For USCG-credentialed captains
Run charters as a BoatWakr captain
Licensed captains crew charters booked on BoatWakr. Owners find you on Captain Connection and send offers; take the ones that fit, at your rate, and get paid through Stripe after each trip.
What you need
A valid USCG Merchant Mariner Credential
OUPV (“six-pack”) or Master, with the route and, for Masters, the tonnage printed on the card. A reviewer reads the endorsement off your credential; it decides which boats and trips you can be offered.
Enrollment in a USCG random drug-testing program
Your consortium enrollment letter is the second upload. Anyone operating under a credential, self-employed captains included, has to be in a random testing program.
A government-issued photo ID
Identity is verified through Stripe Identity with a photo of your ID and a selfie. The name has to match your credential.
A current medical certificate
Nothing to upload. The reviewer confirms it through the Coast Guard’s credential verification tool, and your approval runs to the earlier of the two expiry dates.
Not credentialed yet? A credential takes sea service, an exam, a medical certificate and a drug test. How to get a USCG captain’s license
How it works
Create an account and apply
Any BoatWakr account can apply. Captaincy is personal: no company or boat owner has to invite you.
Verify your identity and upload two documents
Stripe Identity handles the ID check. Then upload your Merchant Mariner Credential and your drug-testing enrollment letter. Nothing is typed by hand, and everything saves as you go.
A reviewer checks your credential
A BoatWakr admin looks your credential up with the National Maritime Center and records your endorsement, route, tonnage and expiry. If something is missing, you fix it and resubmit.
Get listed and take charters
Once approved, set up payouts and publish your Captain Connection profile: home port, service radius, asking rate, specialties. Owners send offers; nothing is booked on your behalf until you accept.
After you are approved
Owners browse Captain Connection, a directory ranked by proximity, rating, experience and responsiveness. Your home port is shown approximately, never as exact coordinates, and an owner who already knows you can add you to their crew directly. Either way the endorsement has to cover the boat and the trip: the route and waters, an Auxiliary Sail endorsement for sailboats, and a Master credential for more than six passengers.
On charter day the app carries the check-in with the guest manifest, the start and end of the trip, the pre- and post-trip inspections and an incident report if you need one. Renters and owners can review you, and approved Connection captains get a public profile.
Getting your captain’s license
To take paying passengers out, you need a Merchant Mariner Credential issued by the U.S. Coast Guard’s National Maritime Center. Most charter captains hold one of two.
OUPV, the “six-pack”
Operator of Uninspected Passenger Vessels. It lets you carry up to six paying passengers on a boat that is not Coast Guard–inspected, which describes most privately owned boats. It is issued for a route, such as inland or near coastal waters.
Master
The credential for running a Coast Guard–inspected passenger vessel, which is what carrying more than six paying passengers usually takes. It is issued with a tonnage limit and a route, and it asks for more sea service than an OUPV.
The usual path to a credential
Build your sea service
Log days on the water, with each period signed by the vessel’s owner or operator on the Coast Guard’s sea-service form. The National Maritime Center sets how many days you need and how recent they must be; a Master credential and offshore routes need more.
Pass a physical
A licensed medical practitioner completes the National Maritime Center’s medical form, which covers vision, hearing and general fitness.
Pass a drug test
A Department of Transportation drug test, taken within the window the application allows.
Pass the exam, or an approved course
Sit the Coast Guard exam at a Regional Exam Center, or complete a Coast Guard–approved course whose final exam takes its place. First-aid and CPR certificates are part of the application too.
Apply to the National Maritime Center
Send the application with your sea service, medical form, drug test result and exam or course certificate. The Coast Guard checks your background before it issues the credential.
Requirements depend on the route and tonnage you apply for, and they change. The National Maritime Center’s pages are the authority, so check them before you start.
Once your credential is in hand
Apply as a BoatWakr captain. Approved captains can join Captain Connection, where boat owners find captains and send charter offers, and you accept the ones that fit at your rate. Every charter you captain is added to your sea-time log, a record that helps you fill in the sea-service form when you go for a higher credential.
Questions captains ask
Do I need my own boat?
No. Owners list the boats and captains crew them. A listing offered with a captain cannot take bookings until an approved captain is on its crew, so your credential is what makes those trips possible.
How do I get paid, and how much?
For Captain Connection charters you name your hourly rate, and the platform’s per-vessel-length tier is a floor under your rate. An owner who brings you onto their own crew sets the captain rate on that listing. The fee is fixed when the renter books and paid to your bank through Stripe after the trip completes.
Can I turn down work?
Yes. Decline any offer with no penalty. An unanswered offer expires on its own: 48 hours for a single charter, 14 days for a standing crew offer. Your weekly availability and blocked dates keep you out of trips you cannot take.
I’m not licensed yet. Can I still apply?
Not yet. Approval requires a USCG Merchant Mariner Credential and drug-testing enrollment, and a human reviewer checks both. The National Maritime Center publishes the requirements for earning the credential; come back once it is in hand.
What happens when my credential expires?
You get reminders 60, 30 and 7 days before the valid-through date. An expired credential pauses charters until a renewed one is reviewed and approved. While a credential update is in review you stay approved on your current endorsement.
Start your application
Two uploads and an ID check; a human reviewer does the rest.