Many of you know that I was working on getting my United States Coast Guard National Master of Vessels of Less than 100 Gross Register Tons certificate (the "Captain's License"). Well, I've completed the process, and now I have my license!
I went with the company called "Mariner's Learning System." First, I will tell you that I was very happy with their product. However, if you're not familiar with the concepts (ie, spent some time on a vessel) then this course would likely be a little too difficult. I only saw that because its completely done at home.
I received a cool box in the mail after signing up (I signed up at the Annapolis Boat Show and got a handy discount for combining the Captain's License with 100 GRT and Sailing endorsement). The box had some charts, navigation tools (Weems and Plath), and a bunch of books and DVDs. The books are professionally laid out, and well written. They'll become a part of my professional library because after using them, I like the way the information was presented.
The courses are laid out in a logical manner, and the quizzes and tests prepared me to take the actual certification exam. The exam location was a local fire station, and when I arrived, the firefighters were in training. After some confusion when I tried to join them (not realizing that they were not captain's license candidates), I waited until the proctor and two other candidates arrived.
The test was exactly as I expected. A bunch of multiple choice questions similar to the ones that appeared on the practice tests for the course and some navigation problems requiring a chart and the navigation tools. Everything was graded right there, and after I was done, I was able to breath a sigh of relief.
The real difficulty in this entire process was getting the USCG required paperwork in order to send in with the copies of the professionally printed certificates from the Mariner's Learning System. But, once I got everything together, it only took about 3 to 4 weeks to get my certificate.
I highly recommend the Mariner's Learning System if you have any experience with boating. But, if you've not spent much time on a boat, you'll need to get out on the water first or take a course taught in a classroom.
Link: http://www.marinerslearningsystem.com
I went with the company called "Mariner's Learning System." First, I will tell you that I was very happy with their product. However, if you're not familiar with the concepts (ie, spent some time on a vessel) then this course would likely be a little too difficult. I only saw that because its completely done at home.
I received a cool box in the mail after signing up (I signed up at the Annapolis Boat Show and got a handy discount for combining the Captain's License with 100 GRT and Sailing endorsement). The box had some charts, navigation tools (Weems and Plath), and a bunch of books and DVDs. The books are professionally laid out, and well written. They'll become a part of my professional library because after using them, I like the way the information was presented.
The courses are laid out in a logical manner, and the quizzes and tests prepared me to take the actual certification exam. The exam location was a local fire station, and when I arrived, the firefighters were in training. After some confusion when I tried to join them (not realizing that they were not captain's license candidates), I waited until the proctor and two other candidates arrived.
The test was exactly as I expected. A bunch of multiple choice questions similar to the ones that appeared on the practice tests for the course and some navigation problems requiring a chart and the navigation tools. Everything was graded right there, and after I was done, I was able to breath a sigh of relief.
The real difficulty in this entire process was getting the USCG required paperwork in order to send in with the copies of the professionally printed certificates from the Mariner's Learning System. But, once I got everything together, it only took about 3 to 4 weeks to get my certificate.
I highly recommend the Mariner's Learning System if you have any experience with boating. But, if you've not spent much time on a boat, you'll need to get out on the water first or take a course taught in a classroom.
Link: http://www.marinerslearningsystem.com