"Licensed Captain." The very phrase evokes authority and power. And while a lot of us have thought about getting a Coast Guard license, the hours of study and documented water time, coupled with the expense, has meant most of us allow it to remain a fantasy.
The truth is that you hear all sorts of folks referred to as "Captain" while hanging around the docks. Park your boat and the dock hand will call you Captain. Radio a bridge and the attendant will call you Captain. If you go to any West Marine or Boater's World, you can get a tee shirt or hat that proclaims to the world that you are a Captain.
But as far as the Coast Guard is concerned, a tee-shirt won't cut it. There are very specific requirements when it comes to getting a true license, including both written examinations and documented on-the-water sea service time. They aren't too difficult, but they do require some smarts and a lot of preparation and commitment. But if you persevere, these folks may call you Captain – and mean it.
CHOOSING A LICENSE
In the charter boat world there are two basic levels of license: The Operator of Uninspected Passenger Vessel (OUPV) license and the Master's license. Each license authorizes different levels of service and route endorsements, including Inland, Near Coastal and Great Lakes. The big difference between the two is the number of passengers you can put on your boat and whether the vessel has to be inspected by the Coast Guard specifically for passenger service.
Frank Mummert
For most people, the OUPV is appropriate. The educational requirements are lower than other licenses, the amount of time you have to have behind the helm is less, and the cost of owning and operating the boat is significantly reduced. Unless you're running a tow boat for hire or planning on operating a full-time marine business, the OUPV license will likely fill your needs.
The Master's license will allow you to take on more than six passengers, but requires that you operate a vessel that has been inspected by the Coast Guard for that purpose when you do. The results of the inspection will determine the waters the vessel can cruise, the number of passengers, number of crew members and many other details related to your operation.
In addition to the basic Master's and OUPV licenses, you can also get an Assistance Towing endorsement or an Auxiliary Sail endorsement. These expand the scope of your license. The Towing endorsement will allow you to work for a towing company, like TowBoatUS or SeaTow , and requires an additional test, as well as four to six hours of class study. The Auxiliary Sail endorsement, on the other hand, requires that you have a significant amount of sea time on sailing or auxiliary sail vessel, in addition to the educational requirements and test. The Towing endorsement can be added to an OUPV license, but you must have the Master's license if you want a Sail endorsement.
Having an OUPV license allows you to take up to six paying passengers out at a time. Because of this limitation, the OUPV is often called a "Six Pack." The boat you use has to meet the standard Coast Guard regulations, as well as any state regulations, but it doesn't need to meet any special construction requirements. There are specific requirements related to personal flotation devices, and some other safety equipment that must meet a higher standard than if you were traveling without passengers, but they are neither difficult nor expensive to comply with.
To get an OUPV license, you need to fulfill five basic requirements. The first – and the one that takes the longest to achieve – is the "sea service" requirement. In order to apply for the license, you have to be able to show that you have 360 days on the waters where you want to be certified. That's not as much as it sounds. In general, when it comes to small boats, a day is considered four or more hours at the helm within a 24-hour period. For commercial service to count toward you total, it needs to meet the official eight-hour underway standard, meaning time spent away from the pier. Living on your boat or working on it at the pier generally do not count.
For your initial license, you can count all the time that you have spent underway since your 15th birthday. If you worked commercially – even as a bait boy – on a fishing charter boat, you'll need to get documentation from the company or individual you worked for. If you have military sea service, you may be able to count some of that time, but you generally have to have been in a deck position. Just being aboard a Navy or Coast Guard vessel does not necessarily count.
If you didn't work commercially or you are counting the time you have spent on your own boat, you'll need to file a Coast Guard Small Vessel Sea Service form. There you will have to list the number of days you spent underway during each month and year. The Coast Guard licensing officer may ask for additional documentation, especially if you have an unusually large number of days in any given month or year. If you spent a winter running your sailboat around the Caribbean, you may have chalked up a lot of time underway. In order to verify that time, you can provide a copy of a ships log or passport and visa stamps.
Frank Mummet
THE EXAMS
The second requirement is that you pass four exams: Rules of the Road, General Navigation, Deck Safety/Operations and Chart Reading. There are two different ways to take these exams. The first is to take the tests at the nearest Coast Guard Regional Examination Center. This option is best if you have significant military or commercial experience or you're good at self-study, because it will require that you read and memorize information from the American Practical Navigator, Chapman Piloting & Seamanship, the Coast Guard Small Vessel Seamanship manual and a dozen other texts.
The other option is to take a course through any of the hundred or so companies and public institutions – colleges, extensions, trade schools and others – that offer training. Schools can have a single location, like Quality Maritime Training, in St. Petersburg, FL, or the Orange Coast College Marine Programs, in Newport Beach, CA or they can run classes in multiple locations. Mariners School, headquartered in Princeton, NJ, for example, runs classes along the eastern seaboard, Texas and southern California.
