Last updated 2026-08-21
TL;DR
A six-pack captain holds a Coast Guard OUPV endorsement and may carry no more than six passengers for hire on an uninspected vessel under 100 gross tons. You start by logging defensible sea service, then TWIC, a CG medical, a Part 16 drug test, first aid and CPR, an approved course or REC exam, and an NMC filing. Confirm current forms and fees with the National Maritime Center before you pay.
What is a six-pack captain?
A six-pack captain holds a U.S. Coast Guard merchant mariner credential with an Operator of Uninspected Passenger Vessels endorsement. People say six-pack because the uninspected passenger vessel limit is six passengers, including at least one passenger for hire. That is the legal box. It is not a state license and it is not a weekend marina certificate.
The working name stuck because the inspected small-passenger world starts the second you go past six. Stay at six or under, on a vessel under 100 gross tons that is not inspected as a small passenger vessel, and the operator credential the Coast Guard writes is the OUPV.[1][2]
Federal law is blunt. "A self-propelled, uninspected passenger vessel shall be operated by an individual licensed by the Secretary to operate that type of vessel, under prescribed regulations." That sentence is 46 U.S.C. § 8903.[3] The Coast Guard puts the same duty in 46 CFR 15.605: the vessel has to be under the direction and control of a credentialed person.[4]
You are not a six-pack captain because you passed a state boating course. You are one when the National Maritime Center prints OUPV on your MMC. Until then you are a recreational operator, a deckhand, or someone who should not take money to carry people.
The card is national. Harbor rules are not. A Miami sunset run and a Lake Tahoe half-day ride the same federal endorsement only if your route and tonnage actually cover the water under your hull.
How do you start as a six-pack captain?
Start by deciding whether you will actually carry passengers for hire. If the answer is yes, and you will stay at six or fewer, the OUPV is the paper. Then you build documented sea service, get identity and medical pieces in order, pass an approved course or a Regional Exam Center test, and file with the National Maritime Center.
Here is the order I would use, because it wastes the least money. First, start a sea-service log you can defend. Second, book first aid and CPR the Coast Guard will accept. Third, get the TWIC process moving, because TSA appointments lag. Fourth, do the physical and the drug test close to the day you apply so they are still in date. Fifth, take the course or the exam. Sixth, file.
Do not buy a boat first. Do not paint a logo on a hull you cannot legally carry paying guests on. The credential is the gate.
Confirm current forms and fees with NMC before you write a check.[8][13] Nobody can honestly lock a processing clock for you. NMC workload moves. Anyone selling a guaranteed issue date is selling you a story.
Do you need an OUPV, or is six-pack just a nickname?
You need the OUPV (or a higher deck officer endorsement that already covers that work) if you operate a self-propelled uninspected passenger vessel carrying passengers for hire. The nickname is informal. The endorsement name printed on the card is Operator of Uninspected Passenger Vessels.[1][4]
Bareboat charter is the usual workaround people whisper about. If the charterer takes true command, picks the crew, and you are not the operator, different paper applies. Most "I will drive, you pay me" trips are not bareboat. If you are at the helm and money changed hands as a condition of carriage, you are in passenger-for-hire territory. Read the definitions in 46 U.S.C. § 2101 before you talk yourself into a story.[2]
Fishing guides, sunset-cruise operators, and dive-skiff drivers are the classic six-pack pattern. Yacht delivery with no passengers is a different endorsement conversation. Carrying seven paying people is not a six-pack job. That vessel generally has to be inspected as a small passenger vessel under 46 U.S.C. § 3301.[5]
If you only run family and unpaid friends, you do not need this paper. If a guest chips in for fuel as a true share, you are in a gray zone boarding officers have dinged. I would not build a business on a fuel-share story.
How many passengers can a six-pack captain carry?
Six. That is the whole point of the uninspected passenger vessel definition. The vessel is uninspected, under 100 gross tons, and carrying not more than six passengers, including at least one passenger for hire.[2]
Crew does not count as passengers if they are employed or engaged on board in the business of the vessel. Your cousin who is just along for the ride does count. Get this wrong and you are operating over the passenger cap. That is a manning and inspection problem, not a branding problem.
