>>1948461How bout work as a deckhand for a year to see if you even like this shit. If you do, make the academy investment and accelerate your career progress. Worst thing you can do is spend the money and years at an academy, finally start working, and realize that being a sailor sucks. Hawespiping is cool--it's what I did, what ideally more people would do--but the USCG makes it an artificially slow path.
t. hawespiper