What is a Qualifying Day?

The United States Coast Guard (USCG) uses the term qualifying days or sea days as part of the sea service records in order to grant various credentials. These credentials include mariners credentials such as the USCG 100 GT Master - Near Costal license.

The US Coast Guard sets a standard for a qualifying day as four (4) or more hours of underway time is credited as one (1) qualifying day. This standard applies for vessels that are under 100 GT (gross tons). For vessels more than 100 GT, eight (8) hours or more will be credited as a single qualifying day. For recreational mariners, 8 or 12 hours will never be credited more than a single qualifying day.

Charter Rode has adopted these standards and all sailing resumes are summarized using the standard of four (4) or more hours logged in a day will be counted as one (1) qualifying day. If you enter 3.9 hours in your logbook entry, it will not be counted as a qualifying day. IT MUST BE AT LEAST FOUR HOURS to count as a qualifying day. You can learn more in the Trusted Sailing Resume article.

See the crediting sea service documentation from the US Coast Guard for more information regarding the qualifying day standard.