South Florida Intercoastal

Yacht Service Technician Apprenticeship Report

By: MIASF Staff

Date posted: Aug 27, 2021 Fri

Summer may be ending the new school year is beginning, but the apprentices in the Yacht Service Technician Apprenticeship Program have been continuing to progress through the program just the same. The apprentices continue to impress with their on-the-job training tasks they are involved at their respective marine employers.
The class of 2021 is continuing their work in the carpentry module with the 20-year woodworking teacher from Atlantic Technical College. Thus far, the apprentices have been introduced and trained on various floor equipment including table saws, drill presses, belt sanders, and routers. Overall, the goal of the carpentry module is to familiarize the apprentices with marine wood types, hardware, hand tools, power tools, and precision measuring.
 
The class of 2022 is now working on the running gear and machining portion of the course. This module covers most underwater systems including, but not limited to shafts, shaft seals, struts, bearings, rudders, thrusters, stabilizers, props, and more. Rolly Marine is sponsoring an upcoming on-site lesson where the students will learn first-hand the steps involved with disassembling, aligning, and installing a drive shaft. We thank Rolly Marine and all of our other participating employers who have conducted on-site visits as they only enhance the learning and experience for the apprentices in the program.
 
Recruitment to build the class of 2023 has officially begun. Classes for this group of apprentices begins in January 2022 and is limited to 25 students. Space is filling up, so if you would like to enroll one of your current or future employees in the program, please contact Instructor Jon Lowell. Currently, there is no additional cost to the employer to put an employee through the program, with the exception of the employees’ wages. However, CareerSource Broward has a program available for employers to obtain wage reimbursement of up 75% of wages over 6 months for qualifying apprentices in the program.  To become a participating employer in the program, enroll one of your apprentices, or learn more, contact Jon Lowell via email at jonathananthony.lowell@browardschools.com or call 954-524-2733. Let’s continue to build the marine industry workforce together.