Walking down the main road in Chagauramas I met a Norwegian friend , Jurgen, on his way to Trinidad Tabago University. It appears this is the cheapest place in the world to take the SCTW95 course. This course is required if you want to work on ships, yachts or whatever. I would need it if I am able to charter in the BVI.So I signed up for the course that is to last 5 days.
So all last week I have been in school from 0830 to 1930 doing first aid, fire fighting, safety at sea and personal relation classes. Wednesday and Thursday were enjoyable as it was hands on days. Although being in a fire fighters turnouts in 95 degree heat with 95% humidity was brutal. Then approaching fire was over the top.
Before we start we learned care and handling of hoses. This is Alexandra from Switzerland
Trinidad Firefighter Ellis instructs two of the group in the use of the fog nozzle.
Alexandra approaches an oil fire with a dry chemical extinguisher.
Joe from England and Jurgen prepare to battle a oil fire using foam.
Under control after 5 minutes of foam.
Thursdays Pool Time
One of the exercises involved righting an upside down life raft
Here I am at the end of the day. Exhausted and still have to go into a smoke filled building with breathing apparatus to perform a simulated rescue. Visibilty was zero and the inside of the building was too hot to touch in most places. We moved about by touching the wall and shuffling along the floor. The partner would follow behind with their hand on your back. Truly the blind leading the blind!The class pretty much confirmed my thought about avoiding fire at sea at all costs.The young woman in the picture is a German named Sabena. She was my partner in the rescue attempt.
The class had 3 Trinis ,1 Norwegian, 2 Swiss, 1 Ozzie, 1 German, 1 Brit and a Brazilian and myself the lone American. I was twice as old as most in the class. It made for an interesting class.
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