Marine Jobs

[Fire99]

Hi All,

I'm not sure if this is in the right forum so apologies if it's out of place.

After 15 years in the IT industry and a bit of a break i'm looking seriously at working in the Marine industry and would like a bit of advice where to get the best information.

I'm looking towards Harbourmaster route or even towards ships captain. (So obviously down the practical route rather that office based stuff)

No doubt it's going to be pretty humbling as I was pretty high up in the IT field but will be back on the bottom of the ladder again.
So 12 years of boat ownership and a couple of RYA courses under my belt, where do I start?

I'm in my 30's. No wife, kids, commitments... Any ideas?

Cheers all,

Nick

 

[Nautorius]

Hi,

Have you thought about teaching/skippering? In Gib there are several sailing/teaching schools always on the look out. They pay £100 a day and you will have fun. Can live cheaply in Spain and have the med lifestyle with some independance. Best of all you have some work over the winter. How qualified are you?

Alternatively what about looking at larger charter boat crewing/skippering oportunities.

Good luck

Paul

 

[Dyflin]

where do I start?

On the bottom rung of a ladder.

Get into nautical college (Newcastle, Glasgow, south coast somewhere) study and work aboard as cadet for about three years and then qualify as junior officer, earning about £18k. Another 12 months of "sea time", back to college for another year, qualify as Chief Officer. After a few years get promotion to Chief Officer, back to college again for Master's and then a few years before you get command and then a few years in command before you qualify over existing candidates for HM or equivalent job ashore.

 

[Chris_Robb]

Rather than start again, take a year off, and then go back to what you know, and are good at, having had a break and refreshed. You've gone stale on your current job. You are single at the moment - but how do you know how long for - this is not in your control.....

BEWARE OF THE GRASS IS GREENER SYNDROME. A job is a job and most get samey or booring.......

 

[Twister_Ken]

Ship's Captain, but how big a ship?

There seem to be plenty of megayachts around, and there are some essential qualifications to be gained.

Euro HQ for the industry seems to be around Antibes. Here is one place to start researching

 

[Fire99]

Thanks guys for the replies.

At present i'm only up to Day Skipper Practical & Theory level but i'm more than happy to take additional courses/ exams but i've noticed there are quite a wide variety of courses out there and what I don't want to do is randomly take courses that aren't contributing to the greater good.
So whatever I do needs to have a bit of structure to it so i'm not just wasting money.


Regarding going back to what I know. Well it has been said by a few but i've already taken a year out and had a good step back to reasess where I want to be. IT is definitely not in my future plans.

Skippering / Teaching in Gib. would certainly be an interesting option. What's the requirements for that? Do I need Coastal Skipper/ Yachtmaster under my belt first?

I'm not being hugely specific since other than boat ownership, i'm not an expert in the industry so as with most things i'm pushing on doors and taking it one step at a time.

I'm certainly not scared of a bit of hard graft and applying myself.

 

[AIDY]

most HM / coast guards have either been in the navy or served on board merchant vessels for years.

 

[Fire99]

Ship's Captain, but how big a ship?

There seem to be plenty of megayachts around, and there are some essential qualifications to be gained.

Euro HQ for the industry seems to be around Antibes. Here is one place to start researching

Thanks Ken. How long is a piece of string? Tug, Ferry, Yacht? Perhaps somewhat vague but alot depends on where I start as to where I end up.

 

[Fire99]

most HM / coast guards have either been in the navy or served on board merchant vessels for years.

Yeah I had a hunch that may be the case in many situations. But is that the only route?

 

[matt_lake]

Welcome.

You're in exactly the same position I was 7 years ago. I'd spent 16 years in the Financial Services Industry (not banking before anyone starts!) and decided life was too short to carry on doing something I no longer enjoyed (amazing how a death in the family can focus you). I had a reasonable amount of mobo experience having owned several boats over the years, but no qualifications to show for it.

I took 3 months out and did a course at UKSA in Cowes which gave me a the certificates to back up my experience. After that I just needed to be flexible about what to do next.

Since then I've had spells in marina management, boat sales and marine equipment sales and am thoroughly enjoying my change in career.

The downsides are that you will probably never earn the money you did in IT and the leisure marine industry suffers an enormous amount during economic downturns so job security is almost non existent. Please also bear in mind that many people in the industry have been made redundant in the last 12 months so you will be up against stiff competition in the jobs market.

The British Marine Federation and Marine Resources websites are a good place to start looking.

If you have a real passion for the industry I would say go for it! It's not all glamour but still rewarding.

Good Luck

Matt

 

[Fire99]

Welcome.

You're in exactly the same position I was 7 years ago. I'd spent 16 years in the Financial Services Industry (not banking before anyone starts!) and decided life was too short to carry on doing something I no longer enjoyed (amazing how a death in the family can focus you). I had a reasonable amount of mobo experience having owned several boats over the years, but no qualifications to show for it.

I took 3 months out and did a course at UKSA in Cowes which gave me a the certificates to back up my experience. After that I just needed to be flexible about what to do next.

Since then I've had spells in marina management, boat sales and marine equipment sales and am thoroughly enjoying my change in career.

The downsides are that you will probably never earn the money you did in IT and the leisure marine industry suffers an enormous amount during economic downturns so job security is almost non existent. Please also bear in mind that many people in the industry have been made redundant in the last 12 months so you will be up against stiff competition in the jobs market.

The British Marine Federation and Marine Resources websites are a good place to start looking.

If you have a real passion for the industry I would say go for it! It's not all glamour but still rewarding.

Good Luck

Matt

Hi Matt,

Thanks alot for your reply..

