skinnylegs
Member
i am looking for a marine engineering or ship building apprenticeship in the south east anyone got any ideas where i find one would be helpful in eastbourne.
apprenticeship
- Thread starter skinnylegs
- Start date
Seaduck
Well-Known Member
I tried getting an apprenticeship for about 6 years between 2002/08... couldn't find one in Kent. Had the best luck with Broom up on the Norfolk Broads...couldn't move up there (mums disabled) so I'm starting my own business offering a mobile hull cleaning, prep and anti-fouling service (once I can find a decent cheap van).
You could try asking at your local marina... they might even want an apprentice.
Good luck with your search
Neal
You could try asking at your local marina... they might even want an apprentice.
Good luck with your search
Neal
lynall
Well-Known Member
Hey Neal i didnt realise you were on here as well. we went past your place the other day, i did wave but no one waved back!
Could be because we were a loong way away.
Had to buy some petrol at gill marina 1.50 per litre
Lynall
Could be because we were a loong way away.
Had to buy some petrol at gill marina 1.50 per litre
Lynall
skinnylegs
Member
i was thinking about a boat cleaning service but because i am only 15 nearly 16 i i think an apprenticeship will be my best bet cheers for the reply
rubberduck
Well-Known Member
Keep on knocking on doors kid, sooner or later one will open. Good luck!
BrendanS
Well-Known Member
You've done the 'right thing'. Most jobs come from networking. Keep networking, and asking people. Expand on why you think someone should employ you, and keep at it, with people locally, on here, and anywhere else. Have you made a list of companies in the SE who would employ someone like you? If not, do so, you need to know who they are, then approach them
rubberduck
Well-Known Member
Good advice, the fact that he is making the effort in an intelligent manor talks volumes.
Solitaire
Well-Known Member
I don't know about Eastbourne however I walked past a stand at the Southampton Boat show that caught my eye. I had a quick chat and have got you a contact. Mike Grigg who is the Apprenticeship Co-ordinator for the The Marine Skills Centre which is part of City college , Southampton. Contact for Mike Grigg is Michael.grigg@southampton-city.ac.uk phone is 0782561 2944 or 023 8022 9222
Web address is www.southampton-city.ac.uk
Good luck and even if it is too far for you to travel, a chat will at least point you in the right direction.
WestWittering
Well-Known Member
Why not go to Premier Marina @ Eastbourne and talk to some of the people there? They may even have a Saturday job you could do until you left school.
Di
Di
Latestarter1
Well-Known Member
Like the sound of your ambition however you have to be flexible and prepared to go ANYWHERE to get a decent apprenticeship with a properly structured training program.
Concentrate on getting a decent maths grade. Certainly forget messing around in marinas if you want a good technical grounding.
I saw the training progam Pendennis were proposing a few years back and it was excellent.
Also do some Googling on wind farm support vessels and pick out names of most common U.K builders and then hit them with you interest.
Saw the mention of 'kid' in one of the posts.........Started my seagoing career at 16, what was so wrong with that??
jhr
Well-Known Member
The boatyard at Berthon, in Lymington, have about 30 apprentices.
There's a forumite called MoodyNick who works for Berthon. He's responsible for the Marina, not the Boatyard, but he may be able to point you in the right direction.
There's a forumite called MoodyNick who works for Berthon. He's responsible for the Marina, not the Boatyard, but he may be able to point you in the right direction.
Resolution
Well-Known Member
Also worth asking Discovery Yachts, who are based at Marchwood on Southampton water.
skinnylegs
Member
going to the boat show next weekend so will have a look around do you know where about u saw the stand and we currently own a boat so i have experience and just about to start my day skipper so i will be well prepared.
wind farm boats is a good idea but don't think its for would like to be involved in the boat more than wind turbines.
wind farm boats is a good idea but don't think its for would like to be involved in the boat more than wind turbines.
BlueSkyNick
Well-Known Member
Berthon has a major apprenticeship programme, which has won awards in the industry as well as raising the profile of skills gap in the industry due to an aging workforce and lack of investment in training.
We currently have 31 Apprentices in the 4 year programme, training to be shipwrights, engineers, electricians (inc electronics) and painting.
There are some from much further from home than Kent. If skinnylegs or anybody else is interested, send me a PM and I will put you in contact with the correct person.
Like Brendan says, networking with others is essential in any industry, and starting early like this is all the more worthwhile.
