessing, but pretty sure a school as old as Sea School would have put a lot of effort and their reputation on the line that their online course is pretty good.

I went through the Long Island branch of Sea School but taught for 3 B's.

If you want a lot of practical info and for it to stick.....the get underway with total immersion type learning is probably a notch higher...at least.

 

[BandB]

All of my recent experience is inshore and near shore in small boats (less than 25ft). I have no significant offshore experience or experience with larger boats.

Since you don't have the sea time for an OUPV, look at it as studying a basic introductory textbook. It's a starting place. As was also recommended, I agree totally with the recommendation of Southwest. Chartering and a training captain can teach you an amazing amount. If you've had the course you mention, at least you then understand the language they're using.

 

[BandB]

Any course is a foundation.

There are few real boaters/captains that think the OUPV is much more than a drivers license....but it shows that you did put some interest in learning the very basics.

I've tended to dismiss OUPV's as well and I've made a conscious effort not to do that when it comes to recreational boaters. I think they show interest as you stated. I applaud any pursuit of knowledge. Just don't think that you're trained when you complete the class. It's just a start.

We have friends who are very serious about developing skills and have had a lot of individual training on the water, but have also been to school and taken captain's courses. As recreational boaters still working full time, they're a long time away from 720 days and while they're not doing it for a license, when they hit 360 days they will get their OUPV.

 

[steelydon]

Back in 2001 I took a class with a local captain on navigation in my home port of Beaufort, NC. From there I purchased Charlie Wing's book "Get Your Captains License" and went through it several times over. It also came with a DVD that showed the nav lights and mastered those (master may be a bit too strong) by shear repetition. While the USCG site lists the questions and answers I found the book most helpful (old school you know) and I'm not sure an online course was available at the time. Between the class on navigation and Wing's book I drove down to Charleston, SC to take the exams. It took me 8 hours to complete all the sections but I came away with a Nearshore Master w/ sail and commercial assistance towing endorsement. The paperwork was almost as hard as the exam, physical, reference letters, drug test, time on the water, etc. I had to go back 20 years to accumulate the 720 days sea time. The NC wildlife division was most helpful in providing me with certified ownership going back that far. Be prepared for a fair amount of [FONT=&quot]bureaucratic wrangling. At least that was my experience. I have renewed mine twice since then and noticed they are becoming increasingly more strict on renewals as it relates to health issues.

Hope this helps,
Steelydon[/FONT]

 

[Grande Mariner]

Thank you all for the advice.

Also considering using: www.marinerslearningsystem.com

Does anyone have any experience with this site?