A sea day is every day you are away from the pier for over 4 hours in a 24 hr period that you are assisting in the safe navigation of the vessel.
For vessels under 100 GRT you must be underway for at least 4 hrs in a day for it to count as a “day”. This does not have to be continuous, it just has to be in a 24 hr period. As a example, you can be running four, 1 hr harbor tours in a day and that would count as one sea day even through you approached and left the dock 4 times.
You are going to want to keep track of your own sea days on your phone, a notebook or even a calendar. When you are ready to obtain, upgrade or renew your captain's license you need to submit a CG-719S (Small Vessel Sea Service Form) with your sea time. Each CG-719S (Small Vessel Sea Service Form) can accept 5 years worth of sea service.
Use the CG-719S for Vessels Less than 200 GRT
For vessels less than 200 GRT you will use the CG-719S (Small Vessel Sea Service Form) which the captain, owner or vessel manager can issue for you. If you own your boat you can complete the form for yourself you can use MM-SEAS Create CG719S tool to create perfect CG719S forms to make sure your math is perfect and you have all the right information in the correct spots.
If you own the vessel you are gathering sea service on with your CG-719S
If you are the owner of a vessel on which you are claiming service, you must also submit proof of ownership for that vessel. Acceptable proof of ownership may include one of the following:
- Title
- Registration (state registered vessels)
- Certificate of Documentation (U.S. Coast Guard registered vessels)
- Proof of insurance (which clearly identifies the vessel)
- Bill(s) of sale.
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.
