T&T: 6-pack license advisability?

[Pascal Gademer]

afaik there are no significant downside except the time it takes and all the 
paperwork... i know that some argue that licensed captains are held to a 
higher standards in case of an accident, that's possible but i've never seen 
any evidence of that. Being licensed doesn't change how you run your boat, 
it's only when you run a boat with passengers for hire that you have to 
follow whatever rules apply.

i'm going thru the process right now, just passed the 100t master upgrade 
this afternoon, did the 6 pack last week.

if you dont' need it, i'd be tempted to tell you to save the time and $... I 
took the classes at one of the better known school and found them to be just 
"we'll get you to pass" deal.  nothing more.  I was hoping to learn somehing 
but the course fell short.  It was good to refresh knowledge of the ROR and 
plotting but i coudl have done that on my own.

the test is a joke...  like  "you are leaving point x at 1000, travelling at 
10kts, going to point B 15nm away."  you will reach point B at ? ... 1030, 
1100, 1130 or 1200.  or this one on the 100t master this afternoon... you 
are anchoring in 12' of water with 6:1 scope.. you should use....  42', 48', 
60', 72' of anchor cable !  I'm not making this up, that was one of the 50 
questions on the test !   never mind that scope is depth + bow height + tide 
... not just water height :-)

in addition to passing the exam (which you can do at the USCG if you want to 
do it on your own and not thru a school), you also need a physical, 
CPR/First aid class and drug test...  the CPR/first aid has to be done every 
1 to 2 years and you must be on a random drug testing program for your 
license to be valid.

if you're going to do charters on board a documented boat, you need to 
change the documentation to commercial and put the boat name on the bow... 
and the boat need to be US built or you need an exemption for 6 pack vessel.

abroad, you have to follow whatever rules they're using in that country...

pascal
miami, fl
70 hatteras 53MY

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Janice Marois" <janice at janice142.com>
To: <trawlers-and-trawlering at lists.samurai.com>
Sent: Wednesday, July 25, 2007 9:28 AM
Subject: T&T: 6-pack license advisability?


> For outside the US, is there a reason why Frank should have a 6-pack
> license? Is there a reason NOT to have one here?
>
> I know we/he could charter/increase income. It's not the money thing.
>
> Do you have a license? Are you glad of it?
> What benefits do you see with the piece of paper? And detriments?
> My concern is with "rules" that the big guys (er, licensed captains)
> must follow versus a regular cruising couple.
>
> J (and F)
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