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How to Keep Sailing

It’s no secret that we’re pretty big fans of adventures at sea here at Sail Training International and there’s nothing like setting out on the oceans for the very first time. But what can you do if you are inspired to keep sailing after your first adventure at sea?

There are many ways to you can continue enjoying a life at sea – and we’ve detailed below some of the different ways to get back out on the water in no time. Because every country is a little different, we’ve enlisted the help of the Sail Training International Youth Council to provide details of how to volunteer on board, make a voyage on another sail training ship and train for a full time career at sea. We’ll continue to add more and more specific countries to our list below, so keep checking back for updates!

Find Out More About the Sail Training International Youth Council

 

National Sail Training Organisation Contact

Website: www.sailing.org.au

  • New South Wales & ACT: (02) 8424 7400
  • Northern Territory: 0467 307 234
  • Queensland: (07) 3393 6788
  • South Australia: (08) 8346 1934
  • Tasmania: 0498 448 815
  • Victoria: (03) 9088 7201
  • Western Australia: (08) 9386 2438
  • National Office: (02) 8424 7400

 

 

National Sail Training Organisation Contact

Sail Training Association Belgium (STAB)

Website: www.we-sail.com

Email: info@sailtrainingbelgium.org

Social Media: Facebook page

How to be a trainee on a different ship

On the STAB website, you can find Belgian ships and details about other sailing opportunities they offer. You can find information about how to contact the ship and their voyages.

How to start working on a ship

Many ships will offer both paid and volunteer positions on board. If you want to work on a tall ship, you will need to ensure you have the correct certificates. These include:

  • Medical certificate: Mediport Antwerp
  • Basic Safety Certificate: This certificate is obligatory to sail and there are different companies who offer this course.
  • Sail Endorsement: You can do a 2 or 3 year course at the Enkhuizer Zeevaartschool.

You can also enrol in professional qualification courses for a career in sailing in a number of universities and colleges:

  • Antwerp Maritime Academy – Bachelor of Maritime Engineering, Bachelor of Nautical Science, Commercial Yachting and more.
  • VDAB Maritiem Training – Numerous courses including deck, engine and safety.
  • Naviclass – Safety courses, commercial yachting courses, inland water courses, and rating deck courses.

Federal Public Service Mobility and Transport

This is the federal government service for cargo and sailing ships and is responsible for preparing and implementing transportation policies. You can find answers to many questions you may have about certificates and other related information here.

National Sail Training Organisation Contact

The Canadian Sail Training Association (CSTA)

Website: sailtraining.ca

How to be a trainee on a different ship

Canada has a number of different organisations offering sailing opportunities, including:

  • Toronto Brigantine Inc.

    www.torontobrigantine.org or (416) 596-7117

    Home port of Toronto, ON

    Youth ages 13-18

  • Brigantine Inc.

    www.brigantine.ca or 613-544-5175

    Home port of Kingston, ON

    Youth ages 12-18

  • Bytown Brigantine Inc.

    www.tallshipsadventure.org or 613-596-6258

    Home port of Brockville, ON

    Youth ages 12-18

  • Sail and Life Training Society (S.A.L.T.S)

    www.salts.ca or (250) 383-6811

    Home port of Victoria, BC

    Weeklong cruises for people ages 13-25

  • Windward Isles Sailing Ship Company Ltd.

    www.picton-castle.com or (902) 634-9984

    Home port of Lunenburg, NS

    Round the World sails ages 16 and up

  • Bluenose II

    Bluenose.Novascotia.ca or (902) 640-3177

    Home port of Lunenburg, NS

    Exclusively Day sail training opportunities

How to Start working on these Ships

  • S.A.L.T.S hires 10 full time crew members yearly in the following roles:
    • Bosun
    • Cook
    • Watch Officer

  • Toronto Brigantine and Brigantine Inc typically hires persons in the positions of First Mate and Captain every 1-3 years.

  • Bytown Brigantine hires a Mate and Master yearly.
  • Bluenose II hire 18 crew members a year across a number of positions

How to Start a maritime career

There are a number of maritime schools in Canada that can provide a number of courses for a career in sailing, including bosun courses, engineering courses and officers courses:

National Sail Training Organisation Contact

The Danish Sail Training Association (DSTA) was founded in 1996. It represents the interests of 30 members in Denmark, the Faroe Islands and Greenland. The organisation operates a grant scheme to assist trainees taking part in the Tall Ships Races.

Website: www.dsta.dk

How to be a trainee on a different ship

Denmark has a number of different organisations offering sailing training opportunities, including:

  • Denmark

www.martec.nu/da/ or +45 9620 8888

  • Georg Stage

www.georgstage.dk or +45 3295 8019

  • Jens Krogh

www.jenskrogh.dk or +45 9813 2957

  • LOA

www.loa.dk or +45 2488 0680

National Sail Training Organisation Contact

Sail Training Ireland

Website: sailtrainingireland.com

How to be a trainee on a different ship

Sail Training Ireland’s website has lists of the voyages and bursaries which are available to Irish young people from all areas and backgrounds. Sail Training Ireland does not have any ships of their own but they have several partner vessels which can be found here.

How to start volunteering onboard

You can contact the ships and organisations directly via their websites which can be found on their  individual vessel pages on our website.

