CuriousRambler
Contributor
I've been surfing around other threads just getting an idea of how things work...I'm at very best a few years from buying a boat, but I'm interesting in learning what needs to be done now to see if I can get a headstart. I've grown up around smaller boats like ski boats and bass fishing boats, both on the great lakes and smaller mountain lakes in Montana, so I'm not *completely* fresh, but I definitely wouldn't venture as far as to call myself 'experienced' at all.
I saw in another thread that for larger boats like charters, to get licensed you need so many days of "on the water experience" or something. For that, do you need to be working on the boat, or simply there? It seemed like an incredibly high number if it's not your job to work on the water, something like 750 days. I'm sure someone will know what I'm talking about better than I do. The thing I was really curious about is if I go out as a paying customer on a charter, can I get the boat operator to sign off as having been on the water for that day as "experience"?
What are the classes of licensing for different boats, obviously there will be different requirements for a commercial operation than if I've got a catamaran for my family or something similar, right? Where's a good place to start for information on licensing and the regulations around operating boats near land. What changes if I want to venture farther out (other than the obvious of a boat that can handle the abuse..)?
I saw in another thread that for larger boats like charters, to get licensed you need so many days of "on the water experience" or something. For that, do you need to be working on the boat, or simply there? It seemed like an incredibly high number if it's not your job to work on the water, something like 750 days. I'm sure someone will know what I'm talking about better than I do. The thing I was really curious about is if I go out as a paying customer on a charter, can I get the boat operator to sign off as having been on the water for that day as "experience"?
What are the classes of licensing for different boats, obviously there will be different requirements for a commercial operation than if I've got a catamaran for my family or something similar, right? Where's a good place to start for information on licensing and the regulations around operating boats near land. What changes if I want to venture farther out (other than the obvious of a boat that can handle the abuse..)?