Latest Newsletter: Louise’s Blog…January 2012

Welcome to our newsletter page. NZMS lecturer Louise Deehan-Owen will be blogging regularly on this page to keep students and graduates up to date on issues which concern the “local skipper” market. Members who register online on the website will receive an email when a new blog is posted.

Check back on a regular basis to this page for the latest from Louise, and don’t hold back on telling us whether you agree or disagree, and whether you like the topics which she is addressing. We always welcome member feedback, so join the conversation and help to make this websitwe active and interesting for you and your colleagues.

The future is about the student of today

At this time of year we cant help but reflect on the year that has passed, on our successes and our area for improvement. We are in a constant cycle to do better for the future and the prime motivation for that is to enhance the success of our students.

Nothing is better than to hear news of our students and learn of their successes and challenges. I would like to share a couple of these with you….

A student to watch in the future is Bronwyn Munro…. Within a fortnight of completing her Chief Mate Yacht licence recently she flew to Singapore for a 12-week relief job as chief mate on a 61m power boat heading for Palau and cruising Micronesia.

Bronwyn completed an honours degree in resource management before great adventures took her sailing from Thailand, across the Indian Ocean and up through the Red Sea. After this she ended up convinced by  the Port Douglas yachting community that his was where her future loay.

Soon after she was employed on the deck of a vessel in the Bahamas and eventually made her way back to school.

Another student to watch in the future is James Brown. James is a bubbly lad with  apassion for fishing as well as passing on his knowledge to tohers. James has worked on the deck of a well respected vessels such as the Amokura and Lanakai 2.

He said that completing his Inshore Launch Master Licence opened up opportunities for him in the industry and he is now working for Island Escape Cruises as a fishing guide on the vessel Island Passage. When I caught up with James, he has just returned from Vanuatu, having again missed the New Zealand winter. James want to continue to learn from the best and in his spare time he crews on the top game vessel Arenui.

As there is often much focus on the trials and tribulations of the industry, I thought a great way to finish the year was to remember that we have a vibrant and varied group of people out there who are the bright stars of the future, carrying the banner of the industry forward.

Louise