Bud, how do i become a yacht captain?

[foolwholaughsatdeath]

Bud (and other yacht captains if there are any),

How do I become a yacht captain? I have no idea, but I've always had the dream of sailing around in my own little boat from port to port.

Things working against me:

No knowledge or experience with boats, outside of going on cruises and waterskiing and jetskiing.

Things working for me:

Young  (in my twenties)

lots of free time

spending money

good swimmer

So what do I need to do to pursue this dream?  Preferably it won't involve enlisting myself in some kind of draconian military organization.

[wolf5370]

Try a yachting association course. Like the RYA (Royal Yachting Association) in the UK. Take a skippers course with practicals. You will need to learn everything: reading charts, deciphering bouy lights, GPS, rights of way, tacking, emergency procedures, navigation, crewing, seamanship, bla bla bla etc.

I did a full RYA course many moons ago - most of it is in the classroom! Nothing stopping you just buying a boat and going for it except common sense that is. Many idiots are rescued (or not) and loose their craft simply 'cos they think all you have to do is know how to operate the controls.

Quick dig turned up this:

Here: http://www.sailing-thailand.com/courses/index.htm

Good luck and stay safe.

[Bud Zumwalt]

Actually there are two ways, simply purchase a vessel and you automatically are the skipper, or do it the hard way like I did. attend the Professional Maritime School, evenings. I have owned two small sailing vessels, one 34 Moody, now a 28 foot North Star. Crewed on larger tonnage's vessels for sea time, have elite Ocean rating for all seven seas, not limited by near coastal licenses, US Merchant Marine Officer, United States Coast Guard Licensed.. I was raised by a Yacht Captain and had an uncle who was an Admiral, the late Admiral Zumwalt.

See resume on

www.zgramyachtdeliveries.com

Bud

[taxexile]

would that be admiral elmo r zumwalt by any chance ??

[Bud Zumwalt]

???

To taxexile,

To your question {would that be admiral elmo r zumwalt by any chance ?? }

Yes, note the nickname "Bud", I got it from Elmo, he never liked the name Elmo, so he made everyone call him "Bud", when in charge of the entire Navy, it's CNO, he signed most official documents Bud Zumwalt. He like I was sometimes outspoken.

Bud

[taxexile]

well shiver me' timbers bud,

i read about him in a book about the vietnam war,but until i read about your family history in your last posting i didnt make the connection.

[Thetyim]

Elmo Zumwalt was the youngest and probably the most illustrious admiral ever to serve with the US navy and this is what worries me about Bud.

He grew up on the coast, was raised by a sea captain, nephew of Elmo Zumwalt, learnt to row when four years old, etc, etc.

BUT when it comes to serving his country he joins the army and is put in charge of VD inspections .

Shurely Shome Mishtake.

[Thetyim]

How to become a Yacht Captain ?

Go back to UK, change your name by depoll to Nelson, get a new passport showing your new name.

Adopt a new nickname.  'Half'  would be a good one.

Buy a rubber dingy

Open your own website claiming hereditary rites to being the finest sea dog in history.

Take surgery to install a wooden leg and eyepatch.

Buy a parrot

Hey Presto                Your'e PERFECT

[dr_Pat_Pong]

In the Deed Poll for the namechange, would he use the given names of Horatio or Admiral ? With Bud's ego I don't think he could cope with Half anything.

[Bud Zumwalt]

???

To Thetyim.

Yes, Elmo got to be in charge of the entire Navy as CNO as the youngest ever, age 49.

Yes, Elmo was illustrious, his 120 changes did change the Navy, or better known as 120 ZGRAM's, each time a ZGRAM was sent down from the top the New Navy emerged.

Unfortunately some of the old Navy Chiefs and others did not like some of his changes, thus after Elmo left the Navy in 1974 and Admiral Holaway took over, many things were not continued, hence forth Elmo's son Elmo, Jr. and Elmo's other son Jim left, because the evaluations were not longer walk on water. As you know young Elmo, Jr. died of cancer at a young age, I was by his side when this happened. My time in the Army was due to the fact, my dad was in the Army a veteran of Pearl Harbor. I followed his lead and went Army, not really wanting Mechanized Infantry, I was not given want I wanted but want the Army needed, secondary of Military Intelligence, working with the Government in Korea, as eyes and ears for the Army within the Western Corridor had many aspects of moving experiences, I only told of part of the job, the clubs and entertainers, the rest I cannot talk about.  I will say again my secondary occupation in the military was that of Military Intelligence.

It gets better my first cousin, the former Sandra Tilton, is married to the President of Coke Cola, Westly Elmer. But neither his ego, nor mine is very high, as you probably already figured out I am the black sheep of the entire family.

