Bit of time on my hands...

[CharlieDelta]

Hi all,

I've got a few months leave before heading back to college for Phase 3 (HND) and I'm a little bit bored.

Has anyone got any suggestions about things I could be doing (academically) during this time?

Rules are high on the list - got quite a few boxed off at sea but hoping to get a few more into the ol' head by September. I know I probably won't remember them word for word but always easier to re-learn rather than looking at them fresh. Even with the ones I have signed off I need to refresh my memory every now and then.

Flags, morse and so on are also do-able.

I have access to some of the stability textbooks - the Rhodes OOW and Derrett/Barrass Master/Mate one. Would it be worth going through the exercises there?

Any other suggestions to keep my brain ticking over would be welcome!

CD

[Randomist]

Meh, You could do all of these things. Three months is a long time.

Depending on the stage of training you're in you may be into different things when you get to college. If you've not yet done your signals exam being prepared for that is always a bonus because it's a high pass grade (90%) and you'll need to be able to send and receive Morse as well as recognizing all the flags, their meanings, secondary meanings and a couple of group meanings.

Get the flipcards out lad

[CharlieDelta]

Yeah, signals and rules high on the list methinks.

[minchmermaid]

Why not ask to go away for another trip? Three months of sea time will be better than three months just sat around trying to learn rules and fiddling with flip cards.

[CharlieDelta]

No space at the moment unfortunately.

[YoungMariner]

How about going with the tallships on stavros s niarchos, ask the company if the could help you. Would be a great experience

[K202]

Aye tall ships are great some companies will take you on for nothing while others even pay ifyou have experience

[ETwhat?]

It will be hard to find a tall ship with a free berth at this time, as the race is just about to kick off, and from experience cadets tended to get used as free labour so chipping and painting, which unless you need the sea time im guessing isnt going to be productive, the grand turk used to be a good one for a weeks jolly although she steams from festivals etc rather than actually sailing and i know she was up for sale so not sure if she is still doing the circuit this summer.

if your feeling technical a driving theory test style multiply choice test covering all those dull subjects might be a good project ( might get round to it but meh i've got the only masters ticket that i need )

what wpm for morse do you need?

[Lewisscott22]

Can I ask, would it be possible (and wise) to start learning morse code and the flags BEFORE the course starts?

[CharlieDelta]

Flags are flags and morse is morse, there's no different interpretations or chances for confusion, so you can do it when you want really. You could even start learning some rules, though you'll need to keep them up to date - you'll forget very quickly otherwise. You won;t really put much of it to use until you're at sea or in college for phase 3 though.

Your main priority pre-phase one should be maths - make sure you're up to speed!

[Lewis]

Know any good sites for learning CD? Or just look them up on wikipedia?

[dawg]

we put at list up on the forum and the wiki (alright the wiki is in suspended animation, but it does contain some useful links)

[Martyboy]

I'm using my leave as god intended it, to relax...... Its not like i'm that busy at sea that I won't have a minute to relax and learn them............. a 4 hour deep sea watch comprises of very little else, Learning rules, gyro error and positions ever hour..... I wouldn't worry too much about any pre-study for the course, especially if doing the HND, the first year is an NC and although it gets tougher towards the end, it is literally spoon fed to you!