Time requirement for getting your Captain's License - The Hull Truth

MarinersSchool · 12-28-2007, 08:46 AM

There is a lot of confusion on the time that is actually required for getting your Captain's License... Here are the facts:

You are required to have a total of 360 days experience on board a boat since you were 15 years old. 90 of those days need to be in the last three years. As little as 4 hours on a boat can be considered one day. And in one 24 hour period you can claim just one day of sea service time. If you own the boat yourself you sign off your own time. If your time was spent on friends or families boats they can sign the time off for you. Your time does not need to be signed off by a licensed Captain and in fact you do not even need to be operating the boat yourself for this time to count.

This is basically an honor system which the Coast Guard will accept your best guess... You are not required to submit log books. If you choose to use one of our courses Mariners School will provide you with a Sea Service form and guidance on how to properly fill it out. This is basically a form that looks like a calendar... In each month there are 5 slots... Each of these slots represent a month of your choice... You simply make a best guess as to how many days you were out on a boat for a particular month... Once the total of days is greater than 360 you have now met the Coast Guards time requirement for getting your Captain's License.

For those of you looking to get your license there is more information in the Mariners School forum Getting your Captain's License Fact vs. Fiction on this site...

rbhankins001 · 12-28-2007, 09:04 AM

SPAMMER!

MarinersSchool · 12-28-2007, 12:01 PM

As far as your SPAM concerns... I support this site financially by being a premium sponsor... I did not post an ad for my organization... What I did do though is provide accurate information and directed interested readers to other areas on this site to gain additional details for earning their Captain's License...

I do not wish to offend and am careful with what I do post and how often... My goal is to provide expert and accurate information on this topic...

Snapper Head · 12-28-2007, 12:12 PM

Quote:

MarinersSchool - 12/28/2007 10:01 AM

As far as your SPAM concerns... I support this site financially by being a premium sponsor... I did not post an ad for my organization... What I did do though is provide accurate information and directed interested readers to other areas on this site to gain additional details for earning their Captain's License...

I do not wish to offend and am careful with what I do post and how often... My goal is to provide expert and accurate information on this topic...

Capt. Figular,

You indeed posted an ad for your organization. The lead-in was slick enough, but clearly dictates that you are generating business first, information second. You stated that there is a great deal of misunderstanding about time requirements for obtaining a Capt's License; while this may be the case, posting that "information" in most of the forum spaces when the question was not asked of you by any member, and then following it up with introductions to your products, and closing with all of the necessary contact information contained in your signature; all of this equates to an advertisement; not a simple provision of information.

I recognize that you are a sponsor and your goal is to generate business. You may choose to admit to that path as opposed to dumbing down your intent to the membership. We may be idiots, but only of few of us are stoopid.

Big Al

MarinersSchool · 12-28-2007, 09:02 PM

Big Al,

In less than 7 hours a total of 396 people have read my post... I think the members of this online community have spoken loud and clear that they were indeed interested in the clarification of the time requirement... I also receive 9 additional pm's requesting more clarification...

Being a sponsor of these forums my contact information would be displayed no matter what I was posting or replying to... I am in business to generate revenue... This is true... However, my intentions were clear and honest with these posts... My primary goal was to provide information if this in turn ended up with a member deciding to use my organization to help them get their Captain's License then so be it...You can choose to see them any way you choose... I am here to provide a service to thehulltruth.com community...

I support the hulltruth.com community financially because I feel that these forums can provide a great resource to a large cross section of the boating life style... When I am advertising there will be no mistaking my intentions... I pay for a vehicle to support those efforts... And it is in that forum on this site you will see my posts that are focused on generating additional clients...

Over time I hope you will be able to recognize the value of my input on these forums... I will continue to provide accurate information with or without your support...

I do not wish to offend and am careful with what I do post and how often... My goal is to provide expert and accurate information on this topic... Nothing more nothing less... No hidden agenda here...

Snapper Head · 12-28-2007, 09:13 PM

Capt Figular,

I reckon we won't necessarily see eye to eye on this particular post. I'm stoopid, but not unreasonable, so I will take you at your word, as there is no evidence/reason to doubt you.

I do think that claiming the number of views to equate to interest might be overstating it a bit. Tons of threads get viewed without any reply or futher input. You got the 9 pm's, and that is the meat of the matter.