To dr_Pat_Pong,

I always wanted to ask you,  out of all the red light districts, say (Nana plaza, Patpong, Soi Cowboy and Pattaya), why did you chose Patpong? as your name, why not Nana, Cowboy or Pattaya? I think Cowboy would have been better. I will say Patpong is a great place to meet a ladyboy, so maybe we need to assume something here?

All in all let us not fight, anyone can beat another fellow correspondent down on this site,  it is easy. But the hard part for some people is being positive. Saying good things, a little more sugar gets you much more than vinegar.

Bud

[TizMe]

In the Deed Poll for the namechange, would he use the given names of Horatio or Admiral ? With Bud's ego I don't think he could cope with Half anything.

I agree, but Horatio or Admiral wouldn't suit. I think that it would have to be Full.

[Thetyim]

And what about your girlfriend?

You cannot walk around with a Dang or Lek when you are a Yacht Captain.

Change her name to :

 Lady Savitri Hamilton, Siren of the Seven Seas

[andy50]

dont forget -youll need a log ,also a trunk- harr harrrrr me old matey!

[Bud Zumwalt]

???

I am amazed at all the great suggestions. Let me advise your everything mentioned is being taken under consideration. Actually I am perhaps being too honest with you all, you see the only things I have mentioned were true actual facts. I fully understand my life is complex, complicated, unbelievable, seems fiction or made up, but unfortunately it is the truth, reality, the reality has amazed me. I really have no ego, I am just an average guy with family members who have been very high achievers, even famous and well know. My only brother, younger brother is another one of them. Unfortunately I was never even close to being equal to any of the other members of my family in riches or fame. I quit the rat race, I realize I could never meet their expectations, I dress casual, I had only one true friend in all my family, my 105 year old grandmother on my fathers side, just died a few years ago,I never met her in my entire life, she left me a small amount of money, all she had left after over twenty years in a nursing home. She out lived my parents, then one day some attorney's contacted me, to my amaze she was alive, but died just before my arrival. My family is very bazaar, my life is equally bazaar. I guess maybe I project an ego to try and feel equal with the others in my family past and present. I am sorry I came across this way. I apologize.

Bud

[phazey]

This topic is too late

It was "speak like a pirate" day last week.

yaaarrrrrrr!. etc

./P

[Thetyim]

I am sorry I came across this way. I apologize.

Bud, Please do not apologize.

Its just that you seem to be full of contradictions.

You come across as a confident sea-dog who roams the seven seas without fear and then you also ask for help because you are filling your pants at the thought of having a blind date with a 5foot thai girl.

You confuse me.

[Pinkster]

& himself, he posts under so many different names!

[Bud Zumwalt]

:cool:

To Thetyim,

You are right about being at sea, I have come across some very heavy weather, even had a yacht lose helm in a storm. None of it bother me much, I kept a cool head and just did what had to be done to save the vessel, each time things like that came up.

I will say I am very weak when it comes to Thai ladies, some are in very distressful situations, most are a step head of their Western counter parts in beauty, personality, common sense, etc., some Asian ladies take advantage of this and con farangs. If this lady or any lady from Thailand is honest, sincere, and straight up front and needs someone like me, then my fear is I will give in. If I do, then my next fear is that the people in charge of Thailand are making it hard on all us farangs, they will continue to make it harder and ultimately we will all be leaving. That is why I consider Nam a really great option to Thailand, that does not rule out bringing her along or visiting for long stays.

I like a few others know what is going on Thailand and why, as well we are very heads up to it. Mr. Vietnam was arrogant and out spoken, but he and others know the real story. This we cannot discuss here.

What bothers me most is these ladies are being punished as well. Understand they have no social security system, if a Thai citizen does not get a government pension, must have had a government job, what happens to these ladies in old age if they have no children to support them?

People in need, their welfare, etc., is a part of humanity which concerns me. Therefore, confronted with a 5' Thai lady who is in need, is sincere, is honest, leaves me little way out.

Bud

[SoCal]

Bud, I've got a great story to tell you, but I promised Mr. Vietnam that I wouldn't tell you.

If you're not going to spit something out, then don't bring it up to begin with.

That said, nothing personal and have a great trip. Been to Vietnam 4 times in last two years. In some ways like it better than Thailand, of course I've been to Thailand 9 times in the same period, so guess you know where the heart lies.

[Bud Zumwalt]

Sol Cal,

Sol says "If you're not going to spit something out, then don't bring it up to begin with."

Sol, one would hope that the law would say that someone here in the United States of America could on a chat line, talking not to the officials in Thailand, but only too his mates would not be subjected to any retribution once he/she arrives in Thailand. Thus, this person exercises freedom of speech in his own country under the laws of his wonderful country of freedom, the good old USA. But I have heard of some very wild reports of people going to jail and having the key thrown away for years. Who knows who is reading what you are saying and how they are going to react, legally I think no grounds for anything, but maybe they could think something up.