The six is heads, not tickets sold. An infant is a passenger. A photographer you brought who is not crew is a passenger. Count bodies the way a boarding officer will count them.
If you need seven to twelve, you are looking at an inspected small passenger vessel and usually a Master endorsement matched to that boat, not a six-pack card. Think hard before you say yes to a seventh guest. One extra body is how people turn a clean OUPV trip into an uninspected carriage case.
What sea time do you need for the OUPV?
46 CFR 11.467 is the rule. The standard path is 360 days of service. For a near-coastal OUPV you also have to show service on ocean or near-coastal waters. Inland and Great Lakes routes have their own water-type rules in the same section.[1]
You also need recent service. The regulation requires 90 days in the window immediately before you apply. Read the current text of § 11.467 when you file, because you will be held to the printed CFR, not a forum post.[1]
There is a limited OUPV. If your service sits in one pocket of water, the Coast Guard can issue an endorsement limited to that geographic area on as little as 90 days in that area. That is a real option for a single lake or bay. It is also a smaller ticket. You cannot take that card to another coast and pretend it is national.
What counts as a day sits in 46 CFR 10.107 and the sea service rules in 46 CFR 10.232. Periods under four hours generally do not credit. Do not invent 360 days from three-hour sunset loops.[6][7]
I want the log to name the vessel, official number or state registration, gross tonnage, waters, dates, and the capacity you served in. Letters from owners help when the boat is not yours. CG-719S is the form NMC still talks about. Pull the current file from the NMC forms page, not a random blog scan.[8]
What papers does the Coast Guard actually want?
NMC wants a complete original officer package, not a vibe. The usual stack is the MMC application (CG-719B or the current online equivalent), sea service evidence, TWIC, a medical certificate application (CG-719K), a drug test that meets 46 CFR part 16, first aid and CPR cards, citizenship or nationality evidence, and either an approved-course completion or an exam reservation.[8][9][10]
TWIC comes from TSA, not the Coast Guard. 46 CFR 10.203 still ties merchant mariner credentials to holding a TWIC. Start enrollment on the TSA side and keep the receipt.[11]
The physical is a merchant mariner medical certificate process under 46 CFR 10.301 and the rest of subpart C. Use a physician who has filled out CG-719K before. A sports-physical letter will bounce.[9]
Chemical testing sits in 46 CFR 16.220 for the tests NMC expects with an original. Use a clinic that already knows DOT and Coast Guard collections. A drugstore cup does not travel.[10]
First aid and CPR have to meet 46 CFR 11.201. A random community class can fail if the provider is not accepted. Check 11.201 and the NMC training pages before you pay.[12]
If you want a single folder of the federal forms and a bareboat charter paper set, OUPVPath sells a $149 one-time USCG OUPV + Bareboat Kit. You do not need it. The Coast Guard takes the same forms straight from its own site.
How much does the six-pack path cost?
I will not quote a live Coast Guard fee here. Those amounts sit in 46 CFR 10.219, and NMC restates them on its user fee page. They change by rulemaking. Confirm the evaluation, examination, and issuance line items with NMC the week you pay.[13][14]
The rest of the bill is not federal. TWIC is a TSA charge. The physical, drug test, photos, and first aid and CPR are local clinic prices. An approved OUPV course is the swing item. In-person week-long classes cost more than online-plus-exam products. I would pay for a school that is actually on the NMC approved list, not the cheapest landing page.
Sea time is the hidden cost. If you do not already have 360 days, you are looking at a year or more of work or documented skippering before the application is honest. That dwarfs the filing fees.
Waste of money: framed captain wall certificates from non-approved schools, embroidered hats before you have an MMC number, and a fixer who promises a processing date. NMC does not sell dates.
OUPV vs Master: which paper should you get?
Get the OUPV if you will stay at six passengers on uninspected boats and you have, or can get, 360 days. Get a Master 25, 50, or 100 GRT (inland or near-coastal) if you already have the extra service and you know you will want inspected vessels or more authority later.
