OUPV/Six-pack Captain’s License Online

I ve seen ships stopped in the NW channel but never noticed the lights. I m not sure they qualify for NUC

Yes. My last pass through this area felt more like a chess match than a navigational exercise.

I think that the sea schools, similar to night schools for trades or any other paid learning experience is the you get what you give. If you give your attention and want to learn, you get more out of the class.
Sure the teachers want everyone to pass for their own reasons but that does not stop you from learning while you are there.

We've been very pleased with the Fort Lauderdale school we use from introductory levels to the highest levels of licenses.

I am finishing up my course from Mariner's Learning System - 6 Pack. I think the course quality and test quality is good and they have been responsive to the few questions I had. I have 20 years of boating experience and 9 years of USN time before that. I am getting the ticket as a preparation for helping out on deliveries, training etc. as I start to wind down my main career in the next 5-10 years. I help teach our local USCG Aux courses which as others have said have far more instruction if done correctly than the USCG licenses. Pascal, it's been some time my friend. A long time since you gave me a tour of the 70' Johnson in Newport after an oil run.

Hey Scott!! Good to hear from you… that was the day I did that oil change on a mooring. 8 pail of oils. Lol.

Yes! My subaru forester was full of oil

We think most of the electronics providers now offer good weather information and because we're heavy on Furuno, we love their system combined with Sirius. We have the BBWX4 Fourth-Generation Sirius/XM Satellite Weather Receiver. Sirius gets their forecast from Weather which has been shown to be the most accurate of major services. However, we also like looking at sea conditions on various sites. Windy is still my personal favorite and I like that they show multiple forecasting tools. Buoyweather may be the most popular App. NOAA/NWS are ok, but I'd never recommend them as your only or either primary resource.

Then there are specialty services like Chris Parker and Marine Weather Center. That is a subscribed service. If your cruising is East Coast, Bahamas, Bermuda, Caribbean, then no service puts more effort into forecasting those boating regions. While I don't think he's a weather god like some do, I do think he provides excellent information, much like having your own personal meteorologist, for those areas.

There are also services for specific needs. For instance, Fishweather is popular with fishing captains and Predictwind is a favorite of sailors.

95% of ours though is Sirius through Furuno and Windy.

Personally I really like passageweather.com and have been relying on it for years going to the bahamas. Very simple interface but it shows trends very well. I try to avoid crossing the stream or the NW channel whenever PW shows 1 - 2 meters. Everytime i went anyway I regretted it

The Windfinder and Windalert apps are also very useful.

Passageweather is a good option. Windfinder and Windalert are two, like Predictwind, that sailors flock to.