Flying Fish Yachtmaster dives with helicopters

Rich Whittingham

I'm living in Aberdeen working as a Marine Survival Instructor for a company called Petrofac Training teaching Offshore Survival Courses for the Oil Industry - seems a bit random but I'll explain it all...
 
First off I'd like to say a big thanks to everyone at Flying Fish for the most amazing course and probably one of the best times of my life!
 

probably one of the best times of my life

I grew up in Birmingham (about as landlocked as you can get) and first got into being at sea through diving on holiday.

I loved diving so much that I actually ended up leaving university before graduating and went on to become a PADI Divemaster based out in Malta.  For the next few years I spent the summer working as a Divemaster then came back to the UK during the winter to fund my numerous snowboarding holidays.

After a few years of this I decided I wanted more, and looked into a number of different courses.  I settled on the Flying Fish Yachtmaster Traineeship after going to the preview day and chatting with previous students and Fish instructors.   I realised that not only would this be a fantastic oportunity to gain some professional qualifications, but also great fun!

Aside from that, the other factor that swung my descision to join Fish (apart from getting to train  in Australia) was the recruitment service provided.  Everyone seemed keen not only to train us, but also supply us with contacts to work in the industry.

I stayed on in Sydney after my Yachtmaster examination, and had a few jobs working in some of the many marinas, as I thought this would be a good way to make some contacts.  It definitely worked as I made lots of new contacts, got a few trips out and gained lots more racing experience! 

making contacts in Sydney

A lot of the sailing was mostly unpaid at this point, but I was happy with that just to gain more experience and a few more miles.

After leaving Australia, I moved back to the Lake District, where I had previously been living, and through the Fish website got a number of jobs doing the odd delivery here and there and a few corporate charters.  These jobs were paying relatively small amounts but again, I was making more contacts and getting more experience.

I was also having a lot of fun sailing in my spare time,  taking my friends out and about, showing them the ropes, so to speak.

A couple of months after returning to the UK, I found a job on the Fish website that really piqued my interest,  a safety diver for Helicopter Underwater Escape Training (HUET), a course targeted at the oil industry.

offered the position as instructor

I applied as a safety diver, but having looked at my qualifications, obviously as a diver but more importantly as a Yachtmaster with all the relevant STCW 95 courses and powerboat courses I had done, they offered me the position of instructor.

I have been ever here since and thoroughly love my job, teaching all aspects of offshore safety and survival. Primarily I am based at our marine site teaching Lifeboat and Fast Rescue Craft courses and STCW 95 courses, none of which would have been possible without the qualifications, experience and contacts I gained through the Yachtmaster course.

While this is not exactly where I expected to be after completing the course, I must say I can't imagine being anywhere else, as I get to work on boats AND get to teach and I guess that is the ideal job for me.

I've been lucky enough up here in Scotland to make friends with other sailors and we regularly participate in local regatta days and go cruising.  A few of us are planning on making it down to Cowes Week to race this year!
 
After qualifications, this industry is all about contacts.  At Petrofac, there are four of us now who all have affiliations with Flying Fish.  Two of us who have done a Yachtmaster course, one who worked for Prodive in Manly teaching Fish students, and one who worked at Balmoral teaching the windsurfing courses.
 
For anyone thinking about going into the industry, my advice is to stop thinking and do it, you will never regret it.   The only thing is not to be too disappointed if you don't get the glamourous job you were hoping for immediately after finishing the course.  Having your Yachtmaster ticket is only the beginning of your life in the industry.  Always keep an open mind - you never know where you might end up.
 
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