How to become a six-pack captain on the real paper path

Last updated 2026-08-21

What is a six-pack captain?

A six-pack captain is a person who holds a U.S. Coast Guard officer endorsement as Operator of Uninspected Passenger Vessels. People say OUPV. The everyday name is six-pack because an uninspected vessel under 100 gross tons may carry not more than six passengers when at least one is a passenger-for-hire. That cap is statutory. It is not a dock rumor.

46 U.S.C. 2101 sets a 6-passenger cap on uninspected passenger vessels of less than 100 gross tons when at least one person is a passenger-for-hire. ^[1] The definition uses the phrase "carrying not more than 6 passengers, including at least one passenger-for-hire." ^[1] Put seven paying guests on that uninspected hull and you walked out of the six-pack box.

The job is not a state fishing badge. It is not a laminated souvenir from a weekend school that never filed with the National Maritime Center. Federal law wants a licensed operator on that vessel. 46 U.S.C. 8903 says, "An uninspected passenger vessel shall be operated by an individual licensed by the Secretary to operate that type of vessel, under prescribed regulations." ^[2]

Treat the phrase six-pack captain as empty until an MMC shows an OUPV endorsement. You can be a skilled skipper and still be illegal the moment money is a condition of carriage. You can also carry friends with no consideration and need no OUPV at all. The line is passenger-for-hire, not whether someone sat in a seat.

If your water might not be federally navigable, ask the local Sector. Forums will guess. Sectors write the boarding.

How do you start as a six-pack captain?

You start with sea days and identity paper, not with a logo. Write down every day you actually serve: the vessel, the waters, the job. You will need that story on form CG-719S or a signed owner letter later.

Next, queue the items that eat calendar time. Enroll for a TWIC. Book a merchant mariner physical on form CG-719K. Take a chemical test a Coast Guard-accepted consortium will stand behind. Get first aid and CPR that meet 46 CFR 11.201. ^[4] Then either finish a USCG-approved OUPV course or plan to sit the Coast Guard exam.

File an original officer application with NMC only when the stack matches the official checklist. ^[10][13] Confirm the current filing path and user fees on NMC pages. Those change. I will not invent a wait time or a dollar figure for issuance.

Have 40 days of real time? Stop shopping for courses. Go get days. A classroom cannot mint service you did not serve under 46 CFR 11.467. ^[3]

Start OUPV, not Master, if your business is truly six guests. Master is the right climb only if you already know you will need an inspected boat and more seats.

What Coast Guard license is a six-pack?

The paper name is an officer endorsement as operator of uninspected passenger vessels of less than 100 GRT. 46 CFR 11.467 is the OUPV officer rule for those vessels. ^[3] It lives on a Merchant Mariner Credential. The plastic is the MMC. The OUPV line is the endorsement.

You pick a route. Inland. Great Lakes and inland. Or near-coastal. Near-coastal OUPV is commonly limited to not more than 100 miles offshore. Inland does not make you legal on the ocean side of the inlet just because the boat is small.

Tonnage is 100 GRT, not 100 feet. People blow this. A long, light boat can still sit under 100 GRT. A short, heavy one can surprise you. If the boat is documented, read the tonnage on the certificate. If it is only state numbered, get a real tonnage picture before you tell guests the license matches the hull.

OUPV does not make you the operator of an inspected small passenger vessel. If the boat carries more than six passengers-for-hire under 100 GRT, you are usually in inspected-vessel territory. That path is a master endorsement plus a boat with a Certificate of Inspection, not a six-pack workaround.

How much sea time do you need for an OUPV?

Plan on 360 days of qualifying service. That number sits in the OUPV rule at 46 CFR 11.467. ^[3] Recency is a separate clock. 46 CFR 10.232 requires 90 days of qualifying service in the 3 years before the application date. ^[5]

A day is not "I touched the boat in July." Part 10 sea service rules decide what counts. Read 10.232 and the CG-719S instructions before you inflate weekends into a career. Short days on small vessels can still count when you follow the form. Guessing does not.

Near-coastal OUPV needs a block of that time on ocean or near-coastal waters (commonly 90 days inside the 360). Inland lake time does not become ocean time because you want it to. If you only ran reservoirs, file inland and work inland.

What NMC wants is signed proof. Owner name. Vessel name and official number or state number. Gross tons. Dates. Waters. Your capacity. A private spreadsheet only you can read will get kicked.

Nobody has good public data on how many files fail on sea time. The closest official signal is that NMC still puts sea service at the top of the officer checklists. ^[13]

What waters can a six-pack captain run?

The endorsement route on your MMC is the waters answer. Inland means inland. Great Lakes and inland means those waters. Near-coastal OUPV is the usual ticket for inlets and coastal trips, and 46 CFR 11.467 keeps that route on near-coastal waters not more than 100 miles offshore. ^[3]

License waters and boat fitness are different questions. A near-coastal card on a boat that is not equipped for that trip is still a bad idea. Safety gear rules, navigation rules, state numbering, and fisheries permits still apply.

