Hi Frank,
Not sure about schools down your way, but have some advice that may help you and others about schools that were run up here in the NE. There are 4 parts to pass(Rules of the Road (COLREGS), Deck General, Navigation and Chart Plotting). The school I attended would go over all 4 parts, then you take the exam on all 4 parts when done. Another school goes over 2 parts, then take 2 part exam, go over next 2 parts and take exam on last 2 parts.
There is a lot of information in the 4 parts and with the mix of memorization of Rules of the Road and hands on of Plotting and then Deck & Navigation can be overwhellming. I have 5 years of an Engineering degree background to my advantage of "overwhellming" but I could see the panic in my buddies eyes and other classmates at the exam time grew closer. So a 2 part / 2part should be a better fit and easier to pass in my opinion. Also there was a question that how can a school do a 2 part'er at a time and the answer is that if the school is a USCG certified, then that is OK by the USCG.
I would not sweat the plotting, a lot is simple math mainly D=SxT. (Distance = Speed x Time). If I recall correctly, there are only 4 types of plotting problems. But they are many version of the 4 plotting problems worded in many different ways to try and at times to confuse you. So, the tricky part was to learn how to recognize the problem and know which type of the 4 types of plotting problems it refers to. Solving it was the easier part with basic math & plotting. When I seen enough plotting examples, I would just look for data in the example to solve(ex; distance, time, heading etc) and ignore all the "wordy" confusing stuff.
I would have to say I am very proud of my buddy. Plotting was giving him a hard time, but mainly it was due to failure in his mind. Once he started to get some confidence(with some help
), he was fine and passed!
The last tip I have during exam day is take your time! Up here you can retake a section up to 3 times within one year. But the more you pass the first time the less material you will have to re-study and retake. Of course if you pass all 4 sections the first time it is a big relief.
Go for the Masters again too. If you do not in one year, you have to take the Rules of the Road over again. I have no immediate plans for the Masters but did it and added the Towing Endorsement also.
I would think this info would be the same in Fl, if not .... nevermind .....
Capt Nick
50 GT Masters and slamming of the docks with authority!
