In North Highlands, about 80 miles from the Pacific Ocean as the seagull flies, would-be sailors are being groomed as merchant mariners by a Sacramento school district.

"We want Sacramento to become a maritime town," said Jim Griffis, the Grant Joint Union High School District maritime program administrator.

The shipping industry has room for new blood, and jobs are available at a good living wage, Griffis said. Grant administrators hope high school and adult school students who are not interested in college will sign up for the program.

A job in the maritime industry offers eight months at sea, a chance to see the world and plenty of time off, administrators say. Beginning pay is $38,000 a year -- with overtime typically increasing annual earnings to $50,000.

The maritime academy is being offered to high school students in part because of the high school exit exam. Administrators realize that some students will not pass the high-stakes exit test but are smart enough and motivated enough to make a good wage in the maritime industry.

Earlier this month, the Grant district began a maritime academy for students already out of high school at its adult school.

Grant's adult maritime school, which began Sept. 8, expects to graduate 25 to 30 students Jan. 16. Training lasts eight hours each day.

Included during that time are 30 days of training at sea.

Students are trained for two types of positions, said Ray Gillip, co-owner for Training Resources Limited, which runs the program.

One job is that of able-bodied seaman -- a person who works on deck, pilots the ship, provides security and makes sure cargo is properly stowed and loaded.

The other is in the engineering department, with the mariner making engine repairs and helping to keep the ship running.

Prospective students already have flocked to an adult maritime program at the old Campos Verdes school on Stephen Drive in North Highlands.

"I was looking for work, and this is better than work, it is a career," said adult maritime student Angela Anderson, sounding like a convert to a recruiter's pitch. "I get to travel."

Anderson, 48, worked as an administrative assistant and said she grew tired of pushing paper. With her children raised, she was looking forward to becoming "an able-bodied seaperson."

For high school students, the program begins with the 2004-05 school year. Grant high school students would enter the maritime academy in their junior year and finish halfway through their senior year.

They would get their sea duty after high school.

For two or three periods a day, the high school students would be steeped in maritime instruction, such as knot-tying or steering a ship.

During the remainder of the day, they would take the science, math or English required for regular high school graduation.

And any potential mariner -- adult or teen -- has to go through a basic-training safety course. The academy will teach firefighting, first aid and survival in the water.

The maritime programs fill a huge void for civilian sailors, officials said. According to the Navy League of the United States, the merchant marine, much smaller than it once was, has dramatically fewer mariners.

After World War II, the fleet had nearly 166,000 mariners. That number has dwindled to fewer than 15,000.

During the Gulf War, according to the league, some ships could not find full crews, even though licensing requirements were waived.

Griffis said a shortage of mariners exists for several reasons: the aging maritime work force; changes in regulations making it difficult for sailors to work on ships while obtaining certification; and more new ships.

"They can live anywhere," said Griffis. "The company that they work for flies them to port where they launch, they return by ship to the same port and fly home again."

T.J. Meyer, 57, a certified nursing assistant, has dreamed of traveling the world but never had the money.

As a certified nursing assistant, Meyer's top annual salary was $32,000 when, she says, she worked a ton of overtime. Now that her daughter has graduated from college, Meyer said it is "time for something for me."

The Natomas resident still works as a CNA part-time, but she is a full-time maritime student.

"I've always wanted to travel, the pay is not too bad, and I've always loved the sea," she said. "I came to the adult school interested in the licensed vocational nurse program, but when I heard of this, I knew it was for me."

Meyer notes that upon graduation, she can work on a variety of ships in various climes from the tropics to Alaska.

"They feed you, house you, put your paycheck in the bank," she said. "You don't have any place to spend it, so you save. And you get to see all those ports."

The graduates would most likely work for either of two segments of the industry:

* As mariners for the Military Sealift Command, a civilian arm of the U.S. Navy, they could work on oilers who fuel vessels or on re-supply ships providing fresh vegetables or fruit to the fleet.

* Other graduates could work for various private shipping companies that carry cargo containers to various international ports.

Griffis said there are not enough training institutions. Another maritime program is at Mar Vista High School in the San Diego area, where a class of 19 teenage sailors graduated this summer. It was pioneered by the same company providing curriculum for Grant.

Last week, the adult students learned about water survival. A 20-person life raft was to be turned upside down, with a student jumping into the water and trying to right it.

In another exercise, students floated in a bright orange flotation suit, called a "Gumby" after the cartoon character. The suits are typically stored on ships for dire conditions at sea and allow sailors to float at sea for long periods -- even in Arctic waters -- until rescued.

Grant Superintendent Larry Buchanan, on hand to witness the first adult maritime students in the pool, said the district has made a concerted effort to match an industry needing applicants with the student.

"When we train, we make a relationship between the business and the student," said Buchanan. "The business and the student get to see each other. They know if they like each other or not."