NJ Boat Safety Certificate

[rondds]

just completed my mandatory "8 hour" class :smt015 so that i am legally OK to pilot my boat after june 2007 in the great state of New Jersey. the question i have pertains to friends of mine who, prior to the new law/regulation (requiring all boaters to get this certificate) took an all day course to operate a PWC. do these people need to take another all day course or does the older PWC course fulfill the requirement??

another Q: does my shiney laminated little card now enable me to now to operate a PWC?

the NJ state police website is not clear on these topics.

anyone else out there take the course? anyone find it enlightening? :smt009

 

[rondds]

coming up on 12 weeks since my wonderful boating course completion. still no shiney laminated card. the woman who runs the course assured me this is normal. she says it'll take the state 9 months to send me a card. sounds excessive, dont it?? :huh:

 

[shoelessben]

Sounds like state gov't to me!! Here in Maryland, when I completed the course, they graded the test in front of me, then issued a card to me. Granted it was just a cardboard card, but I went and had it laminated that day. 9 months does seem a bit excessive!

 

[rondds]

20 weeks, no card. starting to get concerned. was i bamboozled out of $60? anyone have any experience with how long this process takes??

 

[ImpulseIII]

I seem to recall that it took about 6 months for NJ to send me the "official" card. I did have a piece of paper that was given out after the class bu the instructor as a temporary certificate. Ain't NJ a great place to live.....???? :smt021 Man, am I enjoying PA!~! :thumbsup: not nearly as expensive or screwed up!!

 

[rondds]

thanks frank - rub it in, why dont you!
what are you doing in PA with the boat in MD?
i do have the pink slip from the DMV form so i guess i'm ok.

 

[ImpulseIII]

We live in Southern Chester County, PA (West Grove) and have about a 55 minute commute to the boat on the Sassafras. Common over and visit....

 

[cruiser]

Not to worry. I took the test last March and received it in December,as long as you have the slip or cert your OK.
P.S. I'm in NJ as well.

 

[J Levine]

Ron,

I "tested out" last year by sending the NJSP a copy of my USGC safe boating certificate for 1994 along with a copy of my drivers licence. Lets see, I sent the suff in last May (I had to have mine by last June) and I got my laminated card in the mail in like December.

 

[comsnark]

My Experience;

I took the course end of September 2006. I got my card *last week*.

I was specifically told that the PWC card is NOT good for large powerboats, but that the Safety Course covers both PWC and Powerboats.

They will also look at you strangely if you talk about cards from a different state. I asked because I live in PA and have a PA PWC card.

I registered the SeaRay in NJ under duress, but the rest of watercraft is registered in PA. I am just happy I missed the NJ sales tax increase (by a matter of 7 days!) when I bought the boat.

(and talk about insanity: the bozos in NJ mailed the title to my old NJ address. By old NJ address. . I mean the one I had 20+ years ago. I had to get about three temporary registrations before it got straightened out.)

 

[rondds]

one week shy of 6 months and still no card. if their rate of processing follows the pattern set by comsnark, i guess i'll get mine mid may. i'll just keep my pink carbon copy handy til then.

 

[rondds]

got my laminated handy-dandy NJ safety card in the mail today (6 months and 2 days later). it's now official - i can drive the boat. i feel empowered

 

[eddie]

i go for my test may 19th at mm in brick.i asked how much was the one day course and they said free if you bought the boat there.
they feed you lunch to boot.
sounds like a plan to me.

 

[pjnr56]

We took the class at MM Brick last month. I was surprised at how many people were there - around 30 or so. The instructor (a certified captain) kept the class fun, interesting, and moving along nicely. And yes there was coffee and danish/donuts for breakfast and plenty of pizza for lunch along with cold drinks. All in all, a great day spent especially to a brand new boater like me and my family. Hope you enjoy it as well.

 

[rondds]

i went to the american legion or sons of italy or rotary or something in woodbridge and it was a real BORE. they did give us a break to go fetch our own lunch, however. i guess i need to buy a new boat from MM to get pizza and donuts :huh: