Can a person find work with a 6 pack license?? What can you do with a 6 pack license?? Thinking about retiring next year to go cruising. Supplemental income would be nice especially if it involves working on boats. Anyone know what it would take to take paying customers out sailing for a day?? Would the boat have to be inspected etc etc... Who do you ask??? I would really like to start a small business but would not like to endlessly jump through hoops and pay taxes and fees. Sailing people out to the gulf islands would be fun and possibly a way to make a little money.
6 pack license
- Thread starter MoonSailer
- Start date
- Status
Moon Sailer, With a six pack license you can take up to 6 people out on your onw boat and charge them. If you want to do any commercial work you will need a Master ticket for at least 25 ton. It is not that hard to get once you have your 6 pack. It is just as few more things to learn and another test to pass. It is best to get your Master right after you get your 6 pack so the information is still fresh in your mind. If I can do it, anyone can do it. I did mine through the 3B's Captains school. I am sure that there are many other schools you could use, but use a course as they will be the one to adminster the exam. It is a lot easier than to study on your own and then go to a Coast Guard exam center. Good luck. Paul s/v Lady Sara Hunter Legend 37
Liability Coverage
The dreaded insurance coverage routine. Most pleasure boat policies will not cover you once you start taking money in return for services. Check into your coverage.
The dreaded insurance coverage routine. Most pleasure boat policies will not cover you once you start taking money in return for services. Check into your coverage.
Just started my charter boat service
Moon Sailer, Good timing on your question. I just spent the last 6 months getting my sailboat charter business off the ground. I still have my day job and charter only on weekends. I sold my Hunter and bought a catamaran. (smartest thing I ever did) I take tourists out here in St Augustine for sailing rides. I also do "Boat and breakfast" where customers can stay overnight on the boat. (easy money) To much to recapp here in this forum but here are some tips in getting started. 1. 6-pack license - Try Sea School they were pretty good. In my opinion 6-pack is all you need for a small business. (you don't have to be inspected) 2. Rates - research locally and see what they charge also research online. I charge $250 for 3 hours. 3. Taxes - If you plan on deducting expenses or taking depreciation on your boat get with a CPA for an hour or so and discuss. I found Mike Kimball online, this CPA specializes in charter boat business taxes. 4. Insurance - Loyds of London was the only one that gave me a rate I could live with. Progressive was a close second. 5. LLC - incorporate to protect your personal wealth from liability. Hope this helps Ted
Moon Sailer, Good timing on your question. I just spent the last 6 months getting my sailboat charter business off the ground. I still have my day job and charter only on weekends. I sold my Hunter and bought a catamaran. (smartest thing I ever did) I take tourists out here in St Augustine for sailing rides. I also do "Boat and breakfast" where customers can stay overnight on the boat. (easy money) To much to recapp here in this forum but here are some tips in getting started. 1. 6-pack license - Try Sea School they were pretty good. In my opinion 6-pack is all you need for a small business. (you don't have to be inspected) 2. Rates - research locally and see what they charge also research online. I charge $250 for 3 hours. 3. Taxes - If you plan on deducting expenses or taking depreciation on your boat get with a CPA for an hour or so and discuss. I found Mike Kimball online, this CPA specializes in charter boat business taxes. 4. Insurance - Loyds of London was the only one that gave me a rate I could live with. Progressive was a close second. 5. LLC - incorporate to protect your personal wealth from liability. Hope this helps Ted
6-pack is OUPV
Moon Sailor, What we commonly call a 6-pack license is defined by the USCG as an "Operator of an Uninspected Passenger Vessel" license and you are limited to only 6 paying passengers. The "Master's" license allows you to take more than 6 passengers on "USCG Inspected Vessels" depending on the capacity of the vessel and the tonnage rating of your license. There are strict guidelines for a boat to be an "Inspected vessel". It must be inspected annually, it must have water-tight bulkheads, etc. etc. etc. etc.... Since most sailboats don't have water-tight bulkheads (there are some exceptions for large cruising catamarans) your boat will probably fall into the "Uninspected" category. As an uninspected vessel, you are limited to 6 passengers. It wouldn't matter if you had a 200-ton Masters license because the BOAT can only have 6 passengers. Now, having said that, I would still suggest you get a Masters license. The additional coursework will make you a more knowledgable sailor and more aware of USCG policies and procedures. I have my Master's license with additional "Sailing" and "Towing" endorsements. There are several good captains schools. I manage one such school in Corpus Christi, TX as a franchise of "Capt Roy's Marine Training". They have a great program and they have a location in Louisiana. Many schools offer 7-days-straight classes but my school breaks it up over 3 weekends. I prefer our schedule because you don't have to take a week off work and you have more time to absorb the information (less overload). I took a 7-day class many years ago and only remembered the information long enough to pass the test. I had to learn most of it all over again in preparation for teaching the classes. When you take the class, you will learn there are additional requirements for taking "paying" passengers. "Paying" doesn't only mean money, it includes any type of compensation/renumeration. You must carry "Type I (Offshore)" PFDs even if you only operate on inland waters. You must make safety announcements and/or information readily available every time you take someone out. Another thought... depending on your experience and background, once you have a Master's license, you might open your own captains school if there is a market in your area. Most of our customers are fishing guides. If you want more information, you may contact me via my web-site below. I hope no one thinks I'm trying to do business on this site. I greatly respect the work that Phil does and the invaluable resource that this site has provided me regarding my O'Day 27. I just hope that I can help someone else with what information I can provide without seeming a commercial endeavor. Good luck and fair winds, Capt James Cook
