STCW95 Training Course

Part school, part vacation.  That sums up the week we spent in Fort Lauderdale taking the STCW95 training course.  The STCW95 is a basic course for safety at sea and is required for anyone working on (or wanting to work on) a commercial vessel. This could be any kind of vessel like mega yachts, oil rigs, research vessels, etc, 

The course was split up into 3 basic parts.  Day 1 and 2 covered safety at sea with day 1 being in the classroom and day 2 being practical evaluation in the water. Day 2 was cool because we were in a lake with life jackets and immersion suits, flipping and boarding life rafts, and practicing life saving techniques as a team.

Day 3 and 4 were covered firefighting at the Resolve Maritime Academy with day 3 in the classroom and day 4 actually fighting fires. There is a video showing parts of day 4 below. It really was amazing donning full bunker gear and air tanks crawling around through smoke filled buildings.

Day 5 was introductory first aid. This was something that I had always wanted to learn anyway.  One of our instructors, Rex, was very entertaining and very competent with his knowledge and techniques. It made for a fun and very informative lesson.  I had always wanted to be taught these skills and we all got to preform CPR on dummies.

Besides school there really wasn't as much time for play like we had hoped there would be. Especially on the practical days we were pretty whipped after.  We did eat well though.  We kept trying interesting restaurants around the area.  Some notable ones were 

• Trata Greek Taverna: Which was our favorite restaurant of the trip and Louie the bartender was spot on.
• Burger Fi: with amazing, non greasy, delicious burgers
• Redcow: Pretty good BBQ and interesting decor.
• Quarterdeck: Beach shack with good food
• Da Big Kahuna: A passable burger
• Lulu's Baitshack: Awesome mahi reuben
• Pei Wei: decent pan-asian diner

There were ups and downs throughout the week but overall the experience was fun and memorable. We met a lot of really cool people from all over the world and in all sectors of the marine industry. We wish everyone we met during class the best of luck in their future endeavors!

The Las Olas Food and Wine Festival

Our accommodations were....pretty rough   :)