Drinking from a firehose…
Another week - another certificate. I have to take a moment to say that Freemont Maritime Services did a great job - enthusiastic, knowledgeable instructors, good facilities and a well prepared curriculum.
Last day of fire training - and we got to run our own drills. It was cool. Our scenerio was of course over complicated and got chaotic in implimentation. Not as complicated and chaotic as say….burning a giant pyre for an audience of 40k while 2000 stilt walking fire dancers play inside the burn perimeter…luckily I have never had to deal with anything like that. For our drillI stood back and took photos. When I was fighting fire for Team Charlies drill, I handed the camera off. You can see it all here.
“This 5-day course covers the duties undertaken by the deck watch while loading and discharging cargo in port and care of cargo in transit. Subjects include: inspection and preparation of holds, cargo segregation, securing cargo, cargo handling equipment and safety, confined space entry and an overview of ship types (tankers, bulk carrier, container etc).”
Ok, new computer is working fantastic, but I haven’t been motivated to log - however I have stuff to put down.
Today I got to play in a simulated engine room and put out a REAL fire with fuel floating on water.
It was hot, as you might imagine. At one point I looked down and saw fire licking at my legs because the nozzleman didn’t sweep the fuel away effectivly.
I was nozzleman in a small room (a simulated machinery space) and just couldn’t get the fire to go out. I had been expecting the instructor to kill the gas when i waved the hose in the perscribed fashion, and figured I must be using poor technique, and he was punishing me. After the exercise he confessed that a fuel can had been forgotten behind the machinery and so I was not at fighting a simulated fire, but a real fuel fire.
Up till now all the fires we have been fighting are propane, and the instructors can kill the fuel to stop everything. Now, in advanced fire fighting, we have real fires. We put them out, or they stay burning.
Very fun. Camera ran out of battery, but charging it now and will have more photos tomorrow.
Unedited photos can be seen here.
Katy is now playing rock paper scissor for a buck with a bum.
“This 5-day course is designed for mariners at the entry-level position. It provides the knowledge, understanding and proficiency to work safely and efficiently aboard today’s merchant vessels. Marlinspike seamanship proficiency is demonstrated by actually tying various knots, bends, hitches and splices.”
While this class involved a lot of review of things covered in all the previous courses, I did find the knots challenging.
“This 3-day course is designed to provide training for those personnel who will command firefighting efforts on board the vessel. The course is certified by the US Coast Guard and complies with the requirements of 46 CFR and STCW 95. Offered through Fremont Maritime Services.”
Because I took Basic Firefighting at CCC, they made me re-take the course at Fremont Maritime Services. At first I was pissed, but afterwards I was pretty glad. It was good to get two different perspectives on the same subject, and even though I had to watch the same videos, I got new information.
The Advanced course kicked it up a notch. The focus here was on scene leadership, stability issues and organizing drills. Great course - super instructors.
“This 5-day course covers the proper use of radar for risk assessment, collision avoidance, and navigation. Trainees use commercial radar equipment with landmasses, environmental effects and vessel returns generated by Norcontrol simulation. Subjects include: radar principles, set up and tuning, radar plotting, radar navigation and a review of collision regulations.”