Moon Sailor, What we commonly call a 6-pack license is defined by the USCG as an "Operator of an Uninspected Passenger Vessel" license and you are limited to only 6 paying passengers. The "Master's" license allows you to take more than 6 passengers on "USCG Inspected Vessels" depending on the capacity of the vessel and the tonnage rating of your license. There are strict guidelines for a boat to be an "Inspected vessel". It must be inspected annually, it must have water-tight bulkheads, etc. etc. etc. etc.... Since most sailboats don't have water-tight bulkheads (there are some exceptions for large cruising catamarans) your boat will probably fall into the "Uninspected" category. As an uninspected vessel, you are limited to 6 passengers. It wouldn't matter if you had a 200-ton Masters license because the BOAT can only have 6 passengers. Now, having said that, I would still suggest you get a Masters license. The additional coursework will make you a more knowledgable sailor and more aware of USCG policies and procedures. I have my Master's license with additional "Sailing" and "Towing" endorsements. There are several good captains schools. I manage one such school in Corpus Christi, TX as a franchise of "Capt Roy's Marine Training". They have a great program and they have a location in Louisiana. Many schools offer 7-days-straight classes but my school breaks it up over 3 weekends. I prefer our schedule because you don't have to take a week off work and you have more time to absorb the information (less overload). I took a 7-day class many years ago and only remembered the information long enough to pass the test. I had to learn most of it all over again in preparation for teaching the classes. When you take the class, you will learn there are additional requirements for taking "paying" passengers. "Paying" doesn't only mean money, it includes any type of compensation/renumeration. You must carry "Type I (Offshore)" PFDs even if you only operate on inland waters. You must make safety announcements and/or information readily available every time you take someone out. Another thought... depending on your experience and background, once you have a Master's license, you might open your own captains school if there is a market in your area. Most of our customers are fishing guides. If you want more information, you may contact me via my web-site below. I hope no one thinks I'm trying to do business on this site. I greatly respect the work that Phil does and the invaluable resource that this site has provided me regarding my O'Day 27. I just hope that I can help someone else with what information I can provide without seeming a commercial endeavor. Good luck and fair winds, Capt James Cook
Moon sailor
Other than running your own charter business, a 6-pack is fairly useless. Have you ever considered a 100 Ton masters? I work in the Gulf, which is where I am now, I used to be a crew boat Capt, but now I work on platforms and rigs. I have been told that Crew boat and utility Boat Capts (100 Ton Masters) now make $500 per day. They usually work 14 days on and 7 days off or 14 and 14. You can work seasonal if you want. In your case, just work whenever you want. They are really desperate for Capts. Its a great retirement part time income job job. You can write your own sea time from your own personal boats.....they dont check on it. After you get your seatime from your own boat, the you will need I think 90 or 120 days on a vessel over 100 Tons. You can get I believe a 100 Ton Masters with a 50 Ton restriction until you get your tonnage in. That means you will get a job in the oil fields as a deckhand or engineer for several months and get your documentation and fill out form for an upgrade. I havent done it in about 15 years so things may have changed. Call a Sea School if you are interested, and they will tell you what you need. They are more helpful than the CG. There are acceptable exceptions that are hard to find in the laws, but they exist. For instance...If you work in the oilfields, you get 1 1/2 days credit of sea time for each day worked. You only get 1/2 day credit for each day spent on a smaller personal boat. A shrimp boat will get you 1 for 1 credit. FWIW Tony B
Other than running your own charter business, a 6-pack is fairly useless. Have you ever considered a 100 Ton masters? I work in the Gulf, which is where I am now, I used to be a crew boat Capt, but now I work on platforms and rigs. I have been told that Crew boat and utility Boat Capts (100 Ton Masters) now make $500 per day. They usually work 14 days on and 7 days off or 14 and 14. You can work seasonal if you want. In your case, just work whenever you want. They are really desperate for Capts. Its a great retirement part time income job job. You can write your own sea time from your own personal boats.....they dont check on it. After you get your seatime from your own boat, the you will need I think 90 or 120 days on a vessel over 100 Tons. You can get I believe a 100 Ton Masters with a 50 Ton restriction until you get your tonnage in. That means you will get a job in the oil fields as a deckhand or engineer for several months and get your documentation and fill out form for an upgrade. I havent done it in about 15 years so things may have changed. Call a Sea School if you are interested, and they will tell you what you need. They are more helpful than the CG. There are acceptable exceptions that are hard to find in the laws, but they exist. For instance...If you work in the oilfields, you get 1 1/2 days credit of sea time for each day worked. You only get 1/2 day credit for each day spent on a smaller personal boat. A shrimp boat will get you 1 for 1 credit. FWIW Tony B
Winter Project
We are planning to retire next summer and I was thinking of a winter project to make finances better after retirement. So the OUPV license seemed like a reasonable pursuit. I hadn't thought about working on the oil fields. Actually running an oil field boat sounds more interesting than sailing around with customers. I will check out the masters route. Do you have to keep a log of time on your boat?? I thought that you are allowed so much time per month just by owning a boat. I haven't kept a log but have owned this boat for 4 years and except for a 2 year gap have owned a sailboat for the last 17 years. Before that I owned wind surfers and day sailers for about 15 years.
