Georgian College

8 GEORGIANVIEW FALL 2021 DIGITAL EDITION OWEN SOUND CAMPUS Childhood dream becomes reality Amanda Gibson's initial trip as a first mate, helping to commandeer a 26.24-metre Catamaran into Horseshoe Falls, as 750,000 gallons of water gushed over the falls every second, is by far the most memorable experience of her career. "It's awe-inspiring to be a passenger but it is phenomenal to have that (amount of water) above you and know you're supposed to tame it to your will, but you can't. There's no hope. You just do your darnedest to survive," she shares. It was 2014, and she was a first mate with Niagara City Cruises Anchored by Hornblower. Years later, as a junior deck superintendent with Algoma Central Corporation, that initial Voyage to the Falls boat tour still gives her shivers, even though she captained 20,000 successful voyages in her time with Hornblower. With up to 700 passengers on the catamaran, and 26 voyages per day (pre-pandemic), she was always keenly aware of the responsibility that rested on her shoulders. "It's something you have to do hundreds of times before you're even comfortable doing it, says Amanda (class of 2008) I started as a mate, there was also a captain. I did hours and hours of training before I could even attempt to do it on my own." As a young girl growing up in Hamilton, Amanda used to watch the massive cargo vessels and tankers make their way in and out of the deep-water ports of the city's harbour. She longed to be an officer and travel to different ports. She became a Sea Cadet and over time gained knowledge of the marine industry from a Navy perspective. And, when it came time to choose her postsecondary education, she was impressed with the calibre of the Marine Navigation Technology program (now called Marine Technology – Navigation) at Georgian's Owen Sound Campus. "I went for a tour before I took the program, and the first time I got to see the simulators I was just like, 'Wow, this is incredible.' I couldn't wait to start the program. I was just so excited to be there. It was very impressive." In 2008, the year Amanda graduated, an $8-million upgrade took place when a large suite of world-class navigation and engineering simulators were installed including the Jack Leitch Bridge simulator. Since then, the college has added two new simulators: • a lifeboat launching and recovery simulator to allow for safe lifeboat training even during winter months when the harbour is frozen; and • a fifth ship's bridge simulator (Canada Steamship Lines Advanced Integrated Simulator) that is connected to and communicates directly with the marine engineering propulsion plant simulator to allow for joint bridge and engine room simulation training in a more realistic full mission exercise. Each of the simulators is regularly upgraded to improve software and hardware capabilities. "It was a lot of hard work, that's for sure, and you don't have a lot of downtime," Amanda recalls of her time as a student, "but, it was always a really comfortable atmosphere that made you feel like you're part of a family, which I think is nice. It's a smaller campus and it gives you that 'Everyone's willing to help you' kind of feeling all the time, which is definitely beneficial when you're taking something so intense."

• Cover