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The Bar Has Been Raised !
MMCA membership skyrockets as the public gets educated.
MMCA members now in High Demand !
Captain's call for an end to "paper captains".
Not All Captain's Are The Same.
MMCA member Captain's
ARE the Best of the Best.
They ARE the elite professional Captain's.
Next time you take a charter boat, ask for an
MMCA member Captain.
Captain's Apply For Jobs, MMCA Captain's Are Hired
Captains Join The MMCA Now !
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Believe It Or Not
Think you and your family are riding with a safe, professional Captain when you
get on a charter boat ?
Think again!
Maybe you are and maybe your NOT.
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Below are some of TRUE incidents our members have encountered in the last year.
Believe us when we say that YOUR FAMILIES LIFE may well depend on whether or not
your riding with a professional Captain.
With MMCA you don't have to wonder anymore. We check our members safety record,
we test their abilities and we check their vessels.
Now, because of the MMCA all you have to do is look for the patch, that tells you
this Captain is a member or ask the employer BEFORE you book the trip,
if their Captain is an MMCA member.
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NOW, WHEN YOUR DONE READING ASK YOURSELF THIS QUESTION WHO DO YOU TRUST WITH YOUR LIFE?
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A Oil Field 100 ton Master Captain Who Has NO IDEA what an EPIRB IS?
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One of our members while working in the oil field was being oriented to a new 120 ft crew boat.
Our member asked; "Where's the EPIRB?"
The other Captain replied; "EPIRB ummm. yeah , I think I have that paper around here somewhere".
He pulled a piece of paper from a filing cabinet that was information on the fire system.
THis is an Oil Field SHIP that typically operates 80 to 100 nm offshore!
Our member was floored. They took it upon themselves to train not only that Captain but the Crew. It didn't take
long for the crew to see how "un cool" the other Captain was and would not sail with him any longer. Instead this crew insisted
on sailing with our member.
You see it's a funny thing about a crew, they have a tendancy to want to come home or at least know that there Captain can get them
home.
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A 50 ton Master that can not operate GPS or get his lat long from it.
Yes, its true.
However, this same "Captain" takes family's out in the Gulf of Mexico all the time fishing.
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One day, a local fishing charter Captain walked up to one of our members and introduced himself
and let our member know he was a Captain too.
After a few moments of idle talk, he asked the member:
"Do you ever work on the side, away from your boat?"
Our member (who was at work) asked:
"Well, sometimes. What do you need?"
The other Captain replied:
"Well, I need help operating my equipment, like GPS , I don't know how to
even get the numbers on it".
Our member replied:
"Uh huh". Our member was obviously floored and a bit perturbed at one more person
with a "Captain's License" with not a clue.
The other Captain continued:
"And I got one of those fancy radio's,forgot what its called and I haven't
even turned it on."
Our member replied: "You mean Single Side Band".
The other Captain replied:
"Yeah, that thing, how much would you charge me to teach me
how to operate all of my equipment".
Our member replied: "Do you take passengers out?"
The other Captain replied:
"Yeah , all the time, family fishing trips
that sort of thing."
Our member replied "I see," .
-Here was a "Master Captain" who couldn't operate Radar, the Radio or
Even GPS!
Our member, who was angry at this point and thinking to themselves, what
right do you have to call yourself
a Captain and take people out, risk their lives
when you know nothing about being a Captain,
all you have is a piece of paper that says your a "Captain".
After our member thought about it for a moment though, they realized that if they didn't
teach him how to operate his equipment that the people on his vessel were in real danger.
So, the member decided to train him even though he should have already known
and been VERY familiar with all the equipment on his boat.
Unbelievable isn't it? A "Captain" that can't get his position from a GPS.
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A Captain who can't read a chart.
We wish we could tell you that these stories, especially like the one below, are rare but
they are not. They are so common that it is more the norm than the exception.
Scary thought huh?
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A young Captain in training was all excited about being trained by one of our members
in advanced navigation. He was so excited he went to his Captain ( he was
working on a vessel as a deckhand at the time) and said; "Hey Cap, I'm learning navigation think
maybe you could help me with the plotting on a chart"?