A Master endorsement of the right tonnage and route generally lets you do the OUPV work. 46 CFR 15.605 treats master and mate credentials, with matching tonnage, as valid for uninspected passenger vessels. The reverse is not true.[4] The six-pack card does not turn into a Subchapter T master because you bought a twelve-guest boat.
| Path | Typical service bar | Paying passenger cap | Usual vessel |
|---|---|---|---|
| OUPV (six-pack) | 360 days, or 90 if geographically limited | 6 | Uninspected, under 100 GRT |
| Master 25 / 50 / 100 | Higher, set by grade and route | Set by the vessel's inspection and COI | Inspected small passenger or larger uninspected |
| No MMC | None that NMC will count | 0 for hire | Recreational only |
Service for Master is a higher bar. If you are a year from 360 days and you have no inspected-vessel plan, finish the OUPV. You can raise grade later. Raising grade is another evaluation. It is a real path. It is not automatic.
People upgrade because a client asked for seven seats or a marina wanted an inspected boat on the dock. Plan that before you take deposits for a ten-guest wedding cruise.
Inland, Great Lakes, or near-coastal: which route do you pick?
Pick the waters you can prove. Near-coastal is the flexible card for ocean work close to the coast. 46 CFR 10.107 says, "Near-coastal means ocean waters not more than 200 miles offshore."[6] You only get that route if your service includes ocean or near-coastal time.[1]
Inland covers rivers, bays, and sounds inside the boundary line. Great Lakes is its own box. Plenty of freshwater operators are fine on inland or Great Lakes and never need near-coastal. Do not apply near-coastal on lake time and hope.
If you run the Florida Keys or Southern California, near-coastal is usually the honest ask. If you run a single reservoir, a limited inland OUPV may be enough. State pages on this site, like six-pack captain renewal in florida and six-pack captain renewal in california, cover keeping the federal card current while you operate in those waters. The card itself stays federal.
Routes are not decorations. A boarding officer reads the back of the MMC.
What can you legally do in the first year?
You can operate uninspected passenger vessels within the tonnage, route, and passenger limits on the credential, once NMC has issued it and you have the medical certificate and TWIC in force. You can take pay. You can advertise. You still obey every other rule that was always there: navigation rules, pollution, state fishing licenses, marine sanitation, and whatever your harbor master piled on.
You cannot carry seven people because the first season is slow. You cannot run 250 miles offshore on an inland card. You cannot skip radio watch culture just because the boat is small.
Insurance is not a Coast Guard issue, and it will still sink you. Many underwriters want the MMC number, a clean drug program, and a written emergency drill. Get a marine insurance quote before you take the first deposit. Nobody has a national premium number that is honest. Markets differ by hull and waters.
Keep a passenger count. Keep a float plan. Keep the drug program going if you have other crew. Original issuance is not the end of chemical testing culture.
If you work winters in another state, the federal card travels. Local business licenses do not. Read six-pack captain renewal in alaska or six-pack captain renewal in hawaii if those are your seasons, because the renewal clock is easy to miss when you are itinerant.
What stops most first OUPV applications?
Thin sea service. That is the usual kill shot. Pages of time on a boat with no official number, no owner letter, and three-hour trips will not add to 360 days under 46 CFR 10.232.[7]
Expired or missing TWIC. A physical with blank checkboxes. A drug test from a clinic that does not know 46 CFR 16. A first aid card from a provider 11.201 will not accept. An online course that is not on the NMC approved list.[10][12]
Name mismatches. Your TWIC, application, medical, and passport cannot tell three different middle-name stories.
People also file too early, then try to backfill days. File when the pile is complete. NMC will not babysit a half package into an endorsement.
If you already hold the card and you are only here because expiration is close, skip the origin myth and go to the renewal writeup that matches where you actually run, such as six-pack captain renewal in georgia or six-pack captain renewal in alabama.
Is an approved course worth it, or should you sit the REC exam?
