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Academic Departments » Maritime Careers » Maritime Careers (formerly called Boat Building)

Maritime Careers (formerly called Boat Building)

The following is an overview for the Maritime Careers course.  It is a year long, double block course (7th & 8th period every day) with mandatory 9th period on Tuesdays and Thursdays. It is intended for those cadets at Maritime who may not be interested in attending college immediately following graduation or they are not interested in joining the military.

 

Below are the highlights of the year long course:

 

Sailing:

The second through fourth weeks of school, students will be going to the Buffalo Yacht Club and working with yacht club coaches/instructors and learning how to sail on 22 foot sailboats.

 

**We will be going to the BYC every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday during those weeks in September and June.  Students should bring a change of clothes that they don’t mind getting wet in; sneakers or other non-marring shoes are required (Bates are not allowed on the boats).

 

New York State Safe Boating Certification:

As part of this course, students will be presented with the information to earn their NYS Safe Boating Certification which will allow them the opportunity to operate a small boat or jet-ski (personal watercraft) in New York State.  For additional information, please refer to the below link.

 

https://parks.ny.gov/recreation/boating/education.aspx

 

Boat Building:

Almost every Tuesday and Thursday, Cadets will be going to the Buffalo Maritime Center and working to build 15’ rowboats, from planks of lumber to the finished product.  Buffalo Maritime Center’s Hand to Hand Program uses wooden boat building as a tool to teach technical and practical life skills to high school students. Under the guidance of trained mentors, students learn the value of craftsmanship, communication-skills, safety awareness, teamwork, and they experience the pride and joy of building something with their hands.  The construction will be consistent throughout the school year and will culminate with the boats being ‘launched’ into Hoyt Lake in Delaware Park.

 

**Students will also need a change of clothes for this course.  Older clothes that can be worked in should be kept at school. Eventually, the students will be working with paints and epoxy to complete their boats.

 

Practical (Carpentry) Math:

In conjunction with the Boat Building aspect of this course, students will be working towards completion of their apprenticeship with a local Carpenters Union.  The hours logged working on the boat as well as a Practical Math exam administered in the late Spring will be used to complete their entry-level program.

 

In the spring time, we will focus on a practical math course that will culminate with an exam administered by a local Carpenters Union and may (if passed) result in apprenticeship opportunities.

I've been a cadet there for 2 years and ever since then I've been doing excellent in my classes and I'm on time for my graduation. I was scared to come to Maritime but I'm glad I did because now I'm on the right path. My senior year I had to decide on what to do for when I got out of high school. So I decided to go to trade school. So  our Commandant put me in this class of Maritime Careers. I ain't going to lie to you I thought the class was so stupid but as I got into the class I really understood how maritime careers help me achieve my goals and understanding of trades. For example, the trade I'm going into is electrician and I need to know how to do fractions to do the math problems. In the class we learn up close how to use math problems and fractions in real life examples. I thought I was going to struggle with it but it was so easy the way the instructors taught it to us made it so much easier. I really do love Maritime Careers and how it helped me realize what I wanna do in life. The people at the maritime center can be a little too much but in a good way my instructor that is in charge of me always says ¨I know we can't make our project perfect but if u don't put in the effort to make it perfect you would never know what you can do¨. If you want to pursue a career in trades you should come to Maritime Careers. I love the maritime center and shout out to Brian one of the supervisors of the place, he always keeps me motivated and I thank him and everybody that is a part of the class because they all help out in their own way.
A great video on the basics of the Hand to Hand Program.
 
https://fb.watch/5Lr2C5o2Sn/