Captains License Renewal Heads Up...

[Deep C]

Began the monumental pain in the ass task of renewing my ticket today. Opened my package and began doing as I have done a half dozen times before over the years. Each time its a little different. Sometimes a sub paragraph dash xyz gets moved other times its a little more or less complicated.
I noticed one thing right off the bat... They did not include that list of stuff you need to include... Then I noticed there was no accompanying fee schedule as was the last go around. I would get into a rant at this point about how they expect me to do twenty pages of paperwork and not screw up so much as one fill in the blank thing, yet they can omit two biggies, but this is too important at least in my life to joke about.
I called the inspection office and the recording says to look it up on line. Then on line it says to call the office... Finally I found option four would get me to a rep at least after twenty trys and busy messages... I'm greeted by a friendly female voice on the other end who at best speaks broken english. I suck at spanish but some how we communicated kind of.

The fee is $95... The backlog is 10 weeks or more...You no longer get finger printed by police and must appear in person at your local CG group... Take a close look at the physical... Used to be a bunch of things to just get checked off but now requires some fairly involved tests... If you use sea time from your own boats you must now sbmit proof of ownership of the vessel... If you have had a drinking or drug offense in your past, you used to be able to describe it on the back of that sheet... You must now submit that info on a seperate sheet.... Photo copy of your original doccument is still accepted but both front and back must be submitted...

I only bring this stuff up because it would suck to send the package in and have it take over ten weeks to be notified of each thing you screw up...
Semper Peradis... Deep C

[DEEP DEFIANCE]

DEEP I have had to provide proof of ownership for my last two shots.And the fingerprinting thing is crazy I cant figure out why they would need them again anyway.Do fingerprints expire?and being in south jersey as I am that meant A trip to NY or BAltimore,Which was A pretty big inconv.other then the fact that I was able to make A bass pro run to arundal mills while I was in Baltimore. Do they make it tough or what!

[Deep C]

My last go they didn't require the proof of ownership. Or maybe they did and I didn't see it and they let it slide. I actually asked the gal about the prints thing... "The last time I looked they are exactly the same as they were thirty years ago"... She had no response except to say that I can only set the print appointment after I have sent the package and that the local CG group will forward them to the inspection office... Forgot to mention you need a passport or birth certificate to get the prints done...
They just love watching us jump through hoops of fire I guess...

[FinRazr]

The fingerprint thing I suspect is the same as several other background checks I've been through.They cannot hold them on file once the background is run and there is no new "issues"the prints are purged from the systm.

[Capt. Mike]

Just did my second renewal in June. Everything seemed to be about the same other than having to apppear in person at the REC for fingerprints. Application was the same, physical doesn't require a color blind test or audiometry even though it's on the form. Didn't see any additional testing for the physical and I was out of my Dr. in less than 15 minutes for a $20 copay. The fingerprinting is now done digitally with a scanner and no ink so I guess it's permanently in a database. Handed my package to a CG reviewer and they checked it to confirm it was complete. Took me less than an hour in Battery Park, NY and my license was delivered in around 3 1/2 weeks. At least it's only every 5 years...

[striper101]

Paul,
What about the CPR card? Do we still need that? From what I have heard we don't but I want to make sure!

[eppefour]

They should do digital prints. The styate of New Jersey requires them for all professional liceneses. It cost about $100 but they keep the record on file.

[anthony]

Just did my second renewal in June. Everything seemed to be about the same other than having to apppear in person at the REC for fingerprints. Application was the same, physical doesn't require a color blind test or audiometry even though it's on the form. Didn't see any additional testing for the physical and I was out of my Dr. in less than 15 minutes for a $20 copay. The fingerprinting is now done digitally with a scanner and no ink so I guess it's permanently in a database. Handed my package to a CG reviewer and they checked it to confirm it was complete. Took me less than an hour in Battery Park, NY and my license was delivered in around 3 1/2 weeks. At least it's only every 5 years...

I had about the same experience last year when I had to renew in Baltimore. Really wasn't too bad if you reviewed the list of things you needed. I did call the REC a couple of times and they were fairly helpful. Just awfully annoying and a huge inconvenience to have to drive all the way up to Baltimore to get fingerprinted.

[Capt-D]

I had about the same experience last year when I had to renew in Baltimore. Really wasn't too bad if you reviewed the list of things you needed. I did call the REC a couple of times and they were fairly helpful. Just awfully annoying and a huge inconvenience to have to drive all the way up to Baltimore to get fingerprinted.

I agree with the Baltimore REC office. They were very helpful! In my experience , as long as you are extremely nice to the little grey haired lady at the counter then she is more than happy to help you out. Actually I have never had any problems with the two coasties that I have dealt with there either.

-D

[Wasabi]

I am about to test for my six pack license so can't really speak to that. But, having owned a private investigative agency for over twenty years, I can speak to fingerprints.

We had to redo fingerprint cards at the local PD everytime. These cards are eventually scanned and on file. That is the only way that law enforcement can do a print search. I can only assume that the constant refingerprinting is another reduntant step in making sure that you are you. The fingerprints are also used to do a criminal search. You could, theoretically, have committed a crime using another name. The fingerprint search would uncover that.

It's always been a pain.