A Week of Training; French Polynesia Prep

While waiting on my boat to be ready, I am in Florida working and spending time with friends and family. But first and foremost, I have been preparing for when I do have my boat as much as possible; finalizing plans for every boat upgrade, planning charters, and circumnavigation details. I, along with some friends, are planning on doing charters throughout our journey around the world. We want to take our time circumnavigating; taking in every moment, and we also want to continue to share with you. However, our USCG captain’s license does not allow legal chartering in some countries, such as French Polynesia, but the STCW certification does. 

The STWC, The Standards of Training and Watch Keeping, is a course and certificate that states we understand what to do on the job, prioritizing safety, and is internationally accepted. The training for this certificate includes 4 main courses and an additional security course. We spent 5 days on the course, excluding the security course, with a combination of both in-class and practical. 

Day 1 was spent in class for Personal Survival Techniques with the main objective being to understand the steps to follow in case of an emergency (where to go, who to contact, what to prioritize, and when to perform certain duties). The course ended on day 2 when we went to the pool for the practical exam. We tread water, practiced wearing PFD’s, wearing immersion suits, and flipping a life raft. The immersion suit was easily my least favorite thing; I felt trapped and joked later how I would probably die from anxiety in that suit before hypothermia! Flipping the life raft was fun and probably the most practical thing I learned that day, and hopefully, I will never have to apply it.

The second half of Day 2 was spent on Personal Safety and Social Responsibilities. This course includes emergency procedures, laws on pollution, and how to work safely and effectively. Most of this information was covered in my captain’s license course, but it was a nice review. 

The portion of the course you hear most graduates and professors talking about is the Basic Fire Prevention and Fire Fighting days. I had no idea what to expect; many of us did not. Day 3 was all in-classroom theory; the professors were great and entertaining. We were warned repeatedly not to drink that night as day 4 was going to be challenging. They told us stories about how some ended up with an IV in their arm… Come to find out it was not near as bad as they made it sound! A large portion of the day was learning about the gear used when firefighting and had to dress and dress out many times for practice. We were all required to use a fire extinguisher, which was the part I found most beneficial. Most boats I have been on only have fire extinguishers (besides a boat hose) regarding methods to put out a fire. We did spray the fire hose on a real fire and also practiced a search a rescue. 

The last day was spent on First Aid. It is always nice to have a review and with my captain’s license, I am required to renew my certification every 5 years anyway. Overall, I felt the course was a great review! The few practical things we did made me feel more confident in myself if I am ever put in those positions. The instructors all had experience and told personal stories, which makes it more fun and easier to relate to. 

I highly recommend going through this course with friends if you can! Steph and I went into it together and made many friends during the course. Every day is so much more fun when you can talk and relate to others and laugh about some of the practical tests. Despite our instructors’ warnings, we also went out nearly every night. I got to show my friends some of my favorite spots in Fort Lauderdale, and it was Amy’s first time there, so of course, we had to do some of the tourist things! They headed back to the Bahamas the day after the course, and we all planned to meet two days later, but I ran into ‘complications’ on my way over to the Bahamas.