6 Pack info

[s/v Faith]

All,

  In the midst of everything else going on, I have signed up to take the exam to get my 6-pack next month.   I am considering taking the Masters test at the same time.

  Anyone else studing, or have their ticket?  I would like to know what helped you study, and hear any advise you might have.

  Thnx,

[Zen]

All,

  In the midst of everything else going on, I have signed up to take the exam to get my 6-pack next month.   I am considering taking the Masters test at the same time.

  Anyone else studing, or have their ticket?  I would like to know what helped you study, and hear any advise you might have.

  Thnx,

You take a test to get a 6 pack? ???

I thought you just went to the store and paid for it

or

You did a lot of situps & crunches  :-\

[Captain Smollett]

"Six Pack" is the slang term for the Operator of Uninspected Passenger Vessel, OUPV, which is the most basic Captain's License one can get.  It is called "six pack" because it licenses you to carry up to six passengers for hire.

Even at the "entry level" of Captain's Licenses, the Six Pack is very, very stringent.  Anyone with that ticket has earned the title Captain. imo, both via sea-time and by passing a rather thorough written examination.

You can see the formal requirement just to apply here, and as you can see, is pretty stringent.

[Zen]

Oh yeah. I was thinking about going for that at some point.

[AdriftAtSea]

I think I'd like to go for my six-pack at some point.

[Captain Smollett]

I KNOW I would, but right now it seems impossible if I am only logging about an average of about 1 legit sea day per month (if that).   At that rate, it will take me 30 years to get my time, with no hope of getting 90 days in a three year period. :(

Also, when I first started logging my time, at least 4 hours constituted a day; now it is 8 hours (or so I recall being told by a licensed Captain - JimB on TSBB), but I think that I site I linked to said 6??  I'm very confused about this.

Also, for operators of their own vessel, they don't require logs or any kind of authentication.  I really don't know how that is "measured," and I find it frustrating since I'm pretty sure I can pass the test (especially with a course), since I've done some of the practice questions available on the 'net.  But, I'll be the first to admit that 'book learning' is not all (or even half) there is to seamanship, so I don't want to take the sea-time requirement lightly.

Can anyone explain it that has been through the process?

That's one of the reasons I want to get a cruiser more suited to longer term outings for my family of four; I can log sea-days quicker with a few 1-2-3 week cruises per year than day sailing (or weekending) here and there when my wife happens to get a three day weekend.   ;) 

My goal as it stands right now is to hit a point when I can do 2-3 month cruises; if I'm teaching again long term, then I should be able to keep summers free.  One three month cruise per year and that sea time is less than four years away (adding in what I already have).

Why do I want a ticket?  Just to get it, really.  Sometimes I think about doing crewed charters, but EVERYTHING I've read about that has stated clearly that it is just not worth it - too much hassle and too little money (plus, when crunching my own numbers, I cannot see a way to make it profitable).  It'd be cool to have it to do deliveries (to pad the cruising kitty) and stuff like that.

[Captain Smollett]

  Anyone else studing, or have their ticket?  I would like to know what helped you study, and hear any advise you might have.

You may have these already, but here are some 'net resources:

Boat US Boater's Safety Course has some good general questions, including Rules of the Road and (very) basic navigation.  Not a bad way to spend a few minutes, and you get a Certificate that you can present to a Boat US site to take the practical (without having to sit through the actual class).

Mariner's School has some practice tests from their actual OUPV test bank, but it requires a password.

There were others that I have used (I don't recall ever needing a pw) for practice tests, but cannot find them with Google now.  One was fairly recenlty (sometime in 2006 iirc).

For practice navigation problems, Ocean Navigator Nav Problems and these vary from radar, celestial, basic speed-distance-time calculations, etc.  Some of them are very interesting.

This one seems to come highly rated, but I have never used it:  Sea Sources

Might one of the hard copy books, though expensive, be useful?  I've not looked at them.

[Captain Smollett]

Aha!!  I found one of them!

BoatFix Practice questions

[s/v Faith]

THanks man.  ;D

[Pixie Dust]

Craig, I know an old Salt and he always is telling me that if I want to get my 6 Pack, I should also get my Masters. ( his humble opinion)   He does a lot of deliveries and has been on boats all of his life.   That is his take on it.

[AdriftAtSea]

I'd agree with the old salt.  If you're going to take the exams for the six-pack, you might as well try and get your masters, even if it is a bit later...the masters allows you alot more flexibility if you're looking to work in the marine industry.

[s/v Faith]

Also, when I first started logging my time, at least 4 hours constituted a day; now it is 8 hours (or so I recall being told by a licensed Captain - JimB on TSBB), but I think that I site I linked to said 6??  I'm very confused about this.

  So are a lot of people.  Apparently this is because the requirements change by the station you apply through.  There is a move in the USCG to standardize it, but currently the basic opinion is that 1 day underway is any day that includes 4 hours underway.  Others have gotten credit for 2 days in a 24 hour period by logging time where 2, 4 hour periods were separated by time at the dock (some head boats have a morning and afternoon run).

  As for the masters liscence, you are required to have 2x as much sea time, and there are a few other test requirements and the displacement is limited to the size of the vessels you logged hours on.

[Norm]

The USCG OUPV License (6-pack) is pretty easy to get.  The Masters license is a bit more difficult.  They deal with different types of seagoing work.

