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Back to School with Bluewater
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Bluewater Books & Charts has teamed with South Broward High School’s Marine Magnet Program. Jessica and Rachel, two seniors from the program, are completing a semester-long internship with us. They started on September 7, and will be in the store three days a week through December.

We found out about the program through the Marine Industries Association of South Florida (MIASF), and were eager to climb aboard. Because the marine industry is such a large part of South Florida’s economy, MIASF and its members feel that it’s important for high school and college students to be aware of career opportunities within the industry.

Rachel and Jessica are certainly aware. They have been helping out in several different departments. On their second day here, we taught them how to run an analysis on a British Admiralty chart folio for one of our large yacht customers. They were able to see the whole process—from the time the folio is analyzed to when the corrections are actually drawn onto the charts.

From the seemingly archaic to the super-modern, Jessica and Rachel have jumped back and forth between the paper chart corrections and the Electronic Chart Department. Justin Mann is teaching them how to burn chips for various chart plotters. They have learned about vector and raster charts, plotter and PC-based systems, and have had the chance to view cartography from Navionics on the plotters that we have recently set up for demonstration in the store.

The two seem to be very enthusiastic about the marine industry. Rachel says, "I hope that I’ll learn more about the kinds of people in the industry. I want to meet them and talk to them and find out what they do." Rachel also wants to own her own boat someday. Jessica is interested in trip-planning, and says she "wants to learn about the process that one must go through before a trip, what to buy, and how to use the charts." She says of the industry: "It’s an interesting business that we, as Floridians, should take advantage of."

If you come by the store while they’re here, please help us welcome our "deck hands" into the marine industry.