Almar's bragging rights

[jcollins]

Attached please find the bragging rights due Captain Wazlak for the vessel AlMar.



YEA team!, uh, CREW!

[Veebyes2]

Congratulations. It is nice to have such a piece of paper. I have something similar here in Bermuda. Need it to operate my commercial vessel here.

Mine covers 'Territorial Waters' & vessels up to 10' draft. I can't imagine EVER operating a vessel requiring anywhere near 10' draft but having such a license should make chartering a self-skippered boat somewhere a whole lot easier.

[AlMar]

Looks like sooner or later we're all going to have to have some sort of Paper. I just read in the boatUS magazine that the coast guard is promoting a proposal to require some type of certificate (See New Jersey regs) to prove you've had some type of formal course. More beuracracy, and I still had to drive 250 miles to get a set of fingerprints! I just can't see how they can manage the logistics of such a thing.
AlMar

[Mariner]

Veebyes2,

Many sailboats run close to 10' draft, with many larger boats being well over that.

[Mariner]

Almar,

How hard was it to get your license? What different options are there? I've been wanting for some time to get some sort of licensing to sort of "formalize" my qualifications. Not just for my own personal gratification, but also since I've been considering going into business as an instructor for new boat owners.

When I was in Sea Explorers as teenagers, many of the older members were working on their "skipper's license". I even started working on qualifications that the advisors set out for me, but that was years ago, and I never really knew who the issuing authority was, and what it all meant.

Here I am ten years later wishing I'd done more. I have plenty of knowledge and have piloted boats from 10' up to 110; but don't have anything I can show to people to say "this says I know what I'm doing."

[Mariner]

Well, I signed up for a class to obtain my OUPV (6-Pack) license.

This seems like the most appropriate one for me at this time.

[AlMar]

I wouldn't call anything particularly hard. They had a class that ran, I think, 10 straight days. At least for me, there's to much to cover with any kind of retention in that short a period. The hardest part for me was memorizing about a billion lights. I still take the online practice tests regularly. You have to have documented time. If you've owned your own boat, you can document yourself, if you've crewed, you need a letter from the Capt. !st aid and CPR course; not a bad idea anyway. Three letters of recommendation; a physical, and a drug test. And the dang fingerprints, only at a Regional Exam Center. I would recommend you begin keeping a folder, starting now. Good Luck. When does your class start?
AlMar

[Mariner]

The end of September at the local community college. I think the hardest part for me will probably be memorizing the lights, which seems silly, but for some reason that stuff is difficult for me.

That and all the running around. Fortunately I'm only about an hour from the nearest CG regional exam facility. I don't know what all the course includes, though. I wonder if I will have to do the CPR and first aide outside of the class? I guess I need to contact the instructor.

The hours shouldn't be that hard. I called the coast guard exam office and asked about what qualified and he said that a letter from the captain of another vessel would suffice (doesn't have to be commercial). I don't actually have title to any boat, but my parents' have owned boats for decades, and I've put in literally thousands of hours on their boats, and not just as a deckhand. For many years now, I've been the primary operator of the boat on most outings. Hopefully that will fly.

[digitrade]

Congratulations. It would certainly be wonderful if everyone had to pass at least a watered down Colregs test.

I recently moved my albin 28TE to Panama on the Pacific coast. Anyone operating a powerboat here needs the Panamanian eqivalent of our Coast Guard Licenses. Locals need to take classes to obtain it and proper identification is needed for the documentation of the license.

Because I had a USCG license I automatically qualified. I think it is a fantastic idea. The operators of boats here are extremely (Capital E) qualified about the waters, boat handling, safety and courtesy. Also, if stopped by law enforcement on the water you need to produce the photo ID which helps with things like drug running.

I wish the US had something in place.

[Veebyes2]

I've got mixed feelings on mandatory skipper licensing. However, I do like the carrot & stick approach. Do the course & get your license & you get a break on your insurance right off the top. Don't do it & you pay extra till you earn the discount through the years of no claims.

Working on the water, I see & hear of lots of dumb stuff. I still believe boating should be fun & easily accessible to all.

Just yesterday a boy was lost off the back of a jetski on a guided tour. It took them 20 minutes from the time the driver reailized he was gone till they returned, found him, & picked him up.

[Mariner]

20 minutes in the water here and you'd be in the first stages of hypothermia. And that's in the summer. In the winter if you waited that long, you'd likely be dead.