Nautical skills competition draws young fellows eager to follow in family footsteps

By Chad Feehan / Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Aspiring seafarers congregated at the Marine Institute on Ridge Road recently for the 12th annual Nautical Skills Competition, where an assortment of nautical science students competed in all manner of marine exercises.
Master Mariners of Canada’s NL Division hosted the competition in collaboration with the Fisheries and Marine Institute of Memorial University. The aim was to promote the maritime sector.
Some 49 nautical science students competed, including Mount Pearl resident James Hawco and his team 3 Sheets to the Wind, who came third place overall in the competition.
Like many nautical science students, seafaring runs in Hawco’s family. His grandfather Eric Rogers spent decades on the water, including time with the Canadian Coast Guard and the CSS Acadia, and as such was an inspiration for Hawco to dip his toes in the industry.
“He’s really what got me inspired to do it…I’ve always had a love for the water,” he said. “Whenever I think of boats, I always picture myself up on the bridge.”
Having previous experience with knot-tying, block and tackle systems, and even carving wooden boats from scratch, the marine world comes second nature to this first-year nautical science student.
“I have a great interest in it and I have a little bit of background knowledge about it as well, so that’s what keeps me interested in it,” Hawco said.
Eventually, Hawco would like to see himself as the captain of a cargo-ship, which would make him the first in his seafaring family to reach that level.
In addition to the 49 nautical science students who tested their mettle in the competition, 12 high school students from across the province were also in attendance in a job-shadowing sort of way, getting a taste of what their future careers may offer them.
One of them was Max Piercey of Carbonear Collegiate, and much like Hawco, comes from a line of mariners. His father, Jeff Piercey, is captain of a crab boat and his mother Monica fishes occasionally as well.
“I took an interest to being on the water when I was young. All my family has been fishermen, and I know I wanted to do something on the water and not in the desk,” Piercey said. “I feel like it’s a good lifestyle.”
At the event, Piercey had hands-on experience with activities like knot tying, although his father had shown him much of this before.
“I’m learning a lot of new things,” he said.
Piercey plans on taking the nautical science program next year, which will hopefully bring him closer to his goals of being captain of a boat, just like his old man.
“Since I was six or seven, I always went out boating with my father,” he said.