<p>I am very interested in USMMA, but I have never sailed on a ship overnight other than a cruise ship. So, I am not sure whether I like sailing or not. I was wondering if any of you knew of programs that allow college-bound students to intern on a merchant vessels or something sismilar. Thanks-John</p>
<p>JT, no one is taking a crack at this so thought I would. I think its an awesome idea to allow kids to sail around a short while to gain a little knowledge to see if they'd like to sail in the maritime industry. The thing is, there are so many rules and regs aboard a ship that might make this impossible. The government has rules on safety & they have age requirements to actually work aboard vessels. OSHA is one of the agencies that doesn't allow "kids" in certain zones like on container ships or in construction. As it should be. You need to have certain training to go out and be around equipment, ect. Your safety is important as well as the ship's welfare. Perhaps Deepdraft or KP2001 could steer you towards a point of contact to maybe ask some questions about maritime life or even take a ride along with merchant mariners. Guys? Any suggestions?</p>
<p>Unfortunately I don't know of any way you can ride along.. The are a whole myriad of issues, not the least of which is the liability. Also on some ships there is limited accommodation space and stewards department personnel to feed and berth extra riders.</p>
<p>JT, this is actually a very good question that I'm sure most of the current USMMA students and previous graduates may have asked themselves the same question, unless they were fortunate enough to have access to a boat or ship during their lives before they applied to Kings Point. I wouldn't be surprised that "fear of the unknown" may have kept many seniors from applying to Kings Point. I know that my son had only spent one night aboard an old aircraft carrier in dry dock and had snorkled and water skied on a lake. A similar question might be: "how do I know that I would like to be a fighter pilot" without actually trying a few missions"? The good thing about Kings Point is - if you do your sea year and don't like sailing, you have dozens of non-sailing options. If you really like it, go sail for a few years or a career.</p>
<p>Depending on where you live and how much time you have until you graduate, here are a few options that may not provide you with container ship time, but they may give some great sea experiences:</p>
<p>Florida National High Adventure Sea Base - <a href="http://www.bsaseabase.org/%5B/url%5D">http://www.bsaseabase.org/</a>
Run by Boy Scouts of America
you can sail on tall ships here - a great adventure.</p>
<p>Sea Scouts - <a href="http://www.seascout.org/%5B/url%5D">http://www.seascout.org/</a>
Locations throughout the country - also some exciting coastal sea base locations with lots of boats/ships & exciting programs</p>
<p>Hope that this info may help.</p>
<p>JT, one additional thought. Apply to the USCGA (yes) AIM program between your junior & senior year. Since the MMA doesn't have a summer program, it is the next best thing & they provide sailing experiences (if you are lucky, the Eagle) etc. and it will either motivate you towards a sea career or not.</p>
<p>AIM kids don't go on Eagle unfortunately. There are some sea scouts on there however.
They do get to sail on dinghys and such, but that's not quite what you're looking for.</p>
<p>Its the Sea Cadets that go on the eagle.....The chance to go on eagle was offered to me the summer before my senior year, ( I was a Sea Cadet). But I choose to go on the USS Ronald Reagan instead.</p>
<p>Flynavy, I'm to pass along a message from the west coast. Message is as follows:</p>
<p>GO CUBS!</p>
<p>A rising junior and entering my fifth year in Sea Scouts. I decided to chime in.
Most sea scout "ships" are for cruising, meaning that our main objective is to take kids out for a week or two at a time while training them in basic seamanship. There really is not much dinghy sailing, except for racing. In fact, the reason I came across this forum is because I'm going up to KP on Saturday for the Sea Scout Northeast Region Sailing Championships. </p>
<p>Sea Scouts is how I have gotten most of my offshore and coastal cruising, and it's how I decided to go into either a maritime academy or KP. The Coast Guard also re-extended their invitation for Sea Scouts to sail on the Eagle, and I recently returned from a week aboard in New England. </p>
<p>I know that SEA (<a href="http://www.sea.edu%5B/url%5D">www.sea.edu</a>) is a really popular high-adventure sailing program, as is Outward Bound. There also are more vacation-type programs aboard sailing vessels, such as Broadreach.</p>
<p>Of course, they won't let you on container ships for liability issues, but I recommend that you at least get a week or two at sea. It would certainly put you ahead of your class (most of the swabs on the Eagle had never been sailing before and spent the first few days pretty seasick). A really easy way would be to contact your local Sea Scout Ship and ask when their next cruising trip is. Most week-long sails run from $100-$300 and are really fantastic. But hey, I'm a little biased.
Best of luck.</p>
<p>This is not quiet the same as a actual multi day trip, but there are two WW2 Liberty Ships, one on each coast and are open to the public and sail for day trips. Have never been on one but with the increasing issues in getting my njrotc cadets on navy/cg ships for sea time, I have been looking into this. They have been restored to WW2 standard and are crewed by former merchant officers and crews. Just a thought <a href="http://www.liberty-ship.com/%5B/url%5D">http://www.liberty-ship.com/</a></p>
<p>JT- I had neve spent any time on a ship and didn't know the bow from the stern. I was a little apprehensive about going out to sea but the thoughts of seeing the world and having many opportunities upon graduation is what lured me there. Being out to sea on a merchant ship is vastly different than anything else. You along with 21 others are all that there is running the ship. I am fascinated by the maritine industry and do miss shipping but know I get to inspect the ships as the come in and out of port. If you like the programs Kings Point has to offer and the desire to see new places and try new things then consider KP. There are good times and bad times both at school and at sea but it is all worth the experience and friends that I made. I love what I do now and would never had ended up where I am.</p>