We are planning to retire next summer and I was thinking of a winter project to make finances better after retirement. So the OUPV license seemed like a reasonable pursuit. I hadn't thought about working on the oil fields. Actually running an oil field boat sounds more interesting than sailing around with customers. I will check out the masters route. Do you have to keep a log of time on your boat?? I thought that you are allowed so much time per month just by owning a boat. I haven't kept a log but have owned this boat for 4 years and except for a 2 year gap have owned a sailboat for the last 17 years. Before that I owned wind surfers and day sailers for about 15 years.
Ownership doesn't count
The SCG wants to know your actual boating experience. This experience can be acquired on any licensed boat. In Texas, you have to register any vessel (other than manually powered) that is 14' or longer and any vessel that has a motor. So an 8' dingy with a motor is registered and can count toward sea service. I have attached a link to the USCG "Small Vessel Sea Service" form. You can also get a lot of information from their web site at: homeport.uscg.mil Documenting your sea service is the most grueling part of the whole process for some people. Good luck, Capt Cook
The SCG wants to know your actual boating experience. This experience can be acquired on any licensed boat. In Texas, you have to register any vessel (other than manually powered) that is 14' or longer and any vessel that has a motor. So an 8' dingy with a motor is registered and can count toward sea service. I have attached a link to the USCG "Small Vessel Sea Service" form. You can also get a lot of information from their web site at: homeport.uscg.mil Documenting your sea service is the most grueling part of the whole process for some people. Good luck, Capt Cook
Cap'n Jim
From my perspective, spamming is unsolicited advertising and danged annoying. Objective information that is responsive to a discussion is helpful. Knowing who among us is in a particular business that is related to a discussion thread should be considered valuable information when presented objectively...as yours was. Thanks for the information. I, for one, found it useful and informative. fair winds, cb
From my perspective, spamming is unsolicited advertising and danged annoying. Objective information that is responsive to a discussion is helpful. Knowing who among us is in a particular business that is related to a discussion thread should be considered valuable information when presented objectively...as yours was. Thanks for the information. I, for one, found it useful and informative. fair winds, cb
OJT mystery solved.
As far as OJT is concerned, its not that big of a deal. If you are a deckhand, some Capt's will let you steer and teach you to handle the boat and some wont. Most wont. Its a personality thing. No mystery here. So how do you get OJT? Simple, when you get your Capt's license, the boat Co. will make you a Capt. because they must have 2 on board every boat that runs more than 12 hours per day, which is just about every boat in the oil field. At this point, the other Capt has no choice but to train you if he values his sleep. Running 4 or six screws is not that complicated. Its kinda like learning to park a car. You will 'get it' in a relatively short period of time or not at all. Kinda like people that have been driving all their life and still can't park or are a driving hazard. Beyond a month or so, you should be just fine if you have average ability, coordination and decent depth perception. If you dont, then you will drive from point A to point B and the other Capt will have to load and unload cargo at sea. But you still will be a Capt and get Capt pay. Chuck could give not just mo info. but mo better info. Tony B
As far as OJT is concerned, its not that big of a deal. If you are a deckhand, some Capt's will let you steer and teach you to handle the boat and some wont. Most wont. Its a personality thing. No mystery here. So how do you get OJT? Simple, when you get your Capt's license, the boat Co. will make you a Capt. because they must have 2 on board every boat that runs more than 12 hours per day, which is just about every boat in the oil field. At this point, the other Capt has no choice but to train you if he values his sleep. Running 4 or six screws is not that complicated. Its kinda like learning to park a car. You will 'get it' in a relatively short period of time or not at all. Kinda like people that have been driving all their life and still can't park or are a driving hazard. Beyond a month or so, you should be just fine if you have average ability, coordination and decent depth perception. If you dont, then you will drive from point A to point B and the other Capt will have to load and unload cargo at sea. But you still will be a Capt and get Capt pay. Chuck could give not just mo info. but mo better info. Tony B
another point
If you are thinking of getting the Master's Lic. (which I think you should) complete the Masters Class and than send the documentation to the USCG. The fee will be the same for both licenses as it is of just the "6 pack". Keep in mind that there are costs in addition to the class cost. Physical, Drug testing, First aid, and CPR etc. I used Mariners School and would recomment them to anyone. Capt Chuck S/V Obsession Catalina 320 #114
If you are thinking of getting the Master's Lic. (which I think you should) complete the Masters Class and than send the documentation to the USCG. The fee will be the same for both licenses as it is of just the "6 pack". Keep in mind that there are costs in addition to the class cost. Physical, Drug testing, First aid, and CPR etc. I used Mariners School and would recomment them to anyone. Capt Chuck S/V Obsession Catalina 320 #114
log
mike mentions documentation that if you owned the boat for a master's license. don't you also need to produce a log and what items must the log contain to be acceptable? (ie date, times, body of water?)