Work harbors only and inland can be enough, with a narrower exam. Fish the beach or run to the canyons inside 100 miles and you want near-coastal on the card before you take money.

State lines do not rewrite the federal endorsement. A Florida six-pack and a Maine six-pack are the same MMC if the endorsement reads the same. Local course and clinic prices differ. Price the trip with pages like six-pack captain cost in florida and six-pack captain cost in california.

OUPV route	What it is for	Sea time wrinkle
Inland	Rivers, many lakes, waters classed inland	Lake days stay inland
Great Lakes and inland	The Lakes plus inland	Inland alone does not cover the Lakes
Near-coastal	Coast and ocean to 100 miles	Need ocean or near-coastal days

What paperwork does NMC actually want?

NMC wants an original officer package, not a motivational letter. The live forms sit on the National Maritime Center application forms page. ^[11] Expect CG-719B, sea service evidence (often CG-719S on small boats), CG-719K, a chemical test result, TWIC evidence, first aid and CPR, and either an approved-course completion or exam results.

Use the original officer checklist. ^[13] If a line is on the checklist, put that document in the file. If it is not on the checklist, do not pad the envelope with random certificates to look serious.

Fees are not a number I will guess. NMC posts current user fees on its fees page. Confirm there before you pay. ^[12] Same for electronic versus paper filing. That process has moved. Read the current merchant mariner credential page. ^[10]

Do not let a school "handle everything" if they will not show you the actual forms they submit. You sign CG-719B. False statements on that form are your problem.

OUPVPath publishes a $149 one-time USCG OUPV plus Bareboat Kit for people who want forms and a paper path in one pile. The free NMC checklists are still the list that matters.

Do you need a USCG-approved course or can you just test?

You can sit a Coast Guard exam after you are approved to test, or you can complete a USCG-approved OUPV course that includes the exam. Approved training rules live in 46 CFR part 11, including 11.301. ^[14] Pick a school that is actually on the Coast Guard approval list, not a marketing page that says "coast guard prep."

A course does not replace 360 days. It replaces a lot of self-study risk. Fail a walk-in exam and you burn travel and another test window. For a working adult, a solid approved course is usually the cleaner path. A cheap mill that rushes people through an outline is a waste if you still cannot brief a passenger or read a forecast.

Pay for the course after the sea time is real, or at least clearly on track. Paying tuition with 20 days logged is how people own an expired completion certificate.

Keep the completion document with the application. NMC cannot grade a story about a class you took.

What medical, drug test, and TWIC steps come first?

Do TWIC, the physical, and the chemical test early. They queue, and they age out.

TWIC is a TSA credential. 46 CFR 10.203 is the merchant mariner TWIC rule. ^[8] Apply through the TSA TWIC program page, not a random ad. ^[9] I will not quote a TWIC price here. TSA changes it. Confirm on that page.

Medical certification sits in 46 CFR part 10, subpart C. 10.301 is the medical certification rule. ^[6] A civilian sports physical is the wrong paper. Use CG-719K with a clinician who will complete the Coast Guard blocks, including vision and any waiver discussion.

Chemical testing for mariners is a 46 CFR part 16 subject. Original MMC applicants still have to submit a test NMC will accept. ^[7] Get it from an accepted consortium. A drugstore instant cup is how people redo the test.

First aid and CPR must match 46 CFR 11.201. ^[4] Take them late enough that the cards are still valid when NMC opens the file, and early enough that you are not waiting on a Saturday class after everything else is ready.

How is a six-pack different from a bigger charter boat?

Head count is the first fork. Carry seven paying passengers on a boat under 100 GRT and you left the uninspected six-passenger box in 46 U.S.C. 2101. ^[1] That vessel generally needs inspection and a Certificate of Inspection. The operator needs the master endorsement that matches the COI, not an OUPV stretch story.

46 CFR 15.605 requires a credentialed operator for uninspected passenger vessels. ^[15] Inspected boats carry their manning on the COI. Two different systems. Do not mix them in a Facebook ad.

Some operators try to split a group, or call extra people crew. If they are passengers, they count. If you truly pay them as crew and they have duties, that is a different fact pattern. Do not get cute. The boarding officer can count heads.

Bareboat charter is a different legal structure. The charterer takes control of the vessel. It is not a loophole you announce in an Instagram caption. If you still pick the captain, stock the boat, and run the trip, you are probably still operating.

Stay six-pack until the business really needs seven-plus seats. Then budget an inspected boat and a master upgrade. Pretending a pontoon is a floating pub with 14 friends is how people meet lawyers.

How much does the six-pack captain path cost?

