I have spent about 4 years working as a dockmastr/launch driver etc. I was on the docks tying up and dealing with boats in one way or another for about 50-60 hours a week. Anyway, I was under the impression that my time wouldn’t count toward sea time. Recently a captain i’m friends with said that every day would count towads half a day, 4 hours. I honestly spent about 20-30 hours a week driving a little ten foot tender, 45 foot ex navy launch boats, sailboats, mega yachts, everything. I was told i should just get a letter from my emplyer saying how much I did and how much I did and then get it sent to the coastguard.
any input is appreciated. Like I said I easily spent half of every day on a boat of one kind or another.
You want an honest answer, or what the CG wants to hear?
Have your employer write up a sea service letter for say 12 different boats (because you need official numbers, and info about them) with all the total days totalling each of the days you worked. Don’t mention that you hopscotch around from boat to boat. Keep it simple.
Now if you want the official answer, you have to have the official numbers from each and every boat. Sound realistic?
Wait a sec… Launch driver. So you have a license? Then that time is specifically permissible. Use that vessels time and tonnage. If you are operating a launch without a license… well you know the answer to that!
This is a quibble but “land work” seems like a lubbery phrase to my ear, “shore-side” is better but that’s not really what you are doing either. It sounds like what you have is boat handling experience. There is a lot more to seamanship then that although that skill is the most highly regarded amongst some.
Also - better to avoid getting cross-threaded with the Coast Guard if possible. You might want to consider playing it straight.
[QUOTE=Kennebec Captain;71522]This is a quibble but “land work” seems like a lubbery phrase to my ear, “shore-side” is better but that’s not really what you are doing either. It sounds like what you have is boat handling experience. There is a lot more to seamanship then that although that skill is the most highly regarded amongst some.
Also - better to avoid getting cross-threaded with the Coast Guard if possible. You might want to consider playing it straight.
K.C.[/QUOTE]
I am trying to play it as straight as possible while also not selling myself short.
I guess boat handling really is what i do on a daily basis, whether it be docking mega yachts or driving a launch I’m always on board something either driving or lending a hand in some way. I routinely move a 85ft seasonal yacht around the marina when no captain is around in order to make space for other arriving boats. Given It’s only within a marina It seems to take a good amount of skill to maneuver it in spaces where I may times have less than five feet between it and anther vessel
no i am not THE launch driver, I use the launch to take care of work around the marina in the harbor, travel to other sites for work, maybe bring some coworkers to a job site, that kind of thing. I did not have the six pack or OUPV or whatever, which is why I did not drive the launch for yacht club members.
i realized that my major problem is that I simply do not have a very consistent 8 hours on a boat. some days it’s 6 hours of my day but it’s hopping between one place and another.
[QUOTE=DeckApe;71620]So you’re a passenger on a launch and want seatime for it?[/QUOTE]
My reading was he operates the launch as needed but doesn’t with passengers. He sometimes drives the bus as required for work but is not THE Bus Driver
Doesn’t understand the terminology.A ‘launch’ carries passengers for hire. He simply uses it in a ‘work boat’ mode while working at a marina. That may be enough to screw up a seatime letter. Written wrong with the wrong terminology is a killer too. I had the same trouble as a kid. I couldn’t figure out how to use seatime from all the different boats I worked on at a marina. Some days I would work on 5 to 8 boats. Somedays I would tow (under 26’ workboat) 10 boats to and from the marina. I finally had the yacht yard owner write a letter for sea time on just the workboat. All 4.5 tons of it! All the different yachts were too complicated to figure out.
This is like saying he drives the bus, but he IS the bus driver! But the bus in this case is a multi-use vessel. However as far as the CG sea service letter goes the terminology must be right or this will cause havoc during the app process.
It would be like a tankerman going in to renew their PIC with a sea service letter saying they were 'barge captain.) That is a title that doesn’t officially exist. Although some use it, the proper term for such service is Tankerman, PIC.
[QUOTE=lemurian;71638]Tank3355:
Why don’t you use Small Vessel Sea Service forms to document your time?/[/QUOTE]
First where do I get them?
Second, I didn’t realize what I was doing at the time counted as sea time, I always pictured it as being on a big boat for an 8 hour work day, not jumping on a launch and towing a broken boat to the shipyard 2 hours down the river, or shuffling yachts around the marina for a couple hours.
I’d rather just get legit sea time, i’v ehad lots of offers from captains who are friends willing to sign me off for whatever, they claim “everyone does it” but I was in the military and saw that cooking the books doesn’t go over well. .
So how do I count my legitimate sea time?
I am starting to think I’m a little screwed.
I’m just trying to get to my AB OSV because I’ve contacted a few companies and they have said they’d be interested in me if I had that.
Your seatime from these various boats inside the harbor probably is legitimate “Inland Route” seatime. Your seatime is of an unusual nature, but it still appears to be valid seatime. Your problem is how to properly describe and present this seatime to the USCG in the proper form.
If you have military seatime that can be another puzzle that oyu’ll need to figure out.
The way I read it, you must be away from the dock for 4 hours.
Not 1 hour away, back to the dock for 2, 3 hours away and back for 2.
That’s not 4 hours away from the dock, although it is 4 hours on a boat.
J.D. Cavo could you clear that up?
Kinda like 8 hours on watch and 4 hours O/T ain’t a 12 hour day.
Service On Vessels That Do Not Get Underway:
This includes vessels that are actually in
operation but do not get underway and whose service is
mandated by the vessel’s Certificate of Inspection (COI).
(1) Engineering department:
Dockside service may be credited day-for-day for renewals,
upgrades, recency, and original license/Merchant Mariner Document (MMD).
[QUOTE=seadog!;71684]Service On Vessels That Do Not Get Underway:
This includes vessels that are actually in
operation but do not get underway and whose service is
mandated by the vessel’s Certificate of Inspection (COI).
(1) Engineering department:
Dockside service may be credited day-for-day for renewals,
upgrades, recency, and original license/Merchant Mariner Document (MMD).
[QUOTE=tank3355;71688]I am more confused now than I was before lol[/QUOTE]
It really doesn’t matter because if you had ever been a required crewmember on an inspected vessel you would know what it means.
Just get a small boat sea service form and start filling in the blanks. If that isn’t possible then try to write a CV that supports your enthusiasm and experience and try to get an OS job on something you can earn legitimate sea time. It is more trouble than it’s worth to play games with sea time and in the end you won’t fool anyone other than the CG and they aren’t the ones you will be working with.