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OUPV (aka Six-Pack, Hundred Ton or Charter Boat Captain)

The OUPV is called a six pack because it allows you to take up to six passengers for hire plus crew.

If you want to take up to six passengers for hire on your boat, assuming it’s an uninspected vessel, you need the OUPV license.  This is the basic Charter Boat Captain’s license you may have heard called the “Six Pack” (because it allows you to take up to six passengers in addition to crew). This level of license qualifies you to handle a vessel up to 100 tons (about 75 to 100 feet in length).  It’s the license required by sailing instructors, charter fishermen, assistance towing operators, dive operators, cruising boat charter captains, and delivery captains.

Caution: Before considering carrying "passengers for hire" on a recreational vessel, check with your insurance carrier!

This license requires knowledge in four areas of seamanship:

  1. Deck general
  2. Rules of the Road
  3. Navigation
  4. Chart Plotting

There are four distinct segments of learning, requiring 64 hours of classroom instruction, and four multiple choice tests of varying lengths at the end.  You must pass all four segments.  For Rules of the Road you must have a score of 90% or better.  The others you can pass with a grade of 70% correct.

Most schools provide online sample tests, which are pulled from their database. However, we found that by studying the tests in the workbooks ensured that we did not miss any potential questions, which we found was quite likely using the online tests which pulled questions at random and did not necessarily cover all the bases.

You can find sample tests for all the levels and endorsements at this address: https://www.uscgexamprep.com/app/practice?category=Deck

There are multiple other qualifications that you need to fulfill besides passing the tests to secure the USCG license.  Included are the following:

    • Sea time documentation
    • Valid First Aid Certification
    • Valid CPR Certification
    • Medical fitness examination, including hearing and vision tests
    • Drug testing
    • Finger printing
    • Three Character references (notarized)

Let’s look at each of these individually.

For the OUPV, a minimum of 360 days of documented experience is required on the water from 15 years of age. 90 days of this has to be within the last 3 years.  A day onboard a vessel is defined as 4 to 8 hours underway, not at a dock or mooring (more than 8 hours does not count for a second day).  The Coast Guard is looking for honesty in your documentation.  If you owned your own vessel and can prove it with any identification that shows time of ownership and vessel registration numbers (e.g., bills of sale, documentation, registrations), you can sign the forms yourself.  If you served on someone else’s vessel, they will have to sign the forms for you.  If you are no longer able to contact the owner, someone who served with you or has personal knowledge of your service can vouch for you.

There are three categories of OUPV: 

  1. Inland
  2. Great Lakes and Inland
  3. Near Coastal.
Perhaps you'd like to crew for a charter company like the Moorings in some exotic destination.

The requirements are the same for all three except that the Near Coastal requires a minimum of 90 days of the 360 to be offshore and allows you to take passengers up to 100 miles offshore whereas the others are restricted to inland charters.  Inland waters are defined as anywhere on the lakes, rivers and bays inside the Inland demarcation lines.  Offshore is simply outside these lines – and that includes any sea time in foreign (non US) waters.

To qualify for the license, you must also provide a number of additional documents:

  • You must have valid proof of CPR and First Aid certification.  The CPR certifications are good for one year and First Aid for three years.  These are simple courses you can take from the Red Cross, American Heart Association, or at your local adult school. There are also several online certifications available, but you should check that they are acceptable before spending any money.
  • You must also have a current physician’s exam certification, showing that your hearing and vision are within acceptable standards.  It must also state that you do not have any conditions that might hamper your performance as captain. 
  • You need to take a drug test.  To do this at a local medical laboratory, such as Quest Diagnostics, you must first obtain a “Chain of Custody form” from an organization such as the Mariner’s Consortium. You can also access a list of drug testing service agents as issued by the Coast Guard at: http://www.uscg.mil/hq/g-m/moa/serpro.htm.

    If you intend to use your license actively, you must also submit to a random drug testing program. 
  • You need three notarized character references.  These are essentially one paragraph letters from people who have known you well and who can attest to the fact that you are an upstanding citizen and would make a responsible licensed captain.

Once you have collected all the above documentation, you need to take it and submit it to your designated Coast Guard Regional Exam Center (REC). 

  • You need to be fingerprinted at the REC using their ‘live scan’ computer system that is linked directly to the FBI (this is new as of Friday January 13). You need to present at least two acceptable forms of ID plus copies of these to prove your identity. These include your driver’s license, Social Security card, and your Birth Certificate as issued by a municipality (not a hospital-issued cert). A valid passport may substitute for a birth certificate.

    At that time you will also be administered the required oath.

There are individuals who can file the paperwork for you for a fee.  They are also experts in fine details of the paperwork and will ensure that your package is complete, thereby saving any unnecessary delays due to incomplete submissions. But you will still have to appear at a REC in person for the fingerprinting and oath.

The license is good for five years at which time it must be renewed with some additional paperwork.  At that time you can submit additional sea time to qualify for offshore upgrades. As before, you must have at least 90 days sea time in the past three years to qualify for renewal.  A follow-up physical exam and drug tests may also be required.  

Interestingly, mariners were applying for renewal up to a year before expiration just to make sure any backlog didn’t hold it up.  The date of renewal is, however, the date the renewal is issued not the date the original expires.  So many mariners did not have the use of a full five years despite paying for it.  The Coast Guard has now made provisions for that but YOU HAVE TO ASK FOR YOUR RENEWAL DATE TO BE AS CLOSE AS POSSIBLE TO THE EXPIRATION DATE OF YOUR CURRENT LICENSE at the time of application for renewal.

Click here to view this information in chart form.

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