All,
I am teaching at Texas Maritime Academy
www.tamug.edu and have been working to introduce my students and the school to the yachting industry (and vice versa) as an alternative to sailing on merchant vessels. As with the other state maritime academies, Texas Cadets in the Marine Transportation program graduate with a Third Mate's License (Oceans Unlimited) and Cadets in Marine Engineering Technology graduate with a Third Assistant Engineer's License (Steam and/or Motor Vessels, Unlimited). With the shortage of good crew members, it seems like the yacht industry is a potential career path for the graduating cadets to consider.
I am curious to know if there are many of you working on yachts that graduated from one of the USA State Maritime Academies (California, Texas, SUNY, Maine, Mass, Great Lakes, & the Federal Academy Kingspoint). From what I can tell, Maine seems to be pretty active in working with the yacht industry.
Realizing that yachts are completely different to work on compared to merchant vessels for many reasons, I would be curious to hear some feedback and opinions. Most cadets do their summer cruises on merchant vessels or their school's training vessels to get their licenses, so a move to yachts after graduation or later in their career could be a big adjustment.
Look forward to any thoughts and comments.
JH