How start working on these ships

The majority of Sail Training Ireland’s partner vessels are registered in the UK and so you will need to have the following to work onboard:

  • Medical Certificate (e.g ENG1 or ML5)
  • DBS Check (If working with young people or vulnerable adults)

For smaller sail training ships:

  • RYA Qualifications such as Day Skipper or Yachtmaster Ocean depending on the job role you’re looking for (or ISA equivalent).
  • Commercial endorsement of these certificates through the RYA (if working within UK waters) or the MCA (if working beyond UK waters) for working on UK flagged vessels.

For a career in larger sail training ships:

  • You will need to attend a course (dependent on the type of career you are interested in) at an MCA approved nautical college – these can be found online.

How to start a maritime career

There are a number of colleges/universities in Ireland that focus on a wide variety of maritime careers. These are:

  • National Maritime College Ireland: www.nmci.ie Based in Ringaskiddy, Co. Cork.
  • National Fishery College of Ireland: www.bim.ie/training Based in Greencastle, Co. Donegal or Castletownbere, Co. Cork.

 

National Sail Training Organisation Contact

Sail Training Association Netherlands

Website: stanetherlands.nl

Email: info@stanetherlands.nl

How to be a trainee on a different ship

There are lots of different ways you can sail on board another Tall Ship. You can find your adventure or pick your ship on our website. You can also visit the websites of individual vessels to find out more about how you can book your place on board.

How to start working on these ships

There are many ships which offer volunteer and paid positions on board. You can contact them directly to find out what positions they have available on board, take a look at the jobs page.

The following facebook pages are also where ships post if they need people:

www.facebook.com/groups/werkindezeechartervaart

www.facebook.com/groups/werkchartervaart

How to start a maritime career

Many ships will offer both paid and volunteer positions on board. If you want to work on a tall ship, you will need to ensure you have the correct certificates. These include:

  • Medical Certificate: Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management 
  • Basic Safety Certificate: This certificate is obligatory to sail and can be obtained from the different schools below. There are also various companies in the Netherlands who offer this course.
  • Sail Endorsement: You can do a 2 or 3 year course at the Enkhuizer Zeevaartschool. This is obligatory for sailing vessels in the Netherlands if you want to become an officer or a captain.

You can also enrol at one of various Maritime Academies to obtain a professional Martime Officer’s  qualification:

Ministry for Infrastructure and Water Management

This is the federal government service for cargo and sailing ships. You can find answers to many questions you may have about certificates and other related information here

 

National Sail Training Organisation Contact

Association of Sail Training Organisations (ASTO)

Website: uksailtraining.org.uk

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/uksailtraining

Twitter: @UKSailTraining 

How to be a trainee on a different ship

There are 31 operators in total to choose from and each has a website which will outline their booking requirements. Find out more here.

How to start working on these ships

To find out what positions are available across the UK you can take a look at an individual operator’s website or by visiting the links below:

UK Sail Training: www.uksailtraining.org.uk/sea-staff/jobs

ASTO (Sail Training Jobs) Facebook: www.facebook.com/ASTOSailTrainingJobs

How to Pursue a maritime career

Whichever career or position you decide to choose, for UK based vessels you will need the following certificates:

  • Medical Certificate (e.g ENG1 or ML5)
  • DBS Check (If working with young people or vulnerable adults)

For smaller sail training ships:

  • RYA Qualifications such as Day Skipper or Yachtmaster Ocean depending on the job role you’re looking for (or ISA equivalent).
  • Commercial endorsement of these certificates through the RYA (if working within UK waters) or the MCA (if working beyond UK waters) for working on UK flagged vessels.

For a career in larger sail training ships:

  • You will need to attend a course (dependent on the type of career you are interested in) at an MCA approved nautical college – these can be found online.

National Sail Training Organisation Contact:

Tall Ships America

Website: www.sailtraining.org

How to be a trainee on a different ship

The United States has a number of different organisations offering sailing training opportunities, including:

  • Flagship Niagara

www.flagshipniagara.org

Home port of Erie, PA

  • Los Angeles Maritime Institute

www.lamitopsail.org

Home port of San Pedro, CA

  • Clearwater Hudson River Sloop

www.clearwater.org/the-sloop

Homeport of Beacon, NY

  • South Street Seaport Museum

www.southstreetseaportmuseum.org

Homeport of New York, NY

  • Oliver Hazard Perry RI

www.ohpri.org

Homeport of Newport, RI

  • Sound Experience, Ship Adventuress

www.soundexp.org

Homeport of Port Townsend, WA

  • Tall Ship Lynx

www.tallshiplynx.com

Homeport of St. Petersburg, FL

  • Grays Harbor

www.historicalseaport.org

Homeport of Aberdeen, WA

HOW TO VOLUNTEER ON A SHIP

Many ships offer volunteer opportunities to be crew onboard, participate in winter maintenance or to help with deck tours or publicity.

Organisations that are known for their volunteer opportunities include:

How to start working on these ships

There a lots of ways you can find jobs onboard a Tall Ship in the United States and some require no licensing or experience to work as crew.

You can search the Tall Ships America Billet Bank for job opportunities: www.sailtraining.org/billet/billet.php

Licenses for both Ordinary Seaman and and Able Bodied Seaman are attainable from the US coast Guard here

You can also obtain qualifications and training from a variety of different schools which can help you to prepare for the Coast Guard licensing tests.

Some of these schools include:

How to pursue a Maritime Career

There are lots of maritime academies where you can obtain a license to pursue a career in sailing:

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