By Larry Kutner
ASA certifications are very good for showing a charter company that you have a certain amount of formal training and on-the-water experience. If you own your own sailboat, it’s a way you might convince your insurance company that you are a lower risk and deserve a discount on your premiums. But if you want to charge money for your services at the helm—you want to take paying passengers out fishing, deliver yachts for money, or captain a water taxi, for example—you need a Coast Guard license. It’s roughly the maritime equivalent of a commercial pilot’s license offered by the Federal Aviation Administration. Even for sailors who don’t charge for their services, holding what’s formally called a Merchant Mariner Credential (MMC) is a badge of knowledge and competence—a way of showing that you’ve mastered the basic rules and skills needed to captain a boat safely and professionally.
Getting an MMC involves proving that you’ve spent a certain amount of time on the water, taking a series of standardized written examinations, passing a physical exam and drug test, getting CPR and first aid training, and filling out a considerable amount of paperwork.
Entry-level Coast Guard licenses come in two basic flavors: the Operator of Uninspected Passenger Vessels (OUPV, commonly called a “six-pack”) or the Master, which allows you to take the helm of both uninspected and larger inspected vessels. Almost all recreational boats are uninspected. Although they’re required to carry certain safety items (Remember your checklist?), each boat is not inspected and certified by the Coast Guard and cannot carry more than six passengers plus crew. The term “six-pack” is a bastardization of the standard abbreviation for six passengers, which is “six pax.” If you’re interested in making money as the captain of a larger, inspected boat or one that takes more than six passengers, you’ll need a Master license. Also, getting an OUPV license requires that you be a legal resident of the United States; a Master license requires US citizenship.
TIME ON THE WATER
When I first learned to sail on Minnesota lakes back in the 1980s, my instructor advised me to “write down every time you’re crew on a boat, even if it’s a garbage scow.” He wanted to make sure I had the documentation I’d need to prove my time on the water if I ever went for my Coast Guard license.
To qualify for either an OUPV or Master license, you need to demonstrate that you’ve spent at least 360 days on the water since the age of 16. Of those 360 days, 90 must have been within the previous three years. A day on the water means that the boat spent at least four hours away from the dock. (Spending 10 hours away from the dock still counts as one day, however.)
You can document this in several ways. If you own your own boat, the Coast Guard lets you “self-certify” by simply filling out a government form (CG-719) with the days and providing proof that you own or owned the boat. Each form is good for up to five years of sailing data. If you crew on someone else’s boat, you can fill out the same form and ask the owner to sign it as verification.
For time spent on Spinnaker’s boats, it’s best to keep a spread sheet containing the date, boat type and size (e.g., Catalina 27, Leopard 38), and where you sailed (SF Bay, Tahiti). The location lets you figure out whether your experience is on inland waters, near-coastal waters, or the Great Lakes, each of which affects your license. San Francisco Bay is considered inland waters. The size of the boat is important if you’re going for a Master license, since those come with authorizations for different size boats depending on your experience. When you’re ready, ask Spinnaker to write a letter verifying the information in your spreadsheet that’s signed by one of our “sailing masters.” You can do the same for any other boat club where you’ve sailed.
WRITTEN EXAMS
It often strikes aspiring captains as strange that the Coast Guard doesn’t require any formal on-the-water testing. All of the exams are paper and pencil. To get an OUPV, you need to pass tests on:
· Rules of the Road: International and Inland
· Navigation General: Near Coastal
· Navigation Problems: Chart Plotting
· Deck General and Safety
The minimum passing score for Rules of the Road is 90%; for the other tests, it’s 70%.
The Master exam requires an additional 70-question advanced exam with a minimum passing score of 70%. Along with either OUPV or Master, you can take endorsement exams for assistance towing (helping boats that are grounded or otherwise in distress) and auxiliary sailing (operating inspected sailboats.)
You can sit for these written exams one of three ways. Anyone can take them at the local Coast Guard regional examination center. (The nearest one is in downtown Oakland.) If you’re taking a Coast Guard-approved classroom-based course, you’ll usually be given the exams in your classroom at the end of that course. If you’ve taken an on-line course, the school will have arrangements with yacht clubs and sailing schools in different parts of the country where you can sit for the exams on certain days. (I took an online course from Mariners Learning System that allowed me to take the exams at a yacht club in Richmond.)
Do you need a Coast Guard license? Probably not, unless you want to charge for your on-the-water services. Even if you don’t, it can be an excellent way to sharpen and expand your knowledge about boating. You’ll gain much more respect for all of the things that the guys we see on the tugboats and freighters do. And you’ll join an elite group of maritime professionals.
If you’re interested in learning more, I’ll be teaching an evening seminar in how to get your Coast Guard license at Spinnaker on Wednesday, November 20th.