The Captain replied; "Charting, ah, I don't do that. I only use GPS. I don't know how to chart, hell
I don't even remember what the chart symbols are".
Isn't one the VERY definitions of a Captain his ability to navigate?
We wish we could say this was unusual but it is not. We have found that many
"Captain's" that operate offshore can not plot a course nor can they read
a chart.
If you can not navigate WITHOUT GPS you should NOT be at the helm of ANY boat, commercial
OR recreational .NO BOATER should EVER rely on GPS alone
because electronics fail, power goes out, and from time to time (more often than you think)GPS goes
out or is taken down.
Don't blame the Coast Guard which governs the Merchant Marine Captain's though. They are under
staffed and truthfully they do not have the power or ability to do anything about it UNTIL
something happens. It is up to the public to educate themselves and demand a knowledgeable and
skilled Captain.
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A Captain who while training another Captain indicated that "drinking and boats
just go together", just don't get caught.
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During a training session, the senior Captain told a group of trainee Captain's;
"Hey, alcohol and boats just go together, just don't get caught".
He went on to tell them this story; "Not long after I got my license, we took a group
out and I was the second Captain, I had been drinking and I was driving the boat, then
we hit another vessel. Thinking quickly the other Captain took the helm (he had not
had anything to drink). Luckily for me when we got to the dock the Coast Guard tested
him and not me".
Now, we are not sure what to even say to this. Why would you tell ANYONE its ok to drink and drive
a boat?
Why
would a Captain let another Captain drive who he KNEW had been drinking?
Not to mention the obstruction
of justice issue. This is just plain criminal.
We are happy to report that the incidents of Captain's drinking while driving has greatly
diminished but it only takes one to kill a family.
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A Captain who had no idea how to run a fire drill or man overboard drill.
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One of our members went to a large corporation to do a preliminary inspection check. This is where
our members, who are experts in the annual inspection process conducted by the Coast Guard, they visit a
business to insure that the Captain and crew are ready for inspection including; doing man over
board drills, fire drills and having all the required equipment on board. Here is what happened.
Our Captain (member) asked the Captain how he would conduct a man overboard drill and fire drill.
The company's Captain had no idea.
Our member asked if he had pumped the bilge to make sure it was dry to prove the vessels hull
had no leak.
The company's Captain had not only not done this, when ordered to by our member for
the "actual inspection", he said "forgot".
The vessel had two feet of water in the bilge.
This same Captain was also not familiar with any of the equipment required on his vessel.
This is just PLAIN NEGLIGENCE on the part of the Company's Captain.
This Captain didn't even
know what a CFR is. A CFR is the book that gives all the laws and regulations commercial Captain
must follow. This Captain had no idea what it was and apparently had NEVER seen one.
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A parasail Captain who almost severely injured two girls, operates the NEXT day in the same
negligent manner.
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A parasail Captain who almost severely injured two young girls by flying them directly
over a condominium in 22 knot winds was observed the VERY NEXT DAY by one of our members
flying two more passengers over the condominiums.
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A Captain who caused injuries to another small vessel, fails to answer the radio.
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The Captain of 42 foot commercial fishing Charter boat with passengers caused a huge 4 foot wake in Boca Ceiga
Bay and caused another small commercial vessel to roll violently, throwing passengers face first into
the gunnel. The Captain of the 42 foot boat did not answer radio mayday calls from the small vessel Captain or
from one of our member Captains who was nearby.
All vessels are required to monitor 16 at all times.
It was one of our members
that answered the mayday from the small vessel and gave assistance.
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A Captain threatens a female Captain.
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A former six pack Captain , who believes that "women" should not drive boats, boarded
a female Captain's boat at night and tied her oil lines in a knott , in hopes that the next
day the Captain would not have enough brains to check the engines before leaving.
He was wrong, the female Captain found the knots in the oil lines, took pictures
and let it go. She let it go because causing a rift in this field can be the end of
your career.
Had our member NOT noticed the oil lines, the passengers, crew and herself could
have killed.
