YI speaks of much truth of sailing life.. esp ops requirement at sea. Sure, you can find out alot about officership courses from online and stuff but it is the real work that you do that matters right? Afterall, what you learnt in school does not really prepare you for the real deal sometimes.
But anyhow, ship life can be pretty easy sometimes with her cruising along with simple sea watches.. 12 hours shifts with 3 hours on watch, the rest of the 9 hours lobo around and sleep. but most of the time, (i can only speak of Fleet ships as a spec) it is closing up (executing) some stupid exercise station. sometimes if you lagi suey, you can close up your sea watch, suddenly CO finger itchy or reach RV point, call for a draggy exercise. by the time when the exercise finex, it is your turn to do sea watch again.. clocking over 12hours without sleep.. and you'll most be up in 4 or 6 hours after a rest with that cycle repeating itself.
but then again, every job has its pros and cons.. not everything out there is an easy sail.
p/s: the divorce / breakup rate is no joke. being apart for a week without any communication with your significant other puts much strain on the relationship. i've seen 3 cases so far due to this.. sad really if you ask me.