SEAMEC boat driver training 23rd-27th August

[AndreaC]

Hey all,

SEAMEC is the maritime education centre (part of east gippland TAFE) in lakes entrance.

They run a coxwains (commercial boat driving) course there and when I mentioned to them that I wanted to learn
how to drive a boat properly for recreational use, they suggested that I could take part in the 5-day practical/theory part of
the course.

If anyone else is interested, this is a 5-day intensive course teaching basic boat handling including a night navigation session and possibly
also teaching how to tow a small boat and put it in the water (I have to double check this part).

The units would also count towards a coxwains ticket if you want to do one later on.

The cost is about $150 for victorian residents (plus accomodation in lakes entrance), all up its likely to cost less than $300, which is what the cheapest 2-day 'recreational boat driver course' costs and it teaches a lot more, so if you can spare the time it's definitely a goer for anyone who's been considering one of these courses.

If anyone's interested, just post here & I'll call them up & find out if they can book more people in
(be easier if I call since its not an actual course, they just sort of invented it when I told them what/why I wanted to learn)

[Dean]

Just be aware that if it's part of a normal Coxswain course the vast, vast majority of the theory will have absolutely nothing to do with driving small (<12m) petrol outboard boats. Coxswain theory is geared towards learning to handle commercial boats in survey, or more to the point, passing the oral exam set by MSV to allow you to do this. Theory components will include large-scale navigation (which is interesting, but not very useful unless you want to do more than drive around Victorian waters), bilge/trap systems, lots of regulatory stuff like refueling, rescue theory, lights and right-of-way, and diesel mechanics/troubleshooting. Useful parts are the knots and about 20minutes of the engineering bits where they talk about petrol engines. We did an overnight trip where we got a fair bit of time at the helm, but it was a 12m diesel boat with a displacement hull.

I found a lot of it to be fun, but to have no practical application to most of my boat-driving. YMMV.

[AndreaC]

hrm... thanks for that, I'll have to double check with them

[AndreaC]

Yeah.. the theory does sound like its not all that relevant to anything much but I won't be doing most of it.

they do have a petrol boat with outboard motors (bigger than ours ~ 7.8 m with 2x200w motors) as well as a diesel one and the idea is that everyone gets a chance to spend some time at the helm every day, and during the night nav session + can choose which boat to spend most of the time on

apparently most of the students who take the course are hospitality students without much/any boating experience there's stuff
to be learned from watching them get taught too, having what they do right n wrong being pointed out etc..

I reckon I'll give it a try anyway, can't hurt & its bound to be better than nothing

[Alana]

I did the ABC course and really enjoyed it. Learnt a lot. May be worth considering arranging abother ABC course if there are enough people wanting to learn to drive a boat.

[Pete]

The course sounds very good, so if you have the time and money I'd highly recommend it.

The interesting thing about Coxswain courses is that the hardest part of them is getting enough sea time (360 days). The theory and practical components of the course will teach you a lot however, and in combination with sea time will mean you're much better qualified to navigate a boat, take account of the seastate, know the 'collision regulations', maintain and operate a boat safely and handle accidents than if you just had a recreational licence.

Also, for anyone who ever wants to work outside universities in marine science or commercial boat operation (private or government), a Coxswain Certificate is one of the KEY things employers look for.

Go for it. $150 for 5 days seems like great value (the full course in Geelong is about $2000). If you don't have a recreational licence however, make sure that you can get a rec licence at the end of the course (is it included?). Coxswain qualifications are irrelevant when operating recreational boats (legally).

[AndreaC]

Recreational licence isn't included - since its not actually a recreational boat course but these can be obtained very cheaply
from vic roads (about $40-50 altogether for a 3 year licence from memory, after sitting a very easy written test).

The cool thing about SEAMEC is that they're actually part of a TAFE, so victorian residents get TAFE fees for courses
the full coxwains costs less than $400 for victorian residents with concession cards (which I spose counts most students) (the downside is that its a full-time 3-week course in lakes entrance so you have to have the time & fork out for some accomodation)

the 5-day thing is just the practical part of the course with whatever random theory happens to take place in that window.
whether or not its any better than an ABC-type recreational boat course, I can't say for sure, not having yet done either
but i do like the idea of it counting towards a coxwains ticket if it turns out that's something i might find the opportunity to use in however long it takes for the units to expire.