Boat School Prepares Students for Challenges They'll Face as Marine Techs
Kevin Ritz, program director of the Marine Systems Program at the Northwest School of Wooden Boatbuilding, explains how the program prepares students for the range of equipment and challenges they'll face in the work environment.
Teaching Marine Technicians to be Good Problem Solvers
One of the things I love about boat technology is that you'll never stop learning. You'll never get bored. We don't try to teach it all in the Marine Systems Program, but we teach all the fundamentals, how to approach different problems, how to become a good problem solver, how to do things with your hands, and how to turnout a product that has turnkey reliability.
what you'll learn in the marine systems program
Marine Systems students learn to install and maintain systems on different types of vessels by progressing through a range of disciplines and skills: marine electrical and electronics; outboards, diesel engines; propulsion (including electric) and running gear, steering and controls; plumbing; HVAC; and corrosion. For each module there's a conceptual overview and hands-on practice in the shop. Students become familiar with hand tools and specialty tools associated with each discipline. The curriculum has been designed to support multiple learning styles.
Our expectation is that graduates of the program will continue to learn throughout their career. Our job is to give them a solid foundation to build on. Students demonstrate their competency by taking three industry-recognized American Boat and Yacht Council (ABYC) certification exams. The school has a strong feedback loop with employers and is constantly evolving the program to prepare students for the work environment.
Graduates are the best measure of the program's success, demonstrating the variety of paths leading to and from the Marine Systems program. Visit www.nwswb.edu/alumni to see how Boat School prepares graduates for fulfilling work in a variety of maritime careers.
Marine Systems: What You'll Learn
marine electrical
The school's unique approach to teaching marine electrical emphasizes practical and real-world learning, and places heavy emphasis on standards and safety. We spend the most time on marine electrical, because if you look at any system on a boat today—whether you’re flushing the toilet, navigating, starting the engine, pumping water, turning on a propane stove—all of these things involve marine electrical. Marine electrical is different from land-based electrical, so you have to be proficient in the standards surrounding this platform—especially when you consider that we’re sitting on water, which is a conductive and corrosive medium.
High-powered battery technology
Battery technology is evolving rapidly with the advent of lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4) batteries. We are adding this topic to our curriculum so students will know how to deploy the technology safely. LiFePO4 batteries—which are installed on two of our most recent commissions (the folkboat and troller)—deliver higher current density in a smaller footprint, recharge 10 times faster than lithium-ion batteries, and last for at least 4,000 duty cycles (compared with 700 duty cycles on a golf cart battery). ABYC standards aren’t completely written yet for this technology, but we are already working with Nigel Calder, Charlie Johnson, and Al Thomason from WakeSpeed, and other leaders in the field, as we incorporate this technology into our curriculum.
Marine Diesel
Each student has a Beta diesel to work on at their own pace. The focus is maintenance, up to and including the 100-hour service. Servicing engines starts with what we call RTFM—read the frickin’ manual. You quickly realize the manual is your friend. We also have engines you can disassemble, if you are so inclined, but we require that you put them back together and hopefully there are no left-over parts.
Outboard Engines
If you know how to work on outboard engines, you can take that skill with you and work anywhere in the world,” Kevin explains. We have a Suzuki outboard for each student to work on, and the focus is service. That includes the impellers, adjusting the valves and the carburetors, if you’re servicing a small one, fuel injection as we move up into larger ones. If you have an aptitude and interest in outboard engines, Boat School graduates are pre-qualified for Suzuki University.
Marine Corrosion
Marine corrosion is a huge issue in salt-water environments. We spend a couple of weeks doing corrosion surveys on vessels of all hull types—aluminum, steel, wood, and fiber glass—using specialized tools and equipment.
Marine Propulsion Systems
Propellers, shafts, outdrives, struts—these are all part of the marine technician’s domain. Students have the opportunity to swap out a diesel engine for an electric propulsion system in a Poulsbo boat we keep on-hand for that purpose and take the boat out on Port Townsend Bay to get a sense of the differences.
Heating and Refrigeration
Heating and refrigeration is something the boating public demands—especially those who live aboard, as I do. Each student practices installing a diesel-fired heater. Students also learn about hydronic heating systems and refrigeration.
Steering and Controls
I don’t know how many of you have been on a boat that loses steering, but it’s not a good day. This module covers hydraulic and cable steering systems for both inboards and outboards, rudder maintenance, and bow thrusters and windlasses.
plumbing
Plumbing isn’t the most glamorous system on a boat, but when you need it, you want it to work perfectly. Each student builds a functional plumbing system including potable water, black water and accumulator tanks, water heaters, faucets, thru-hulls, sea cocks, vented loops, sinks, water pumps, and toilets. Bottom line is to keep the water out from where we don’t want it, keep it in where we want it in, and move it when we want to.
abyc certification
When you graduate from the Marine Systems Program, you won’t know everything there is to know about marine systems—no one does. But you will have a strong foundation to build on. Students take three ABYC certification exams, one each on Marine Electrical, Marine Diesel Engines, and Marine Systems. Exam fees are included in the tuition and the tests are conducted at the Boat School campus.
Living with Marine Systems
My wife and I live aboard a Monk 38. Shore power comes in with a 30 amp shore power cord that goes immediately to a double pole breaker to an isolation transformer to an inverter and then off to the AC distribution panel. The inverter is hooked up through a CERBO, which is basically a networking hub that collects data (like frequency, voltage, amperage, and wattage used) and sends it out to the internet. The CERBO also incorporates information from the 600-watt solar panels via the solar controller. The inverter connects to a SmartShunt (BMV 712) that measures amp hours in and amp hours out. The SmartShunt is basically an all-in-one battery monitor that uses your smart phone as your display. All this data is stored on the web. I can download it and geek out on it at any time. The most recent addition to the boat is lithium iron phosphate batteries with a battery management system (BMS) that provides 1300 amp hours of energy storage on the boat. (The Marine Systems Program covers how to work with all these technologies).