mike mentions documentation that if you owned the boat for a master's license. don't you also need to produce a log and what items must the log contain to be acceptable? (ie date, times, body of water?)
answer for Lord Nelson
Clyde is NOT correct. You do not have to document time on an INSPECTED vessel. To obtain either license you must have a minimum of 360 days on a boat since age 15. Masters Lic. can be either "Inland" or Near Coastal". The "Near Coastal" requires 720 days of which 360 days off shore. A day is considered 4 hours. The USCG form has a calendar and you simply write down the number of days you were on the water for each month of each year. The form asks what area you have been sailing in. You have a different form for each boat you served on. If you are claiming time on a boat other than your own, the owner of that boat must attest to your service. You must also provide proof that each boat actually exists, ie. copy of registration, copy of insurance etc. Capt Chuck S/V Obsession Catalina 320 #114
Clyde is NOT correct. You do not have to document time on an INSPECTED vessel. To obtain either license you must have a minimum of 360 days on a boat since age 15. Masters Lic. can be either "Inland" or Near Coastal". The "Near Coastal" requires 720 days of which 360 days off shore. A day is considered 4 hours. The USCG form has a calendar and you simply write down the number of days you were on the water for each month of each year. The form asks what area you have been sailing in. You have a different form for each boat you served on. If you are claiming time on a boat other than your own, the owner of that boat must attest to your service. You must also provide proof that each boat actually exists, ie. copy of registration, copy of insurance etc. Capt Chuck S/V Obsession Catalina 320 #114
With a six-pack USCG license you can take
up to six paying passangers aboard your vessel. But now, don't forget your partners; the insurance company will hike your premium to compensate for the added or perceived liability. Your marina may consider a commercial tenant at a higher rate. Your local goverment will likely require an occupational license and the tax man will like to receive his fare share from percentage of sales. If selling drinks or alcohol aboard a vending or liqour license may be required. At the end of the year if the venture was profitable the federal and the state goverments will expect their share of your income. We had a recent incident locally of a person who got an occupational license as she wanted to sell drinks and food off her boat at a popular beach anchorage. Well an inspector happended to come by and shut her down and fined her. She produced the license but was told that the address on the license was not that of the beach and that the license only allowed her to sell goods at that specific location. She must have really gotten ugly as the news reported she bailed out of jail that night. Word to the wise, before you get the USCG license, check what your fixed costs are going to be, check all the business requirements and anticipate how much time you are going to charter and project your income to see if the venture is feasible and worthwhile.
up to six paying passangers aboard your vessel. But now, don't forget your partners; the insurance company will hike your premium to compensate for the added or perceived liability. Your marina may consider a commercial tenant at a higher rate. Your local goverment will likely require an occupational license and the tax man will like to receive his fare share from percentage of sales. If selling drinks or alcohol aboard a vending or liqour license may be required. At the end of the year if the venture was profitable the federal and the state goverments will expect their share of your income. We had a recent incident locally of a person who got an occupational license as she wanted to sell drinks and food off her boat at a popular beach anchorage. Well an inspector happended to come by and shut her down and fined her. She produced the license but was told that the address on the license was not that of the beach and that the license only allowed her to sell goods at that specific location. She must have really gotten ugly as the news reported she bailed out of jail that night. Word to the wise, before you get the USCG license, check what your fixed costs are going to be, check all the business requirements and anticipate how much time you are going to charter and project your income to see if the venture is feasible and worthwhile.
- Status