For most working adults I would take an NMC-approved OUPV course. You still have to study. You skip the gamble of a cold exam at a Regional Exam Center, and the course completion usually substitutes for the deck exam module. Confirm substitution against the current approved-course rules and your checklist.[12][8]
The REC path is cheaper on tuition and slower on calendar. If you already hold other deck paper or you teach this material, sit the exam. If you have not charted a course since high school, pay the school.
I would not buy a "challenge the test in a weekend" product that will not put an approval number on your completion certificate. NMC checks that number.
Waste of money: extra captain branding modules that are not on the exam. Rules of the road, navigation general, and deck general / safety are the meat. Everything else is merchandise.
How do you keep a six-pack credential after you get it?
You renew the MMC on the Coast Guard cycle, you keep a valid medical certificate, and you keep TWIC current. Renewal is not automatic. You will need recent sea service or a refresher path as the current 46 CFR part 10 and 11 renewal rules require. Confirm the checklist that matches your endorsement on the NMC site when your expiration year opens.[8][14]
Medical certificates expire on their own timeline, often shorter than the MMC. Do not let the medical die while the card looks pretty in your wallet.
Mid-Atlantic operators can use six-pack captain renewal in delaware or six-pack captain renewal in connecticut. Those pages cover the same federal card, local operating context, and the renewal pile.
OUPVPath is an independent publisher, not a law firm and not a filing company. No page here, including this one, replaces the current CFR text or an NMC evaluator. The $149 kit is at /start if you want the form bundle. The rules still come from the Coast Guard.
Frequently asked questions
What is six-pack captain?
It is the street name for a Coast Guard OUPV endorsement on a merchant mariner credential. That paper authorizes you to operate an uninspected passenger vessel under 100 gross tons carrying no more than six passengers, including at least one passenger for hire. The legal duty to have a licensed operator sits in 46 U.S.C. § 8903.
How do you start six-pack captain?
Log defensible sea service first. Then get TWIC, an accepted first aid and CPR card, a CG-719K physical, and a 46 CFR part 16 drug test. Pass an NMC-approved OUPV course or the REC exam. File the original officer package with the National Maritime Center. Confirm live forms and fees on the NMC site the week you file.
Is the OUPV the same thing as a captain's license?
In dock talk, yes. On the card, no. The Coast Guard issues a merchant mariner credential with officer endorsements. OUPV is one endorsement. Master and mate are others. People say captain's license because it is shorter. Boarding officers read the endorsement line, not the nickname.
Can a six-pack captain operate in every state?
The MMC is a federal credential, so the OUPV itself is not a state license. Your route still has to match the water. Inland paper does not cover ocean work. States, ports, and parks can still require business licenses, fishing guide stamps, or local permits on top of the Coast Guard card.
How many days of sea service do you need?
46 CFR 11.467 sets the standard OUPV path at 360 days of service, with a near-coastal applicant also showing ocean or near-coastal time. A geographically limited OUPV can be issued on 90 days in that one area. Days generally will not credit below four hours under 46 CFR 10.107 and 10.232.
Can you carry six passengers plus crew?
Yes, if the extra people are actually crew employed or engaged in the business of the vessel. Friends, unpaid guests, and a hired photographer who is not working the boat count against the six. Count heads the way a boarding officer will count them, not the way your booking site counts tickets.
Does a six-pack cover charter fishing?
It covers the carriage of up to six passengers for hire on an uninspected boat, which is how most small guided fishing businesses are structured. You still need whatever state fishing, landing, and business licenses apply. If you put seven paying anglers aboard, you have left the uninspected six-passenger box.
Do you need STCW for a domestic OUPV?
Most purely domestic inland or near-coastal six-pack work does not require a full STCW deck suite. If you later take jobs on vessels or routes that fall under STCW, that is a different training pile. Do not buy STCW modules because a school bundled them unless your actual job needs them.
What is a limited OUPV?
