Excellent AMSEA course - Forums Archive

mattakfish

2013-02-24 18:26:50

Recently took the AMSEA drill instructors course in Petersburg and I can't speak highly enough about it. Along with new vessel owners like me, there were long-time skippers and crew in the class as well. Everyone seemed to get a lot out of it. Its one thing to have all the safety gear on board....but it really helps to actually use it in a drill setting. We put out fires with extinguishers, fired off various types of flares, swam with survival suits and climbed into a liferaft....threw rescue lines, hauled in a man overboard......and more.

I figure lots of people on the forum have already done the class, but I thought I'd mention it for anyone else may just be getting started.

Also, wanted to credit AMSEA and the Coast Guard for providing the course which is free for commercial fishermen and can be done in one to two days.

Kelper

2013-02-24 18:30:17

Thanks Matt. I'm really hoping to take that class.. I need to figure out if they are coming to Craig or not. Well, I put down money on a permit and a boat.. Looks like I'm moving up from HT to PT like you did. Thanks for all your help via private message on boat buying stuff.

Salty

2013-02-24 19:05:18

Took the course years ago. I highly recommend it. A bit of a story here (as usual).

So, after taking the course a few of us entered the Alaska Day Survival suit race, two skippers, my wife, and another woman crew/wife. We raced down the ramp at the cruise ship lighter dock in Crescent harbor here in Sitka with seemingly dozens of other contestants including contingents from both the USCG air station and CG buoy tender. We helped each other into our survival suits, with one of us, me, making sure everyone's suit was zipped up, hood on, etc, as we had been trained by AMSEA. Then we jumped into the water as we had learned, paddled over to the life raft and helped each other in. We were the last ones in. Oh, well, good experience.

Except that the judges disqualified the team from the buoy tender because at least one of their participants had not fully zipped up their suit. So, I have the distinction of being part of a survival suit team that beat a team from the USCG in a survival suit race.