I wish you success.

Big Al

Sleeper · 12-29-2007, 04:10 PM

INTERNET COURSE LICENSING??

The under funding and over taxing of the USCG has really gotten to an all time low. Used to be you had to go to the REC to take all exams, no cheating, no help, strict time enforcement, charting exercises were closely scrutinized. Then the schools were allowed to administer the tests, now you can just go on line. The back bone of every training school has now become their library of USCG test questions. The pass rates will always be good when you give every question and correct answer to all the students.

Why don't they just go to issuing the license to anyone with a drivers license and be done with it. Passing tests is now nothing more than constant question and answer review using the actual questions on the test. Now we go to internet school??? How can it possibly be verified that anyone actually did not cheat from their house? How is the plotting exam given?

What a shame.

MarinersSchool · 12-29-2007, 10:03 PM

The online program went through a thorough 5 month course review with the Coast Guard in Washington, DC... A person seeking their license can take the program on line in the comfort of their own home to learn and gain the required knowledge... However, when you test you must take a proctored exam which also requires the candidate to provide a form of approved identification... To ensure the person applying for the license is actually taking the test... No different then if you went to a Coast Guard Regional Exam Center...

The tests are also closely reviewed and are required to meet the Coast Guards requirement of being similar in scope and degree of difficulty to their own...

So where is the problem... In the old days you were required to study at home with little or no guidance... It was not unusual for a license candidate to take a year or more of studying various topics that were most likely not on their final exam nor would this information make them safer on the water... The cost of study material was nearly $1000.00 and many of the publications required to study for the test were not being published any longer...

Many professionals earn their college degree online... This is a perfectly acceptable process in the business world... Many men and women currently hold a college degree without ever setting foot on a college campus... Has this eroded the educational process...Why would it be unacceptable for technology to be used to improve the method of studying required information to earn your Captain's License.

The sea service and other requirements are still in place... Cheating during a proctored test whether it is given by the Coast Guard or Mariners School will result in the same actions taken against that individual... The testing room and testing proctor must meet the Coast Guards requirements...

The plotting element is exactly the same and I can not speak for other schools, however, Mariners School reviews all plotting work sheets and ensures they correspond to the answers provided... The client cannot use scientific calculators and is required to take a closed book test...

By approving this process the Coast Guard can closely monitor and control the minimum information a licensed Captain would be required to learn during the process...

In fact Mariners School goes through an extensive Coast Guard audit each and every year.... Any major discrepancies will result in Mariners School loosing its Coast Guard Approval... If this were to occur this would literally be a loss of millions of dollars invested in my company and possibly me spending time in a Federal Prison...

So... How the process was better when a candidate was required to study without the assistance of an approved course whether online or in a classroom is just something that escapes me.

I cannot speak for how others run their companies.... Mariners School prides itself on teaching understanding not the test... When you EARN your Captain's License using Mariners School it is an accomplishment that is something to be proud of...

Our classroom courses are currently enjoying a 98.7% success rate... As the owner of Mariners School the most important thing to me about our success rate is that my instructors never see their classes final exam... We currently use 18 different tests which are re-written and approved by the Coast Guard every year... The test for any particular class is randomly selected on the day of the test...

Until you experience a full grown man break down in tears or picking you up in a bear hug that will take your breath away after being informed that he has now passed the testing portion of the licensing process... You will never understand the total satisfaction I get from doing what I do as a professional or the pride I take in Mariners School...

Mariners School is a professional organization that meets the highest standards of both the Coast Guard and self imposed standards... The instructors that work for my organization also are all required to be Coast Guard Licensed Masters... They must not only meet the requirements of the Coast Guard but also participate in a training program with a senior instructor... Once the training is completed the senior instructor must sponsor the new instructor... Each class they teach is closely monitored and a student evaluation is filled out by each student at the course end...

Bottom line ... When you are evaluating the quality of any of Mariners School's Coast Guard approved programs online or class room you are at best poorly informed about my organization and the process used to not only meet but exceed the highest educational standards...

Sleeper you need to wake up and realize you are no better or any worse than any other USCG Licensed Merchant Mariner Officer who earned their license in a manner that may have differed from the process you choose to take... No matter if they went directly to a REC; Coast Guard approved classroom course or now participated in a Coast Guard Approved online course....