I'll certainly check out the two websites and get some more info.
I know it's certainly not the 'easy option' for job stability or even earning a whole lot of money but at the end of the day, i've earn't money and spent money but to some (including me) devoting time and effort into something you're passionate about is more important than earning the big-bucks!

I certainly didn't get happier as I got richer.

It's hard trying to get the info in such a vast industry but one that you're a 'minnow in a big pond' in.

 

[AIDY]

I know of people who have started at the bottom at company's such as premier / mdl and now run the marina's. you have to work weekends in this industry !

 

[Fire99]

I know of people who have started at the bottom at company's such as premier / mdl and now run the marina's. you have to work weekends in this industry !

I've worked weekdays, Weekends, Nights, Public Holidays in all my industries.

 

[lille_bee]

Working in the business of sailing

Hi Nick

Following on from Matt's reply, I woke up one morning in 1994 (Mid 30s, age not temperature) and decided to have a mid life crisis (no kids etc.) I liked sailing, I liked teaching and I liked life in Greece.....so can you see where this is going?

After 6 months in Plas Menai the National watersports Centre in North Wales (getting yacht, dinghy and windsurfing instructor tickets, plus all the necessary commercial endorsements.. first aid, powerboat, sea survival etc.) I found myself in Sunny Nidri on Lefkas working for Sunworld Sailing, now Neilson and the rest as they say is history. Time passes and much sailing later including a Flotilla skipper's job with Sunsail (Sporades), I still enjoy doing this so much that I'm off to Turkey in the new year for more of the same.. better half and own boat in tow this time.


Go for it, don't procrastinate today what you can put off until tomorrow as a rolling cooks gather no moss that spoil the broth!!!! And don't let the PBO anoraks tell you this is not the place for such a discussion; life is not always about broken widgets. So as some wit once said on this very forum "On a boat, if it doesn't move and it should WD40, if it does move and it shouldn't Duck tape".

Regards

john

 

[Fire99]

Hi Nick

Following on from Matt's reply, I woke up one morning in 1994 (Mid 30s, age not temperature) and decided to have a mid life crisis (no kids etc.) I liked sailing, I liked teaching and I liked life in Greece.....so can you see where this is going?

After 6 months in Plas Menai the National watersports Centre in North Wales (getting yacht, dinghy and windsurfing instructor tickets, plus all the necessary commercial endorsements.. first aid, powerboat, sea survival etc.) I found myself in Sunny Nidri on Lefkas working for Sunworld Sailing, now Neilson and the rest as they say is history. Time passes and much sailing later including a Flotilla skipper's job with Sunsail (Sporades), I still enjoy doing this so much that I'm off to Turkey in the new year for more of the same.. better half and own boat in tow this time.


Go for it, don't procrastinate today what you can put off until tomorrow as a rolling cooks gather no moss that spoil the broth!!!! And don't let the PBO anoraks tell you this is not the place for such a discussion; life is not always about broken widgets. So as some wit once said on this very forum "On a boat, if it doesn't move and it should WD40, if it does move and it shouldn't Duck tape".

Regards

john

Hi John,

Thanks alot. Excellent advice. Infact the WD40 / Ducktape alone will solve a good few problems.
IF you don't mind me asking what courses did you take to get you started out in Greece?
I was considering taking my RYA stuff up to Coastal Skipper plus first aid etc but It's after that where it gets a little confusing. I.e. What commercial acreditation I would need to do Greece / Gibraltor etc.

cheers,

Nick

 

[Seafort]

STCW95

If you are going to be employed you will need Basic Safety Training to STCW 95 standards

I would have thought that you would need to be a commercialy endorsed Yachtmaster to get further than delivery crew but it is a way to build experience.

Dave.

p.s. The link is just for information, I have no connection and I make no recommendation.

 

[Fire99]

If you are going to be employed you will need Basic Safety Training to STCW 95 standards

I would have thought that you would need to be a commercialy endorsed Yachtmaster to get further than delivery crew but it is a way to build experience.

Dave.

p.s. The link is just for information, I have no connection and I make no recommendation.

That's fine Dave. I'm not holding anyone to account on the info/links they give me. Any information / opinion is appreciated.

 

[Vid]

You could identify some potential employers - marinas, sailing schools, charter companies, yacht crew agencies, shipping lines etc - and ask them what qualifications and experience are needed for what opportunities.

Another activity will be to search for maritime training colleges, institutions such as UKSA, and international regulatory bodies and see what information they can provide.

In your shoes I'd be very tempted to do down the super-yachting route: get your training at UKSA and onto their books then work up a career ladder from deckhand to engineer/first mate upto skipper. Just look at the superyacht skipper profiles in each issue of YW to get inspiration - full of people such as yourself from the sound of it and the top ones are earning seriously proper money.

 

[Fire99]

You could identify some potential employers - marinas, sailing schools, charter companies, yacht crew agencies, shipping lines etc - and ask them what qualifications and experience are needed for what opportunities.

Another activity will be to search for maritime training colleges, institutions such as UKSA, and international regulatory bodies and see what information they can provide.

In your shoes I'd be very tempted to do down the super-yachting route: get your training at UKSA and onto their books then work up a career ladder from deckhand to engineer/first mate upto skipper. Just look at the superyacht skipper profiles in each issue of YW to get inspiration - full of people such as yourself from the sound of it and the top ones are earning seriously proper money.

Thanks Vid. UKSA Certainly have a fair amount of info on their site. The 'Superyacht Skipper' idea is certainly one that looks possible with the right direction and effort (not to mention a fair amount of expenditure too)

 

[Twister_Ken]

Another link...

http://portal-live.solent.ac.uk/wma/home.aspx