Mackay region students finish their Coxswain training course

More than 30 students from Mackay and the Whitsundays have taken part in a special program to learn how to operate boats while still in high school. We caught up with some of them.

For these Mackay region students, a special program to learn how to operate boats while still in high school has been the answer. Picture: Contributed

It is hard to find out what you want to be doing after high school but for some Mackay region students, a special program to learn how to operate boats while still in high school has been the answer.

The Coxswain program is a Queensland Government’s Vocational Education and Training in Schools (VETiS) program for students to learn how to operate maritime vessels.

In the Mackay Whitsunday region, it is possible to follow that pathway directly in high school, based on a partnership with Wildcat Mackay and the Whitsunday Maritime Training Centre (WMTC).

Queensland Tourism Minister Stirling Hinchliffe said the government invested $950,000 in the project.

31 students in the Mackay region were part of the program this year and learned coastal navigation, seamanship, collision regulations, legislation, engineering and safety training.

L-R – Sonny Taggart, CJ Henry, Max Klosterman, Owen Norton, Nathan Stephens with Craig Sunner as Skipper teaching about ropes as part of the Coxswain course. Picture: Contributed

Grade 11 St Patrick’s College student Daniel Harris said he chose to do the Coxswain course because he was interested in what he was learning.

“I love boats, I love the ocean,” he said.

“Even the stuff about getting to know the rules of the water, it’s just really good,”

Daniel, 16, now works with RedCat on weekends and during the holidays as a deck hand.

He said he can project himself working in the tourism industry after high school.

“There’s always going to be growing tourism, especially in the Mackay region and Airlie,” he said.

“When I have the Coxswain under my belt … I can just stay in the region where I love to be and get a job on a boat,”

Daniel Harris: ‘I love boats, I love the ocean’

Grade 12 Sarina State High School student Ky Barker said he chose to do the Coxswain program as a way to “open up doors” for the future while having some fun.

He said school was not something he liked particularly and the course allowed him to learn different things.

“When I first joined the course I wasn’t sure I was gonna go into boating, but the more I’ve gone the more I’ve sort of gotten into it,” he said.

Ky explains he has classes every Friday, where he goes to VMR Mackay, and the team from WMTC teaches him and other students theory about rules on the water, look at some engines in the workshop and some weeks go out in the water on a boat.

Sarina State High School Yeah 12 student Ky Barker is about to finish his Coxswain course. Picture: Contributed

WMTC Training Coordinator, Deb Duggan said it was “awesome” to see students grow and gain confidence in their abilities.

“I am really proud of what they’ve achieved and look forward to seeing them turn their new-found knowledge into meaningful careers,” she said.

Students learning to light flares as part of their Coxswain course. Picture: Contributed

Wildcat Mackay owner Asher Telford said investing time in these students was one way to respond to industry-wide staff shortages, while helping youth find their career path.

“I … wanted to show our region’s young people that the maritime industry is up there with the mines as a satisfying career path,” he said.

“This is a profession where Australians are very highly regarded worldwide, so they’re effectively opening up opportunities to travel the

world by gaining a global skill set,”