Requirement to be licensed?

No license is needed in the US for personal use until you get to super mega giga fragilistic size. "Personal use" are the key words here, a real estate broker should not take clients to see water front houses on a boat, stuff like that.
Sometimes insurance companies require licensed captains when the USCG does not.

DFWX,
Your posts intrigue me. Your profile says you have (3) boats, a 27, a 42 and a 46 in Daytona where you're miles from any inlet. You write about using Russian reject guns & guns you leave in salt water and now have multiple classic Trumpy's in the 50 and 60 foot range that are used strictly for private/ non-commercial activities yet you don't know about licensing requirements. What's the story here? My leg feel a little stretched.

That makes a bit more sense. It sounded like we may have a junior here spouting trash, especially the guns. If you look back into that thread you'll see some stupid stuff (like realistic toy guns) obviously from a kid trying to sound cool and I don't like to see that encouraged for fear some kid will get themselves hurt trying to impress. I probably should have realized. (BTW,What I posted on that thread falls into the catagory of do as I say not as I've done)
So yeah, no license, but the insurance companies are starting to require captains, and don't let anything that can be construed as payment happen or you may find yourself without coverage if there's ever a claim.

This is definitely off topic, but I personally find it sublimely refreshing that in this day of perceived and perhaps over-regulation, we can treat lives led in malingering and in contravention of the laws of the land and turn it into public fodder and acceptance. While your forthrightness of your transgressions is illuminating, what your not revealing is what haunts........

There is no requirement for a license for an owner to run the vessel recreationally. However, insurance companies are now the ones that are starting to regulate. They will ask for a resume and if you go up by a large jump say 42 feet to 65 or 70 feet, they will tell you that you need a 100 ton master in order for them to insure you or your premiums will be 50% more.

]I'M a newby from australia, so i don't know much.
the issue of guns in other ports and countries is covered in other posts on this site...

My question is what certificates and licences (NOT passports and visas)
does a person need to skipper your own private yacht under 50ft to other countries around the word?[
I hold a boat licence (passed tests etc last friday LOL) in nsw australia & was told this is all i need... (+VHF Lic if you own one)
If true I find this to be crazy even for a insane goverment.

can someone give me the right facts?

Hi,

If you were in NZ and I imagine Australia has similar rules and regs.

If the boat was locally registered it would have to undergo a safety survey before you would be cleared to sail foreign.

The three NZ issued yacht tickets I hold and remember being required are/were Boatmaster followed by Yachtmaster Coastal and the Yachtmaster Ocean.

I would say no matter what your bit of paper says your insurance co ( if you have one)will have an opinion on it that might differ from a lot of peoples.

I belive the US Coast Guard requires a Licensed Captain on a private vessel over 199 tons...

Yes a Yacht or recreational craft over 200GT under the USCG has to have a licensed master (which could be the owner).

in search of

I kind of feel; anybody driving 100 plus tons really needs to prove he can drive 100+ tons weather it be a USCG ticket or an insurance companies test, even if it is personal.

At the time I got my ticket, it was explained Anybody could drive the QE-II, as long as there were NO paying passengers on board. Past that, no intelligence was required.

It's obvious that there is no intelligent life operating any sized boats here in redneckville (Jacksonville) FL.

I agree, a 100 tons can do a lot of damage both physically and financially to others. I also agree it should be the cutoff. I've seen some dinner party boats that were pushing 300 feet, that were 99 GT's because a marine architect played with the rule book when building it. So that safety equipment and also Captains were cheaper.

For example I've seen a 75' Hatteras MY that came in at 74 GT, and a 76' Lazzara which is smaller physically come in at 101GT.

If it is documented and operates beyond the boundary line.

In Hong Kong the foreign captain of a foreign vessel can drive his boat to marina or anchorage at arrival from foreign waters. He is however not allowed to use it's tenders to ferry people up and down. To cruise around Hong Kong waters he'll need to apply for a cruising permit that clearly states where he's going and at what times.

The tests which are required to become a 100tom master have no on the water section, nor do they have any section which proves your boat handling ability. In other words there is no "prove you can drive" part of the USCG exam, and there are plenty of "captain crunch" ticket holders.
I'm sure there are plenty of both intelligent and otherwise captains in the Jacksonville area- redneck or not.

There is however a Sea Service certification. Hopefully (although not always) by the time they have the time in to qualify for 100GT they learned a few things. Under that they can pretty much certify their time by just owning a 26 footer.