Bud

[SoCal]

Bud, I thought you would look at the positive. If they send you to prison, you cannot only learn Thai, but get more sex than you ever wanted.

On a serious note, don't be too paranoid.

I am sure that after a couple of your "world according to Bud" stories, they would kick you out of Thailand. :laugh:

[Pinkster]

Am i the only one who is trying to skip Mr Zumwalts posts? I like this site, or did, but now i cant get away from mr vietnam / dud zumwalt..... Your waring thin for me yank  

Just my opinion of course :laugh:

[Bud Zumwalt]

:cool:

To So Cal,

The kind of anal thing the jail birds do has never interested me, so I am hoping for community service or probation, is there such a thing in Thailand ... kidding of course.

To Pinkster,

I hope I have not offended anyone. I do hope everyone is happy all the time in the Kingdom of joy and may all prosper and live long happy lives.

I will be off line for three days while traveling to Vietnam, then onto the Kingdom of joy Thailand. I depart in the morning, so perhaps while in Thailand I can buy Pinkster a drink and shake hands.

Bud

[mrvietnam2001]

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh

Never mind  

[SoCal]

Mr. Vietnam, glad to have you back, if even for a "ahhhhhhhhh".

[mrvietnam2001]

Thanks So Cal! How's it going with the "Terminator"  

Hahahaha been busy busy in SO FLA . We bought the property behind our house and just try to convince my wife ( Vietnamese) to pay some of these stooges here 8,000.00 to clear it ( it's virgin forest)

Soooooooooo, that meant a trip to Home Depot for a chain saw, pole saw, etc etc etc and it's she and I doing all this!

Man I'm getting too old hahahaha.

But the way we are looking at it is we are creating something together, spending time, I get my blood circulation with all this excercise, and the best part is I'm taking the equivilent of what we would be paying for this and setting it aside for that piece of beachfront in __  ( ! ).

Ahl Be Bak!

Regards

Mr Vietnam  

[Pinkster]

im very happy, you brought mr vietnamm back out of retirment just for me?  

[SoCal]

Mr. V- Just voted for Shwarzennegar. Kind of sucked, as I am a Libertarian, but it was a lesser of evils thing.

Hey, nothing like manual labor to make you sleep well at night. Who needs Prozac, get off your a** and pound a nail. Cum to think about it, pounding something else helps you sleep at night as well.

Like to fly out to MIA next year, couldn't think of anything more interesting than a beer with you and Bud. I'll buy.

Pinkster- You know you missed him too. I have been comming to this board since about Jan or Feb. It used to be the best, and all the old guys got chased off because of differing opinions, and frankly it became lame for a while, until Bud came along. Like these guys, or hate these guys, you must admit it keeps things interesting. :cool:

[mrvietnam2001]

I'm a card carrying member of the Libertarian party too. I think this is what really stunned them in Vietnam when I negotiated the free trade agreement http://www.vietventures.com/Travel_Agreement.htm

Hahahahaha the state dept sent me an email about that one! You know one of those "call mr so & so emails" I didn't. I started moving in on a somewhat different deal in Thailand ( and got a 1 year m.e. visa and more, from jump street) but didn't pursue it any further. Oops am I off topid now? Oh gee.

Speaking about "boating". The agreement I signed could be used to "rescue" one ot those big wooded tubs you see up and down the coast. I still plan on doing that and hiring a crew to completely restore the thing if it's a $$ feasible thing. Hey Bud, yu there?  ???

I'll take you up on the drink although for me it's gotsta be non-alcoholic. My drinking and doping days are gone now ( am in my 4th year!)

Still crazy though hahahaha

Rgrds

Mr Vietnam  

[SoCal]

Mr. V., congrats on your endeavors.

I'm with you. I love Vietnam, and doesn't mean that I don't love Thailand. It's difference that makes the world interesting.

Was just in Vietnam (4th time/2yrs) last May to open our 2nd office in HAN. 1st was SGN. Most remarkable thing to me is that there are no real feelings about Americans. Every where you go in the world they have feelings about us, but you really don't encounter it there.

One of the coolest things I ever saw was a show on the 25th Anniversary of the war. The narator asked the question of the taxi driver, who stopped the car and told him that they were at war with the Chinese for thousands of years, the Europeans for hundreds of years, and we were there a very short time. Very cool mind set.

I myself, am thinking about buying a boat in May. 41' motorsailer. Fits into my dream of retiring in 8 yrs when I will be 41. Go see the world arghhh.

As a fully functioning alcoholic, hats off on your four yrs.

Talk to you later, and once again- welcome back.