By Bill Rea A local sea cadet is soon going to be enhancing his training in British Columbia. Petty Officer First Class Tyler Szarko, 16, of Nobleton is with Royal Canadian Sea Cadet Corps Crescent, based in Bolton. He will be spending about a week in March with HMCS Quadra (a base just north of Victoria), staffing Orca, which is a fleet of cadet vessels. He said the experience will involve performing various bosun-like tasks, such as piloting vessels, practising maneuvers, performing exercises in navigation and teaching methods of operation. Szarko said he completed a chief bosun's mate course last year at HMCS Acadia, which provided him with the proper qualifications to staff cadet vessels. “It's going to be fantastic,” he said. “It's a new type of vessel I haven't been on before.” Orca, he said, includes navigation training vessel and are “the most navy-like ship that the cadets can use.”
Petty Officer First Class Tyler Szarko is looking forward to his time with HMCS Quadra.