There is no single national price. You pay TSA for TWIC, a clinic for the physical, a lab for the chemical test, a school or travel for the exam, and NMC user fees. NMC posts its own fees. Confirm them. ^[12]

Course tuition moves by state and by whether lodging is stuffed into the quote. Medical prices follow local clinics. That is why state cost pages exist, including six-pack captain cost in georgia, six-pack captain cost in hawaii, six-pack captain cost in alaska, and Six-pack captain cost in Colorado: full 2025 breakdown.

Do not prepay a "guaranteed license" package. Nobody honest can guarantee NMC will issue. Schools can guarantee they will teach the outline. That is different.

Budget a second chemical test and a second medical if your file sits. Those documents age. I cannot give you a processing clock. NMC load changes. Read the current credential page and ask NMC. ^[10]

Waste of money: framed novelty licenses, embroidered shirts before the MMC arrives, and add-on modules your OUPV route does not ask for yet.

What should you do in the first year after you get the ticket?

Year one is boring paper and boring habits. Carry the MMC. Keep the medical certificate current. If you work for a company in a drug-testing program, stay in it. Log your days if you might upgrade to master later. Those days are easier to capture now than from memory in three years.

Get the boat legal for hire. State registration or federal documentation. Fisheries permits if you fish. Local business tax if the city cares. Insurance that actually says six-passenger charter. Many personal policies drop you the moment money changes hands. Read the policy.

Run six or fewer passengers. Count people the statute counts. When in doubt, count them and stay at six.

Write a one-page pre-departure card. Weather abort. Engine checks. Passenger briefing. Float plan. Not because a blog said so. Because you will skip a step on a busy Saturday.

Add a second captain and they need their own endorsement. Your MMC does not cover your buddy.

What mistakes stall an OUPV application?

The usual stalls are dumb and avoidable. Sea time letters that omit tonnage, waters, or the owner's phone number. Photos of a messy log instead of a signed CG-719S. A physical on the wrong form. A chemical test from a collector NMC will not accept. TWIC still only "in process" when the file needs the credential. First aid cards that lapsed last month.

Another stall: applying for near-coastal when every day you listed is a lake. NMC will not convert freshwater days into ocean days because you asked nicely. ^[3][5]

Name mismatches between TWIC, a passport, and CG-719B cause returns. Use one legal name string.

I have no clean public reject-rate study to cite. The closest official guidance is still the NMC checklist. Follow it line by line. ^[13]

Do not claim sea time you did not serve. That is not a paperwork sport. It is a signed federal application.

Should you file inland or near-coastal first?

File the waters you can prove and the waters you will work. If you only have inland days, file inland. You can add near-coastal later when you have the ocean or near-coastal days. ^[3][5]

If you already have those ocean days, get near-coastal on the original issuance so you are not paying a second evaluation later. Confirm current upgrade and evaluation fees on the NMC fee page. ^[12] No timing promises. Ask NMC.

Great Lakes is its own box. Do not assume inland includes Superior.

Live on a coast and actually run an inlet? Look hard at near-coastal. That is the usual story in places you would price through six-pack captain cost in connecticut or six-pack captain cost in delaware. A mountain-lake business points the other way.

This page is general reference, not legal advice. OUPVPath is an independent publisher, not a law firm and not a service company. If you want the kit we publish, it is at /start. You do not need it. NMC's own checklists are enough to build the file.

Frequently asked questions

What is six-pack captain?

A six-pack captain is a mariner who holds a Coast Guard OUPV officer endorsement and may carry up to six passengers-for-hire on an uninspected vessel under 100 gross tons. The six-person cap comes from 46 U.S.C. 2101, not from slang. The credential is an MMC with an OUPV line, issued through NMC, not a state souvenir card.

How do you start six-pack captain?

Start a signed sea-time record now. Then enroll for TWIC, complete a CG-719K physical, take an accepted chemical test, and get first aid/CPR that meet 46 CFR 11.201. Finish a USCG-approved OUPV course or sit the Coast Guard exam. File the original officer package with NMC using the current checklist and fee page. Confirm live steps with NMC.

Is a six-pack captain license the same as OUPV?

Yes. Six-pack is the street name. OUPV is the endorsement name on the Merchant Mariner Credential. 46 CFR 11.467 is the rule for operator of uninspected passenger vessels of less than 100 GRT. If the card does not show that endorsement, you are not a six-pack captain for hire.

Can you take more than six people if some are friends?

If they are passengers and you already have paying guests on an uninspected boat under 100 GRT, extra friends still count toward the six-passenger cap in 46 U.S.C. 2101. Calling someone crew only works if they are actually crew. Head count games are how boardings go badly. Stay at six passengers.

How old do you have to be for a six-pack ticket?

