Documenting sea time on your own boat
Yes, time on your own boat counts, and you can sign for it yourself. For vessels under 200 gross register tons, owners may attest to their own service and provide proof of ownership (46 CFR 10.232(a)(4)). You fill in one small vessel sea service form or letter per boat, sign it, and attach proof such as the title, the state registration, the certificate of documentation, insurance that identifies the vessel, or a bill of sale.
What proof of ownership looks like
The NMC's crediting guidance lists acceptable proof of ownership: a title, a state registration, a certificate of documentation, proof of insurance that clearly identifies the vessel, or bills of sale. Photos of the boat are not accepted. If a company owns the boat and you sign as its owner, the guidance asks for proof that you own the company as well.
Proof covers the years you claim. If you sold one boat and bought another, each boat gets its own form and its own proof for the period you owned it.
Where owner attestation stops
- It is for vessels under 200 GRT. Service on larger vessels is documented by letters or discharges signed by someone else.
- It is for boats you own. On a friend's boat, a charter or a club boat, the owner, operator or master signs, even if you were at the helm.
- It does not change the day rule. You still claim only days of at least 4 hours underway on a boat under 100 GRT.
The next guide, who signs your sea service, covers the other cases.
Owner attestation puts the whole weight of the record on you. Nobody else has checked the dates, so keep the log you signed from, with the trips, the hours and notes of where you went, together with fuel receipts, marina records or float plans that back it up. If the evaluator asks a question about a month, that log is your answer.
What to write as your position
On your own boat you were running it, so the position is master or operator. The crediting guidance lists writing owner as the position as a common error. This site prints owner operators as Operator on the grid and in the form fill for that reason.
Worked example: one owner, one boat, one summer
An owner logs seven trips on an 8 GRT boat in 2025. The engine counts 7 days: 2 in May, 4 in June and 1 in July, 4 of them seaward and 3 shoreward of the boundary line, with an average of 6.2 hours underway. One 3 hour trip is left out.
Those numbers go on one form for that boat. The owner signs as the applicant, attaches the state registration, and the attestation block for a third party stays empty. The progress page builds the same grid and a letter draft that says the owner is attesting under 10.232(a)(4).
Common mistakes
- Signing for your own service on a boat you do not own, even as its master.
- Sending photos of the boat as proof of ownership.
- Writing owner in the Served As box.
- Putting two boats on one form.
- Claiming days from before you bought the boat.
Count your own days
The log applies the day rule to every trip as you enter it, one day per calendar day, and the progress page shows your totals by waters against each credential's published numbers. Everything stays in this browser.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a second signature if I own the boat?
Not for a vessel under 200 GRT that you own: you may attest to your own service and attach proof of ownership. The form's attestation block is for someone else signing on your behalf.
My boat is jointly owned with my spouse. Is that ownership?
Proof such as a title or registration showing you as an owner is what the guidance asks for. If your name is not on the document, have the named owner attest to your service instead.
Does time on my own boat count toward a Master?
Yes, if it meets the day rule and the waters and tonnage the Master endorsement needs. Small boat days often cap the tonnage at 25 GRT.
Sources
Last reviewed 27 September 2026 against:
- 46 CFR 10.232, Sea service, Electronic Code of Federal Regulations, current text, up to date as of 24 September 2026, read 27 September 2026. Used for: Owners of vessels under 200 GRT may attest to their own service, paragraph (a)(4).
- Sea Service (crediting sea service, what counts as a day, completing the small vessel sea service form), National Maritime Center, dated 12 August 2024, read 27 September 2026. Used for: Acceptable proof of ownership, the owner position error, one form per vessel.
- Small Vessel Sea Service Form (optional CG-719S), OMB 1625-0040, Department of Homeland Security, revision 12/25, OMB expiry 30 September 2028, read 27 September 2026. Used for: Section III signature and attestation blocks.
This guide is our own summary of the published documents, not legal advice and not a finding about your eligibility; the credentialing authority decides. If it disagrees with the current documents, the documents win. Sea Time Ledger is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to the United States Coast Guard, the National Maritime Center or any other government body.