Nope! You have earned a sea day if you are assisting with the navigation of the vessel and the boat was away from the pier for over four hours.
If you are on your own boat, your friend's boat out fishing, or even your grandparent's boat and you are helping with the lines, looking for other vessels and/or helping steer, then you are assisting with the navigation of the vessel.
You want to make sure you keep track of every day that you have been assisting with the navigation of the vessel. You want to document the water type (Inland, Near Coastal, Great Lakes) and what your role was (Deck hand, Mate or Master).
When you're ready to submit for your USCG license you will create a separate CG-719S form for every vessel you sailed on and every role you served. If you own your own boat then you can sign the bottom section yourself to "Attest" to your sea service. If someone else owns the boat, you will need to have them sign the bottom section.
We hope this made your life a little easier and if you have other questions the MM-SEAS team is always here to help!
MM-SEAS is free to use on your own and if you need some more personalized help you can upgrade to MM-SEAS Expert Access inside of the site.
No matter what, when you are ready to submit your application you can do it yourself, or you can hand the whole thing to us. An MM-SEAS Navita Navigator walks you through submitting in Navita, the Coast Guard's new submission portal, on a short video call. No computer, or not up for a video call? Our team gets your application submitted to the Coast Guard for you anyway. A Stress-Free MMC is $399. Two MM-SEAS licensing experts check every page, we pay your Coast Guard fees at submission and charge your card so you never touch pay.gov, and we stay on it with the National Maritime Center until your credential is issued.
MM-SEAS Expert Access is $99 a year. It is your personal guidance counselor for USCG licensing: what training you need next, which sea time counts, and how to reach the credential you want, by phone, email, chat or a 1 on 1 video call. Expert Access members also get $50 off a Stress-Free MMC.
Need to renew, upgrade or get your first USCG license? We're here to help.
About the author
Nate Gilman is President and Co-Founder of MM-SEAS. He hawsepiped from the deck to a 3rd Mate Unlimited license with full STCW compliance over more than 15 years at sea, and is a veteran of the NOAA Commissioned Corps. He works directly with the National Maritime Center, USCG-approved training schools, and vessel operators on credentialing policy, and writes on sea service documentation, evaluation standards, and how mariners move up the license ladder.