OUPV is an 18-and-up officer endorsement under the age rules in 46 CFR 11.201. Being 18 does not skip sea time, TWIC, the physical, or the exam. If you are 17 with lots of days, you still wait. Confirm any narrow exception with NMC before you file.

Does a state guide license replace the USCG OUPV?

No. A state hunting or fishing guide permit is a state permission. 46 U.S.C. 8903 still requires a federally licensed operator on an uninspected passenger vessel. You may need both papers. The state card never erases the MMC requirement on waters the Coast Guard treats as under that statute.

Can you get OUPV with only lake time?

Yes, if the days qualify and you file an inland route. Lake time does not support a near-coastal endorsement by itself. 46 CFR 11.467 and 10.232 still want 360 days total and 90 recent days. If you later earn ocean or near-coastal days, you can seek that route as an addition.

Do you need STCW for a six-pack captain job?

Most domestic six-pack work on uninspected passenger vessels does not ask for a full STCW deck endorsement. OUPV is a domestic officer endorsement. If a specific employer or foreign voyage asks for STCW modules, that is a different stack. Do not buy STCW classes until someone who will hire you names the modules.

What is form CG-719S and do you need it?

CG-719S is the small vessel sea service form NMC publishes with the other application forms. It is the usual way to prove days on boats you owned or ran without a corporate sea-service letter. Have the owner or you, as owner, complete it with tons, waters, dates, and a signature. A blank diary is not a substitute.

Do you need radar observer for an OUPV?

Usually no for a basic inland or near-coastal OUPV. Radar observer is a separate qualification people tack on for some master or larger routes. Buy it later if a job or an upgrade actually lists it. Paying for it on day one is a common way to lighten your wallet before you have an MMC.

Can you count sea time on your own boat?

Yes, if the days are real and you document them the way NMC asks, usually on CG-719S with vessel identifiers, tonnage, waters, dates, and your capacity as operator. You do not get extra credit for owning the hull. False days on your own boat are still false days on a signed federal form.

How long does the six-pack credential last?

The MMC term is printed on the credential. Officer renewals are handled under 46 CFR part 10 (see 10.227 for renewal). Medical certificates expire on their own shorter cycle under 10.301. I will not invent a processing time for renewal. Read the dates on your card and start early. Confirm current renewal steps with NMC.

What if you only want to run charters in one state?

The OUPV endorsement is federal. The waters limit is inland, Great Lakes, or near-coastal, not "Florida only." State and city rules can still add taxes, guide stamps, or landing permits. Price local extras with state cost guides, then keep the MMC in your pocket every trip.

Sources

1. U.S. House Office of the Law Revision Counsel, 46 U.S.C. § 2101: An uninspected passenger vessel of less than 100 gross tons is defined with a limit of not more than 6 passengers, including at least one passenger-for-hire.
2. U.S. House Office of the Law Revision Counsel, 46 U.S.C. § 8903: An uninspected passenger vessel must be operated by an individual licensed by the Secretary to operate that type of vessel.
3. eCFR, 46 CFR § 11.467: 46 CFR 11.467 sets the officer endorsement as operator of uninspected passenger vessels of less than 100 GRT, including route and service rules.
4. eCFR, 46 CFR § 11.201: General officer endorsement rules include the 18-year minimum for OUPV and first aid/CPR certificate requirements for original officer endorsements.
5. eCFR, 46 CFR § 10.232: Applicants must show qualifying sea service, including 90 days of qualifying service within the 3 years before the application date.
6. eCFR, 46 CFR § 10.301: Medical certification for merchant mariners is governed by 46 CFR 10.301.
7. eCFR, 46 CFR § 16.210: 46 CFR part 16 chemical testing rules, including pre-employment testing at 16.210, govern drug tests mariners must be able to document.
8. eCFR, 46 CFR § 10.203: Merchant mariner credential rules require a TWIC except where a stated exception applies.
9. Transportation Security Administration, TWIC program page: TWIC enrollment and current program instructions are published by TSA, not by a private captain school.
10. U.S. Coast Guard National Maritime Center, Merchant Mariner Credential page: NMC is the office that issues MMCs and publishes the current credential application process.
11. U.S. Coast Guard National Maritime Center, Application Forms: CG-719B, CG-719K, CG-719S, and related original-issuance forms are posted on the NMC application forms page.
12. U.S. Coast Guard National Maritime Center, User Fees: Current NMC evaluation, examination, and issuance user fees must be confirmed on the NMC fees page.
13. U.S. Coast Guard National Maritime Center, Checklists: NMC officer and OUPV checklists list the documents required in an original application package.
14. eCFR, 46 CFR § 11.301: Coast Guard-approved training used in place of or toward officer exams is regulated under 46 CFR 11.301.
15. eCFR, 46 CFR § 15.605: Uninspected passenger vessels must be operated by a credentialed operator under 46 CFR 15.605.