Most of these companies offer classes that involve between 54 and 100 hours of classroom time to complete, and cost between $500 and $2,000. The benefit is that the company has generally made arrangements with the Coast Guard to run its own testing program, using questions from the Coast Guard test database. Because of this, the course can be tailored toward the information actually necessary to know, and the test will determine your level of knowledge on that information.
All of the commercial classes require that you actually sit in a classroom for the instruction, although there are a few companies that are also offering on-line training. But even if you take a course on-line, you still need to go to a company location to take the exam. The on-line option is useful if you truly cannot find a course that fits your schedule and you are highly motivated and self-directed.
In addition to fulfilling the marine knowledge requirement, you will also have to show that you have training in CPR and first aid. Courses from the American Red Cross, the American Heart Association or the YMCA generally fulfill the requirement, although the Coast Guard also maintains a list of companies and organizations that teach marine-specific courses. If you use your license for hire, you will need to keep both your CPR and first aid training up to date.
MEDICAL ISSUES
The fourth requirement is a physical exam. Unlike a pilot's license, you won't need to find a specially-trained doctor. Your family physician can handle the exam. The form that the doctor will need to fill out lists the general physical requirements and gives an idea of some of the tasks that a merchant mariner might need to perform in the course of his duties.
If you have any questions or medical issues that might cause problems, this is the time to discuss them with the doctor. If you have problems that might restrict your ability to operate a boat, such as certain types of color blindness, the doctor can make a fair appraisal of your abilities and report them on the form. This may result in a restriction on your license. For example, you may be restricted to daylight running, vessels of a certain size or to a specific geographic location. But that is a better alternative than trying to explain why you couldn't tell a red light from a green one after an accident.
You may also need to have different doctors sign-off on the form. For example, if you have had laser eye surgery, your family doctor may want to have your eye doctor review the vision section. You may only be getting your license to operate your bass boat as a fishing guide, and you may never intend to take out more than one person, but your license, unless it is restricted in some way, allows you to operate any uninspected passenger vessel up to 100 gross tons, depending on your experience. Your doctor needs to assess your physical and mental abilities in all possible conditions, not just the conditions you plan to operate in today.
The last requirement is that you will need to take a drug test. You need to prove that you are free from exposure to five illegal or controlled drugs: Marijuana, cocaine, opiates, phencyclidine (PCP) and amphetamines. If you are already employed in an industry that performs random drug testing for these substances, you can get a letter from your company indicating your test results. If you are not already part of a screening program, you will have to find a local drug testing company that is capable of performing the tests. These can generally be found in the phone book or you can discuss it with your doctor when you get your physical. Some doctors can even do the drug test as part of the physical. However, you will need a separate form, indicating the results, from the lab.
In addition, if you are going to operate using your license, you will need to be in a continuing random drug testing program. If you are working commercially, the company will usually have some sort of program and can provide you with the appropriate forms. If you are going to be operating your own boat, you can join a charter boat captains' consortium that will, among other things, enroll you in their drug program.
GETTING MORE INFORMATION
Specific information about what you will need to do to fulfill any of these requirements can be found on the US Coast Guard website.
Specific information is usually available from any of the schools that provide OUPV training. Because the schools are staffed by people who already have their licenses and work with Coast Guard offices on a regular basis, they can usually provide or at least point you in the right direction.
There are also several consulting firms that can offer assistance in reviewing and preparing your package for the Coast Guard review process. If you are in a hurry or you have specific issues that you would like to discuss, they can be well worth the investment. Most of these companies are run by former Coast Guard examiners who know the ins-and-out of the system. The best known of these is Mark Grossetti, who operates his consulting service in Massachusetts, but works with applicants all over the country. Even if you are not in a hurry, Mark's website, www.cglicense.com, is an excellent resource on licensing details and is worth the time to review.
There are a lot of good reasons to have your captain's license, but there is one that rises above all others: Commitment. Getting a license requires you to keep educated, to prove your fitness to command, both physically and mentally, and to push yourself to a higher standard of operational ability.
Even if you never take out a single paying customer, getting your license and keeping it updated means that you have taken an oath to maintain a higher standard on the water and that you are willing to do what it takes to operate safely and cleanly. Having the license doesn't mean you will never have an accident, but it does mean you'll be better able to handle it if you do.
It also means you can proudly wear one of those tee-shirts that read "Captain."
Frank Mummert spent 15 years in the Navy where he taught nuclear engineering. He is a licensed captain. Currently he teaches sailing, and for the last two years has served as an instructor for sailors trying to obtain their captain's licenses through the Mariner's School, which is headquartered in Princeton, NJ.