Average time to wait

[chino]

Hi all looking for average time you have to wait to join your first ship ,finish college end of March,is it usually within the first week or is that very unlikely.im with zodiac.
chino

[alistairuk]

Hi all looking for average time you have to wait to join your first ship ,finish college end of March,is it usually within the first week or is that very unlikely.im with zodiac.
chino

It depends very much on your company & what berths are available, could be anywhere from a few days (you'll usually know before end of college in which case) to a few months.

[chino]

Thanks hopefully I will hear soon

[grant89uk]

I recently completed my cadetship with Zodiac and both trips I was away within 14 days of the college phase ending. They seem to be only interested in giving the bare minimum of sea time to their cadets as they have so many though.

[Aardvark1]

It depends very much on your company & what berths are available, could be anywhere from a few days (you'll usually know before end of college in which case) to a few months.

Hi there, just out of interest then, if it is weeks or months, what do cadets do in the meantime?

[ETwhat?]

Try to enjoy the time off, which is nearly impossible as you will have been told that you should be ready to go at short notice.
I packed the bag for going to sea and had it sitting there waiting apart from wash kit I think. meant that as long as I was in contact with my phone I could roam around the place with the worst case being the need to get home asap for a flight the next day.
(it was one thing that I felt the company really should have addressed better as it seems the assumption is that you have constant email access / check it)

yes it is a pain as you cant really plan stuff but the trick is to make the most of it as you may end up coming straight back from sea and going to college again.

[EH75]

Wait. Get a hobby. Study. Some people go on holiday of they can afford it but always a good idea to clear that with your company first incase they try and send you away at short notice. If you are getting pissed up in magaluf and they are trying to get a hold of you to send you away that probably wouldn't go down well...

[Hatchorder]

Good point EH75

Just as a note for all of you.

My son has had a couple of incidents which could have been a problem if he had not kept his employer informed. Last year he was due to join a ship on a set date. He then got an email to say the schedule had been brought forwards and he was joining the NEXT DAY! Slight panic as he ran around and got packed up and I rearranged my schedule to get him to the airport but it was all sorted.

Earlier this year he was told a joining date for another ship, but then as the date approached he was told there was a 2 week delay due to a schedule and route change. Because as a family we were all off at the same time we decided to book a last minute skiing holiday for a week, but before we went he informed his sponsors the dates and times he was away.

Had these two incidents have been flipped he could well have been on the ski slopes getting a message to join the next day!

As a courtesy please let your sponsors know if you are going to be away from home, it may save you a blush or two and stop someone from getting shouty!

Also, when you get home from sea, sort your luggage out and repack your bag with uniform and the stuff you only use at sea, toiletries etc. - then if the "balloon goes up" you at least have half of it done!

Ian

[endure]

Also, when you get home from sea, sort your luggage out and repack your bag with uniform and the stuff you only use at sea, toiletries etc. - then if the "balloon goes up" you at least have half of it done!

Ian

This. I think I've mentioned it before but I was offered a job with both Fyffes and P&O. I took the Fyffes job and hated it. When I got home I laundered and repacked my bag. I then called P&O to see if the job I'd been offered was still available. I was told that there was a job for me if I could be at Heathrow the following day to fly out to Narita.

[bridgemonkey]

Will serve you well when qualified as well. I have a bag that only goes to ship with me. All clothing gets washed and done on ship prior to sign off and then I just have to replenish my wash bag and buy goodies. Means no stress until the day

[chino]

How long

I recently completed my cadetship with Zodiac and both trips I was away within 14 days of the college phase ending. They seem to be only interested in giving the bare minimum of sea time to their cadets as they have so many though.

How long was your sea time then, what is the bare minimum?

[jcwilson91]

6 months as engine cadet.

[Aardvark1]

So, how does this work regarding getting the minimum amount of sea time? If you are waiting around for potentially a long time between college phases, presumably you only have that window to get the sea time in before you start back at college again. Does this problem ever affect the overall 3 year phased programme for an individual? Is there a minimum amount of actual at sea time that needs to be achieved in order to qualify to sit teh oral etc...?

[bridgemonkey]

Deck is 12 months for orals, engine 6. Obviously more is beneficial. Normally you'll do 6 months in both sea phases as a deckie

[alistairuk]

So, how does this work regarding getting the minimum amount of sea time? If you are waiting around for potentially a long time between college phases, presumably you only have that window to get the sea time in before you start back at college again. Does this problem ever affect the overall 3 year phased programme for an individual? Is there a minimum amount of actual at sea time that needs to be achieved in order to qualify to sit teh oral etc...?

If you don't meet the minimum you'll end up going back to sea on completion of the academic part of the course to obtain the required sea time before you can sit your orals.

Be careful with asking to leave ships early - more than a few people have ****ed up and ended up a few days short of the required minimum....

It's always better to be a few weeks over than a few days under!

On a side note: your company / sponsor is required to ensure you are given at least the minimum requirement - so if they're not able to get you in a ship during your allocated sea periods they will continue to pay you and arrange for you to do it at end of the college time - not ideal but no big loss... If YOU ask to leave a ship early / join late and as a result you don't meet the minimum requirement then really it's your own fault and I guess it will depend on the sponsor whether they respond wth "tough luck" or are slightly more understanding.