Latestarter1
Well-Known Member
Not 100% sure of your aims, enjoying boats is OK, no clue how day skipper will assist you.
I made no reference to wind turbine construction whatsoever, it is the builders of support vessels who are experiencing a busy time. I you are interested in traditional boat building skills Cockwells in Falmouth are first class.
Also intrigued as to how Berthon employ 31 apprentices?? Last time I came across numbers like that was in the old Smiths Dock ship repair yard, labour force was around 350 skilled trades with about 30 apprentices. I read description of what Berthon offered until I saw painting then I realised world has gone bonkers, used to be a saying in the yards, if you can pi55 you can paint.
Question for Moody Nick, do Berthons have a machine shop, fabrication shop and what major construction/restoration projects are they involved in? How do your apprentice shipwrights gain experience lofting if they are not involved in newbuilds........
I needed to find a decent project manager who was skilled in mechanical and electrical engineering to oversee a large yacht restoration project a while back, plenty of Dutchmen, few Germans, Australian and a South African. Any Brits......NO
BlueSkyNick
Well-Known Member
Day Skipper will at least give him some more knowledge and experience of boating, which is better than somebody sitting at home on their bum wondering what to do.
Berthon have approx 40 skilled tradesmen which, compared to your historic reference, proves we are taking the apprenticeship scheme very seriously.
Your comment about painting is obviously historic too, probably based on navvies with a pot and a brush. We own one of the largest spray booths in Europe, able to accommodate a boat up to 90' LOA, with environmental control to ensure correct temperatures during paint curing etc. One large motorboat manufacturer has sent us white 78's straight out of their factory for painting according to their client's preferred colour scheme. Another UK manufacturer asked us to paint a range of new boats for exhibitions overseas to help them open up export markets.
The engineers and shipwright apprentices get involved in major refit projects, again on up to 70' boats indoors. Some blue water cruisers which have had a pasting around the world come in for routine maintenance, or major refit ready for the next circumnavigation.
Our largest commercial customer has a fleet of boats continuously coming through the sheds for refit, which requires a four man project team to manage.
As a result of successfully completing the first Shannon Class Lifeboat we are about to start on the second, with a contract for several more to follow. EDIT I have changed the link to Flickr pictures because Wikipedia has too many inaccuracies.
We have a further six refit project managers, all with extensive experience, some having come through the ranks since their own apprenticeship.
I hope this helps to demonstrate that Berthon and its apprenticeship scheme are highly credible, and the world hasn't gone mad after all. I shan't be adding more detail to such an open forum, so please dont ask me - happy to receive PM's though.
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Latestarter1
Well-Known Member
Sorry if I sound skeptical, however I am.
I doubt if this guy is interested in sitting at home, however I would far rather he spent his time honing his mathematical skills. I spent some time developing course work on internal combustion engine theory and practice, however when I looked at student profiles realise that schools turning out students with grossly inadequate skill sets.
There is no prospect whatsoever of 40 tradesmen being able to give 30 apprentices a decent level of training, this all smacks of cheap labor. Spray painting technology is no different to that used by commercial vehcle industry, exept do not overstate their capabilities.
Also struggle to understand how fitting out a RNLI hull manufactured by Green Marine is perceived as anything special, Camarc have drawn up all the specifications together with the RNLI and I expect material is free issue via Poole. I still doubt if any of the apprentice shipwrights being turned out could loft a drawing.
My concern is that we treat apprenticeships as an alternative for those who have failed to abtain a probably worthless degree. At one time an apprenticeship was the basis of a career progression involving significant further technical education.
No the world has not gone mad, they just take majority of yacht re-fit work to Holland and some to Italy. Could it be to do with the fact that in the last 30 years UK has dropped from number 4 to 35 in world education rankings.
BlueSkyNick
Well-Known Member
Seeing as the company is surviving this recession and growing, unlike a lot of others, they must be doing something right.
Please dont take everything you read on Wikipedia to be true or up to date. I can only tell you that your assumptions are wrong but as I said before I am not going into details on the forum.
If you would like to come for a look around, and see for yourself, PM me.
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Sulley
Well-Known Member
The BMF also have a careers stand at the show.
Latestarter1
Well-Known Member
I admire your commitment, and thank you for the kind offer.
The foreman shipwright at Cockwells once explained it this way, we paint a masterpiece, be it a Renoir or a Monet, those guys on the South Coast just paint by numbers. But at least you turn a Dime
