"Crvvvw" wrote
1. A 25 ton is the lowest ticket the USCG will give regardless of how small a
boat you have sea time on. If all your time was on an 18 foot Boston Whaler,
you still get a 25 ton license.

Except, of course, the 6-pack.


2. If you own a boat, you can attest to your own sea time. The USCG never
checks. All you have to do is prove you owned the boat. You can then fill in
any amount of sea time and put in any location you want, even if all you did
was to live aboard at a mooring and never went anywhere. Heck, you don't
even have to own a boat! You can have a friend sign off on your papers saying
you were on their boat for X number of days. The more days you claim, the
higher the license you can get...i.e. a Masters instead of just a 6 Pack.
Bottom line: NO PRACTICAL KNOWLEDGE NEEDED, NO EXPERIENCED REQUIRED !!


But that would be perjury. I'm sure there are many cases of stretching a bit,
but I've never heard of a case of total fabrication. And what would be gained?
Are you going to get a job with zero experience?


3. All sections of the test are multiple choice. All the possible questions,
and all the correct answers; and this includes the chart work, are available
to
anyone. To pass the test you need only memorize the correct answers. You
don't have to know or understand a thing. Most of the test is open book
anyway.

Yes, the thousands of possible questions answers are available. Many of them
are worded similarly. It would be impossible for most people to memorize them
all without learning something. And the rules test does require a rather good
understanding - which is why I wonder if Neal actually took it.

While much of the test is open book, that doesn't make it easy when the book is
46CFR.

And if its so easy, why do a third of the candidates fail the first try?


4. Near Coastal or Inland? Almost anybody who boats on the east coast will
get a Near Coastal, because they leave inland waters as soon as they claim to
have gone outside of the inlet. Only boaters around New England and the
Chesapeake have problems.

"Only boaters in New England and the Chesapeake" covers a significant portion of
the East Coast. You can cruise your whole life from Maine to Norfolk, and never
go outside the line, except for brief stints in New Jersey. Or inside of the
Outer Banks. Same for the Florida Keys, including the outside channel.

snip

6. Getting a license is really nothing more than getting a piece of
government
paper and, for some perhaps, an ego trip. In the U.S. it has no meaning other
than to say you most likely fudged your application, paid to go to Sea School,
and are good at memorization. It has nothing whatsoever to do with
competency.
At least with an automobile you have to take a road test to get a driver's
license.

Well, there's some truth, though I think your exaggerating that applications are
fudged. I've seen a number of class groups and didn't see anyone that didn't
have a reasonable amount of experience. About a third were professional
fishermen with years of time, who needed some alternate means of income. A
third were delivery captains or paid crew or ex-Coasties who needed the ticket
to further their career, and a third were long-time yachties that wanted
bragging rights and the occasional 6-pack charter.

Merry Christmas, everyone, I'm off to Florida for a week.

-jeff