I've often wondered about this. Of course, technically, if anybody
pays you anything to take them out on your boat, you need to have the
6-pack license, at least. But in many cases, it's like driving 31 in a
30, or not reporting that 50 bucks you won on your tax return; just
don't say anything and don't worry about it.

Say, for example, I'm down at the coast getting ready to take my center
console out a few miles to some oil rigs for some fishing. A couple in
the hotel room next door is having a dull trip and wonders if they
could run out there with me. They say, "hey, we'll throw in a hundred
bucks to help cover gas and bait; we don't want to leech."

What if it's not even that obscure? Suppose a couple of guys in my
office want to come down to the coast with me to go out in my boat, and
they all pitch in on the cost? Jack says he'll split the cost of the
gas. Robert says he'll buy the bait. Does that warrant a license? I'm
sure that if it ever came up for question, we'd just play it cool and
deny everything.

It seems to me that if taken to its literal extreme, the license
requirement states that whoever is piloting the boat MUST pay for
EVERYTHING, which isn't very realistic.

Ron M.