Yes they do need sea time
in my view not enough before sitting for their ticket.However you can not make people learn if they don't want to. Reciently I decided I needed some new dock lines so I asked my deckhand to do some splicing, he didn't know how. So I gave him a couple of books on marlinspike seamanship, the same ones I used 30 years ago. I ended up doing the job myself. His comment was that every other boat he had been on they bought them already made up. Now he wants me to sign him off so that he can go to school and get his MCA 4, I will but I am not happy. I had a bit of gripe about this with a couple of my friends who have been around for a while, they all feel the same.
I guess I am just that cranky old bugger
But without a passion for what you do then you are just run of the mill. To me people in yachting should
hold themselves to a higher standard.