This kind (or any kind) of discrimination is totally UNACCEPTABLE. This six pack "captain" was
willing to injure passengers and crew JUST because he thought women should be at home.
This is too much of a Caveman mentality for us to even respond.
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A Captain who did not know the channel markers.
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A 100 ton Master Captain asked for assistance in the sea fog because he could not
find his way in. He did not know
what area he was in, nor did he know what the number on the channel marker meant. He was
sitting only a few feet from a channel marker. He didn't know which way was North and he
had NO idea where he was.
Even without a compass it is VERY easy to determine
North.
One of our members assisted the Captain in returning to his port and getting his passengers
back safely.
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A dive boat Captain with not so much as a bandaid on board, much less any medical supplies
for dive related injuries.
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One of our members went on interview to run a dive boat. The boat went out and the member asked
to be oriented to the "medical supplies" things like oxygen, a MUST for dive injuries.
The operating Captain said; "I don't need oxygen, I think I have a bandaid around here somewhere.
Besides, if they get the bends, I will just take them to shore".
Divers know that without oxygen quickly, their chance of death or permanent injury, in the event
of an incident is extremely high.
There is also a requirement for ALL vessels to carry a first aide kit and for dive boats to carry
oxygen and be certified to use it.
Needless to say, after watching the negligence of this operation our member declined the job.
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A Captain that after 4 months working on this a particular vessel
still doesn't know how many hands he needs on board.
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When one of our members went to a vessel to consider running it part time, they noticed that
the COI (Certificate Of Inspection) which mandates how many deckhands and how many mates
must BY LAW be on the vessel, stated that it must have 1 licensed mate and one deckhand.
This boat only had 1 deckhand.
When our member brought this up to the full time Captain, the full time Captain replied:
There is not enough money for that, beside deckhand and mate same thing. How do you know that?
Do we have that document here?
There is a HUGE difference between a licensed Mate ( who has gone through training, has
experience) and a deckhand who could be someone who has just started on this career with no training, no
license and no experience.
The full time Captain refused to put the right personnel on board.
Our member refused to run vessel
The biggest surprise here is that the Captain who is responsible for his vessel did not even know what
the COI said because he had not looked at it. The COI is one of the first documents a professional Captain
looks at when boarding a new vessel.
The Captain didn't know the difference between a deckhand and a mate and apparently had been operating
this vessel without the appropriate personnel on board for months.
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So, how do I know the quality of the Captain I am with ?
One of the first things you can do is read over are member requirements and our member "Code Of Ethics".
This will help you what understand the qualifications are members must exhibit. Then if you like what
you see there, look for our members on the dock. Ask the employer if their Captain is a MMCA member.
Passengers don't need to wonder anymore about the safety record of the Captain they are riding with,
just look for the patch.
When you see a Captain wearing the patches below you can feel reassured that they are a skilled,
professional Captain with a clean safety record.
It is really hard for the general public to know who they are riding with. If you ask the Captain, he of
course is going to brag about their experience whether they have it or not. No employer is going to
tell a prospective employer that their Captain is a very lax Captain with a few incidents.
This is one of the main reasons for MMCA. We encourage all Captain's to apply for membership. However,
we are very selective as we try to set high standards to ensure public safety. So not all, in fact, many
Captain's may not be accepted.
Code Of Ethics Document
We encourage you to ask for an MMCA member, the more the public ask for this standard of quality
the more the Captains will do their best to meet it.
JUST SOME OF OUR SPONSORS:
West Marine-Ulmerton Road | SIGNS BY TOMORROW / CLEARWATER (727) 561 - 7446
| Gulf Beaches Fishing (Karcher Charters)
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ANIMAL HOSPITAL OF WEST BAY - OUR PIC FOR A VET FOR OUR MASCOT (727) 585 - 0549
Got Questions?
Call us for immediate answers to any questions on licensing, sea time, employer benefits, jobs or
any other marine question.
All our Captain's are volunteers and are often out of internet range.
For Instant Answers From Our Admiralty Captain Call:
Contact Us:
(727) 520 - 2668
You can email us but it may take up to five days for an answer.
Email MMCA Charge Captain
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