Ericka Watson is a former writer for ThoughtCo who contributed articles on boating. She was first introduced to boating when she became a first mate on a charter boat in the Great Lakes. Watson eventually joined the U.S. Coast Guard, where she commandeered boats on search and rescue missions.
During the first year of her Coast Guard career, Watson learned expert seamanship and became a certified boat crewman. She then earned her coxswain certification and spent the next five years as a Coast Guard certified coxswain, or captain, of a 47-foot Motor Lifeboat and other small high-speed boats. During her active duty, she led crews on law enforcement missions in Puget Sound as well as Operation Enduring Freedom in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Watson has a B.A. in English from the New York Institute of Technology. She earned her Coast Guard coxswain certificate from the Coast Guard Training Center in Yorktown, Virginia. Watson also has a certificate in design arts from Sessions College.
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