How to get a captain's license: what I'd tell a new deckhand

A captain's license is the easy part. I know that sounds backwards to a deckhand staring at a pile of Coast Guard forms, but it's what I'd tell you on the dock.

The paperwork is slow and annoying. It's also a checklist, and checklists can be finished. The part that makes you safe to run a boat full of guests doesn't come in an envelope.

The path I took on the boat was deckhand, then first mate, then captain, on my parents' boats at Eagle Tours, running cruise ship and hotel guests out to the beaches and reefs. I didn't skip a rung. Paper route first, since that's what you searched for. Then the part nobody puts on a form.

Six-pack or Master: pick the right US license first

If you're working on US-flagged boats, the license is really an endorsement on a Merchant Mariner Credential, and the National Maritime Center processes it. Two endorsements to compare.

• OUPV, the "six-pack." Operator of Uninspected Passenger Vessels. It covers uninspected boats under 100 GRT carrying six or fewer passengers, including at least one for hire.
• Master. For inspected passenger boats with a Coast Guard Certificate of Inspection, you're in Master territory. Small-boat limits of 25, 50 or 100 GRT depend on documented vessel tonnage and sea time.

Route matters too. Inland, Great Lakes and near coastal are different endorsements with different sea-time rules. The NMC also says no OUPV endorsement is valid for international voyages. If your trip crosses into BVI water, that's a conversation to have before you book it.

Sea time is the part you can't shortcut

For the six-pack, the baseline is 360 days operating vessels. The current near coastal checklist accepts at least 90 on ocean, near coastal or Great Lakes waters. A day normally means eight hours; below 100 GRT, NMC may accept four or more if the operating schedule warrants it. Check how it counts your days.

Master near coastal under 100 tons is a bigger ask. The current checklist calls for 720 days, with inland time able to cover up to half.

Recent time counts too. Coast Guard Policy Letter 02-25, effective September 12, 2025, accepts 90 qualifying days in the last seven years for national officer endorsements, rather than three for non-military service. Read the current checklist the week you apply, not a forum post from 2019.

So start logging now. Every trip. Get the owner or captain to sign your sea service letter while they still remember you. Chasing a signature from an owner who sold up and left the island is a total nightmare.

Medical, drug test, TWIC and the exam

• Medical certificate. A physical on the CG-719K form, with the Coast Guard strict on things like vision, including color vision.
• Drug test. Show a negative DOT test within six months or accepted exemption evidence. Running paying guests also means participating in a random testing program.
• TWIC. The TSA issues it, not the Coast Guard, and you can't get an original credential without at least applying for one. Tell them it's for a merchant mariner credential.
• First aid and CPR. First aid completed within one year; valid CPR.
• The exam, or an approved course. You can sit the Coast Guard exam at a Regional Exam Center, or take a Coast Guard approved course whose final exam is accepted in place of it.

Minimum age is 18 for OUPV and 19 for these Master routes. Master requires US citizenship; non-US citizens can get OUPV limited to vessels not documented under US law. Check NMC's current fees and processing times before budgeting.

Working in the islands? Check local first

Everything above is US Coast Guard, relevant to US-flagged passenger boats in the USVI. Elsewhere in the islands, check the applicable rules.

On the Dutch side of St. Maarten, the French side, in the BVI and in Anguilla, each place has its own maritime authority and its own idea of which certificates count for a commercial passenger boat. A US license might be accepted somewhere, partly accepted, or not count at all on a local boat. Call the local maritime authority, and ask the operator you want to work for what they need you to hold.

What the license doesn't teach you

I'd hire a mate with years on the boat and a fresh license over a course graduate with a perfect exam score and no deck time. Every time. The exam proves you can read a chart. It doesn't prove you'll make the right call at 7am.

A few things separate a captain from a license holder.

The weather call. Christmas Winds, a squall line over Anguilla, a swell that turns a snorkel stop into a washing machine. A new captain wants to go because the guests are excited and the office already took the money. A good one cancels or changes the spot early, before anyone's standing in the marina parking lot. Moving the booking is the easy part (if you're on Junglebee, the rescheduling can be automatic). Saying no to 40 happy people is the hard part.

Reading the crowd. Cruise ship guests on a clock are a different trip from a hotel group that wants to stay out all afternoon. Spot the guest who's had too much rum punch before the swim stop, not after.

The mate. Your mate sees the lines, the ladder, the kid near the stern. A captain who barks at his mate has a crew that stops telling him things.

Before I'd give a new captain the boat

If you're an owner, the license is the minimum, not the green light. Before I'd put someone new at the wheel with guests aboard, I'd want:

• Time as mate on your boat. Your boat and your anchorages, not just any boat.
• A few runs with you or a senior captain beside them, where they make every call and you only step in if you have to.
• One blown-out morning where they made the cancel call themselves and handled the guests well.
• Their mate's honest opinion. Ask quietly. Mates know.

Then check the paperwork is current: credential, medical, drug testing, and TWIC where required. Make sure the endorsement matches the waters you actually run. Your insurer may ask about it too.

That's the path I'd point any new deckhand toward. Log the days, get the paper, then spend real time as somebody's mate. The license lets you take the wheel. The years on deck are what get your guests home.