There are lots of reference sources on line, of course.  Basically, the 6-pack is for unispected vessel operators.  The Master's is for inspected vessel operators.  I have a 6-pack as I have no intention or desire to be an inspected vessel operator.

I did not train with these guys but their web site says it all pretty well.
http://www.nemaritime.com/master25_50_100.html
http://www.nemaritime.com/oupvsixpack.html

The thing I remember from my course is that the class work and exam were hardly difficult.  Show up for class, study, pay attention, etc.  Stuff we tell our kids every day also applies to us!  The hassel begins afterwards getting the drug test, physical, letters of commendation, etc.  It took me a year (maybe working as a captain in the Caribbean did slow things down a bit) and cost another $2,000 by the time it was all done.  Now, you must get the STCW95 certificate... another $1,000.

All this so you can make $20/hr as a sailboat captain.  Oh... if you have an accident  you lose everything and go to jail.  Or, they execute you on the dock.  Your choice, I think.  (Pretty close but still tounge in cheek... OK?)

To top things off.  I sail foriegn a lot where the license is not recognized.  Hooray.  Serious sailors get the British RYA Yacht Master Certificate which is recognized everywhere but here.  The RYA exam actually takes you out on the water for a detailed practical exam.  Good sailors actually fail it!

The US certificate assumes you were sailing with a competent skipper who taught you wisely.  If Moe owned the boat, he could sign off on Larry and Curly's sea time forms.  My experience is that Moe often owns the boat.

I once worked in a place where a young top-quality sailing/cruising instructor worked hard and got his OUPV.  He became a captain and has slowly worked his way up to good paying jobs.  At the same place, a young office staffer pulled some time out of a hat, got his OUPV, landed a captain's job, and would bug us senior instructors for... shall we say... technical support.

Please take the certification seriously.  The incompetent degrade all of us. 

Best regards even though I am a bit cynical about this subject.

Norman

Note:  This is my week off and it is no fun.  Some other guy is sailing around in my boat.  That's about as satisfying as watching your wife go out on a date with another guy.  As a diversion, I should be putting my little boat project together.  It'd be like dating another!

[Norm]

apologies for not running the foregoing through spell check.

[Captain Smollett]

apologies for not running the foregoing through spell check.

Not to worry.  Speeel cheking before posting is not the strong suit of many of us.  Many of us have learned the power of the 'modify' button on our posts.   ;D

[Joe Pyrat]

"I respect a man who knows how to spell a word more than one way."
                                                                     - Mark Twain -

;)

[AdriftAtSea]

Norm-

Sorry to see here that Melissa is out... Do you know why the USCG won't recognize a RYA Yatchmaster certification?  Rather sad that they do not.

[Norm]

I do not know why the USCG and the Royal Yachting Association don't recognize one another's certificates or harmonize the certifications.  In Ft Lauderdale one can get into a program that certifies Americans only in RYA, USCG and STCW95.  Super yacht crew need the certifications.

I suspect some darn bureaucrat somewhere got his nose out of joint and put the kibosh on the whole thing.

Captain Dan:  Yes, Melissa is out on a training cruise with another instructor.  Frankly, it took me a long time to develop any affection at all for her.  But she's stolen my heart.  Back before 1999, we used J30s for the training courses.  Now there is a real sailboat!  My heart still skips a beat when I look in on the J30s.  Fickle sailorman?

[AdriftAtSea]

Do know what the program in Ft. Lauderdale is called?? I'd be interested in finding out more. :D  I'll be hauling the Pretty Gee out of the water in October, and I'm looking for   something to do this winter. ;)

[Fortis]

I can highly recommedn the yachtmaster program, Both Margaret and I did it a couple of years ago. It is in two parts. The classroom course and exam is first. Lots of navigation, heck...lots of pretty much everything. The exam is pretty brutal.
This gets youa  competent crew rating.

Then you are supposed to go out and gain a minimum of X hundred hours.

Then you can do the practical yachtmaster course. This is done with a certified inspector on HIS boat and is actually in some ways easier then the theoretical part that preceded it...In some ways.
For instance, the inspectors boat is almost always quirky in some way or another. In te case of the local guy he prop spun in the opposite direction to 98% of standard...so the massive prop-walk generated by backing his heavy steel boat out of the most challenging marina pen in the area was a little surprising!
The guy is also not above pulling the odd cotter pin from the rig or pulling a connection to generate a "strange" electrical fault. Part of the course is that you get to examine the boat like you were meeting it for the first time and doing a delivery across an ocean. Some people do not actually leave the dock for three days after they first set foot aboard as they check everything, conduct basic maintenaince and survey tasks and audit all safety gear. Once again, it can be brutal.
The practical course, if apporved by the inspector, culminates in another exam, which then nets you the yachtmaster ticket.

At this point, both Margaret and I have done all of the course apart form the last exam in my case and apart from the practical and exam in Margaret's case. I have four years in which to sit the exam...I pretty much know I need to almost go back and start form scratch in order to have all the information floating around shiny and new in my forebrain. Oh well...



Alex.

(I actually asked the inspector if his prop spun in the standard direction and when it had been last inspected and had annodes checked....I was taking my shoes off at the time and had every intention of diving off to take a look in mid-winter 10degree C water. The guy took pity and answered the questions rather then have me go hyperthermic)