Too many Catch 22s in this country. It all started when I was 16, trying to get my Merchant Mariner's Document. Days and days of walking the streets of San Francisco going into shipping company offices, only to be told, "Sorry, but you need your MMD before we will hire you. Go see the USCG."
USCG says. "You need experience to get an MMD." And so it went until I got super lucky.
Then, once I reached an USCG "Ocean Operator" license, it was "You need 30 days in the area you want to work in, before we can issue you an added area of operation to your OO ticket. Funny. How could I sail 'round the world without being in a place I hadn't been in for 30 days first? Just lucky, I guess.
Now it's liability insurance for the boat. Apparently, some marine insurance companies don't write liability insurance on boats bigger than 50 feet, say "It can't be done." or any one of a number of other extremely moronic excuses. If it is impossible to get, then why is it mandatory to have it if one wants to haul out or get a slip? And the marinas and boat yards carry liability insurance, so why should we?
Reintegrating into society may kill me faster than my illnesses, so why don't I just go home to the warm azure sea, balmy tropical weather, and smiling faces of the Caribbean Islanders?
Oh how I miss home.
USCG says. "You need experience to get an MMD." And so it went until I got super lucky.
Then, once I reached an USCG "Ocean Operator" license, it was "You need 30 days in the area you want to work in, before we can issue you an added area of operation to your OO ticket. Funny. How could I sail 'round the world without being in a place I hadn't been in for 30 days first? Just lucky, I guess.
Now it's liability insurance for the boat. Apparently, some marine insurance companies don't write liability insurance on boats bigger than 50 feet, say "It can't be done." or any one of a number of other extremely moronic excuses. If it is impossible to get, then why is it mandatory to have it if one wants to haul out or get a slip? And the marinas and boat yards carry liability insurance, so why should we?
Reintegrating into society may kill me faster than my illnesses, so why don't I just go home to the warm azure sea, balmy tropical weather, and smiling faces of the Caribbean Islanders?
Oh how I miss home.
