Sea trials ashore

Students studying for their Coast Guard license have a variety of reasons for taking OCC’s preparation class.Want to become a better boater? Run a charter service from your personal yacht? Save some money on your boating insurance?

A U.S. Coast Guard license might be the answer. At Orange Coast College’s School of Sailing and Seamanship, attaining the credential is open to anyone -- but it’s not easy.

The class is an intense, five-week course that requires a dedicated time commitment and perseverance -- students don’t always pass the exam the first time around.

“It’s a demanding course; it’s not something you take for fun and games,” said instructor Mereld Keys.

Keys should know: He wrote the program for the Coast Guard-approved course that debuted at the school in 1999. The course teaches students the “rules of the road,” general navigation, communications and boating safety.

Students who pass the final exam will earn a 100-ton masters license, allowing them to operate a Coast Guard-inspected vessel in coastal or inland waters.

Although the course has no official prerequisites, the school recommends that students have CPR and First Aid training and a minimum of 360 days of sea time.

Students take the class for a variety of reasons, Keys said.

Joel Brugh, who fishes in Alaska and Florida, thinks a Coast Guard license might help him someday captain his own fishing boat. At the end of each fishing season, it’s hard to find a job and a Coast Guard license may open up more opportunities, Brugh said.

For Dana Point resident Robert Levenstein, this class is a second try at passing the exam. The veteran boater took a course once in 1998 and missed one portion of the exam.

Levenstein owns a 48-foot sportfishing boat and is interested in using his boat for charters.

“The more you know, the safer you are for your passengers or your family, whoever’s on board,” Levenstein said.

On a recent afternoon, the small class reviewed material and prepared for the final exam the next day. In the upstairs classroom at the school’s headquarters on Newport Harbor, the mood was anxious. Five weeks of learning and retaining information all come down to passing the test; applicants must pass by 90% or better.

Leaning over a nautical chart of Martha’s Vineyard, Keys helped student Patrick Keyes work through some chart problems.

Keyes, who lives in Santa Ana but keeps his sailboat at the Balboa Yacht Club, said he took the class to save “big time” on his boating insurance.

The class took up a lot of time, but Keyes said the savings will be worth it.

“It’s not easy, you’ve got to really make time for this,” Keyes said.

Keyes, who owns a 36-foot sailboat, said the class has taught him more than he expected.

“I thought I knew a lot,” Keyes said. “I’ve sailed around the world.... There’s a lot of things I’ve learned in this class.” 20060106isn91gncDOUGLAS ZIMMERMAN / DAILY PILOT(LA)Stephen Peart works on a nautical chart during an OCC class that prepares students for the test to earn a Coast Guard license.