It is an OUPV restricted to a stated geographic area, often issued when your service is only in that pocket of water. The service bar can be 90 days in that area under 46 CFR 11.467. It is honest paper for a single lake or bay. It is a poor choice if you plan to chase seasons across coasts.
Can you get OUPV with only inland lake time?
Yes, if the days are real and documented. That service usually supports inland or a limited local endorsement, not near-coastal. Near-coastal needs ocean or near-coastal time. Do not describe a reservoir as near-coastal on the application. Evaluators read charts too.
Do you need a drug test every time you apply?
An original officer package needs chemical testing that meets 46 CFR part 16, including the 16.220 process NMC expects. Later transactions have their own drug-test and consortium rules. Use a clinic that already does Coast Guard collections. A retail drugstore cup is a common bounce.
What happens if you carry a seventh passenger?
You have left the uninspected passenger vessel definition in 46 U.S.C. § 2101. Vessels carrying more than six passengers generally fall into inspection under 46 U.S.C. § 3301. That is not a paperwork slap on the wrist. It is the wrong manning and the wrong vessel class.
Is a state boating license enough to take paying guests?
No. A state recreational card does not satisfy 46 U.S.C. § 8903 or 46 CFR 15.605. If the trip is passenger for hire on an uninspected vessel, the operator needs a Coast Guard officer endorsement. State cards still matter for recreational operation and for some local permits.
How do you document sea service if you own the boat?
Keep a log with vessel identifiers, dates, waters, hours or days, and the work you did. Tie it to registration or documentation. NMC still talks in CG-719S terms, so use the current form. Owner-operator time counts when it is real. Inflated sunset loops are why original files stall.
Sources
- eCFR, 46 CFR 11.467 Requirements for an endorsement as operator of uninspected passenger vessels: Standard OUPV qualification is 360 days of service, with route-specific water requirements and a limited geographic option at 90 days.
- U.S. Code, 46 U.S.C. § 2101 definitions: An uninspected passenger vessel is an uninspected vessel of less than 100 gross tons carrying not more than 6 passengers, including at least one passenger for hire.
- U.S. Code, 46 U.S.C. § 8903 Self-propelled, uninspected passenger vessels: A self-propelled uninspected passenger vessel must be operated by an individual licensed by the Secretary under prescribed regulations.
- eCFR, 46 CFR 15.605 Credentialed operators for uninspected passenger vessels: Uninspected passenger vessels must be under the direction and control of a Coast Guard credentialed operator; master or mate of appropriate tonnage also qualifies.
- U.S. Code, 46 U.S.C. § 3301 Vessels subject to inspection: Passenger vessels above the uninspected six-passenger box are subject to Coast Guard inspection.
- eCFR, 46 CFR 10.107 Definitions in subchapter B: Near-coastal means ocean waters not more than 200 miles offshore, and day/service definitions control how sea time is credited.
- eCFR, 46 CFR 10.232 Sea service: Sea service must be documented under Coast Guard crediting rules; short watches generally do not make a full day.
- U.S. Coast Guard National Maritime Center, Forms: Current MMC application, sea service, medical, and related CG-719 series forms are issued from the NMC forms page.
- eCFR, 46 CFR 10.301 Merchant mariner medical certificate: Officer applicants must obtain a merchant mariner medical certificate under part 10 subpart C.
- eCFR, 46 CFR 16.220 Periodic testing requirements: Coast Guard chemical testing rules govern the drug tests used with merchant mariner credential transactions.
- eCFR, 46 CFR 10.203 Requirement to hold a TWIC: Merchant mariner credential applicants and holders must hold a Transportation Worker Identification Credential as required by part 10.
- eCFR, 46 CFR 11.201 General requirements for national and STCW officer endorsements: Original officer endorsements have age, first aid/CPR, and other general qualification rules, including age 18 for OUPV.
- eCFR, 46 CFR 10.219 Fees: Coast Guard evaluation, examination, and issuance fees for merchant mariner credentials are set in the part 10 fee table and must be confirmed current.
- U.S. Coast Guard National Maritime Center, User Fees: NMC republishes the live user-fee amounts that applicants must confirm before paying.