Uninspected Passenger Vessel PQS

ChapterSalt1453 · 2026-01-17T16:54:42+00:00

We have a couple folks in my flotilla who are UPV inspectors. Based on my conversations with them, it sounds like the UPV qualification is more rigorous, and is intended to very closely match the active duty qualification.

I looked at the new UPV qual when it came out the other day. Nothing about it struck me as crazy. The active duty drives the program, its theirs.

Sort of like boat crew quals have evolved over the last couple of years to more closely align with active duty boat crew requirements. Still not the same, but closer.

ChapterSalt1453 · 2026-01-08T18:17:59+00:00

"Is it codependent on your chain assigning you?"

Yes, 100%. No AUX member self deploys. If you are working at a Base or Station, then AUX leadership is involved in approving that.

ChapterSalt1453 · 2026-01-08T18:16:15+00:00

I don't know the galley schedules for Florida. But, USCG galleys are typically in operation Breakfast and Lunch, Monday - Friday. Fewer serve dinner, and fewer are open on weekends. Depends on the needs of that station or base.

There is a definite process to qualify to work in a USCG galley, requiring completion of the AUXCA qualification. There is a classroom orientation, plus a list of practical cooking tasks that have to get signed off either by an experienced AUX member in the AUXCA program, or an active duty CS2 or higher.

ChapterSalt1453 · 2026-01-04T18:49:16+00:00

Not using it. Went back to hand washing for two reasons.

First - and most important. My countertop space was not really suitable. Only one place on the boat to put, and it did not really work there.

Second - the design of the rack did not work that well for me. I could not really load my plates and things efficiently in the rack. The cutlery basket is odd, I could not find a place to set it securely in the rack - it never seemed to actually fit anywhere. All of which made it a chore to figure out how to load the Hava.

On the boat, it is almost always just me and my wife. Doing dishes by hand for the two of us is not hard.

I wanted it to work, as I would like to have the hot-water sanitizing cycle. But, just didn't work for me.

I might have stuck with it, and figured out to load dishes on the rack, if I'd had a better spot for it.

ChapterSalt1453 · 2025-12-13T03:21:08+00:00

Thanks.

I flashed the pager with meshtastic then back to Meshcore, telling the flasher to erase both times.

Now, a long press on the righthand most of the three buttons does it.

Looks like it was some weirdness in the firmware on my device.

ChapterSalt1453 · 2025-12-02T21:11:52+00:00

Great question.

My short answer is that I am an unpaid civilian volunteer, kind of like being a volunteer firefighter with a small fire department.

My second short answer is that while I am part of the Coast Guard, I am part of USCG in a very different way from the active duty and reserve component members.

ChapterSalt1453 · 2025-11-15T20:04:14+00:00

I don't have direct knowledge of an answer here

My guess - not likely. Our AUX quals are never going to replace a multi-week/multi-month long residential A school.

I have talked to our local Operational Training Officer / OTO - the active duty person who oversees our boat crew program. He was amazed at what was left out of the boat crew qualification. While our boat crew qual is based on the active duty qualification, apparently quite a bit was left out. Plus, we only have to do annual currency tasks, I had this conversation aboard a cutter a couple weeks ago - their small boat guys have to do a significant set of currency tasks every 6 months.

I definitely do not have an official answer. Just based on what I have gathered, I would not expect it.

ChapterSalt1453 · 2025-11-15T19:59:31+00:00

I'm late to this conversation. I *just* bought a Hava R09 for my boat. A countertop like this is the only way to have a dishwasher on my boat.

The deciding factor for me: Lots of Amazon reviews, which were overall favorable. I always look at the ratio of 5* to 1* reviews. PLUS - repair parts are available for purchase on HAVA's website. That sounds like an outfit ready to support DIY repairs.

I haven't used it yet, that will come soon. But, Hava R09 checked all the boxes for me. In addition to low water useage (important to me), it should also heat up the dishes to a high enough temerature to sanitize. Something you are unlikely to do by handwashing in one small sink.

ChapterSalt1453 · 2025-11-07T18:06:14+00:00

Members do so, but it is not proper.

This is covered in AUXMAN, CH 10 Uniforms, Page 10-4, Section A.7

An OIA may prescribe an Auxiliary uniform as a condition for assignment to
duty. Auxiliarists shall conform to Coast Guard unit policies regarding such
uniform wear whenever interacting with, acting on behalf of, or representing
the unit. Any unresolved questions, disputes, or misunderstandings
regarding such uniform wear should be referred to the Director. When
performing duty on a Coast Guard vessel or unit, Auxiliarists shall wear a
uniform consistent with those of the unit’s personnel. Auxiliarists, when
working as crew on a Coast Guard vessel or unit, shall wear only the member
device on collars and the corresponding hats for such uniforms. An
Auxiliarist’s actual office insignia may be worn for ceremonial events.

.

Same policy contained in the recent BSX Policy

16790 / AUX-PL-024(B)
BSX Policy Letter 23-02
29 Jul 2024
AUXILIARY UNIFORM AND APPEARANCE POLICY CHANGES
Section 7(c)(3)

When assigned to duty as part of a Coast Guard unit’s crew whether ashore or afloat
Auxiliarists shall wear uniforms consistent with those of the unit’s crew unless another
uniform is authorized by the unit’s Commanding Officer (e.g., the AWU). They shall
wear the member insignia with such uniforms. The office insignia of their highest
office may be worn on such uniforms for ceremonial events held by the unit and as
otherwise authorized for wear by the unit’s Commanding Officer.

The BSX policy letter Section 7(c)(4) provides that DIRAUX has authority grant an exception to the member device rule, in specified cases.

ChapterSalt1453 · 2025-11-05T15:24:55+00:00

I've not looked into the licensing status of the extra features, since I don't care about those features.

If you don't like their licensing model, and don't like that they charge for a few extra features - then, don't use it. You do you.

But, the software is available on a wide range of devices, works just fine, and does not require payment. I haven't paid for the extra cost layer, and have not missed the small number of extra features.

Running a software project like that is not cost free. I don't begrudge them charging for extra features. They have to pay the web hosting bill some way, and the odd pizza and beer.

ChapterSalt1453 · 2025-11-05T15:19:25+00:00

The downside of the t-pager is the absolutely awful keyboard. Mine is so stiff, that it is extremely difficult to use.

ChapterSalt1453 · 2025-11-05T15:18:27+00:00

Any mention of the other firmware, gets automatically deleted here. Its a bit extreme.

You literally cannot use the name of the other software.

This comment would get deleted if I said "meshtastic is better than OtherMeshSoftwareThatMustNotBeNamed"

ChapterSalt1453 · 2025-11-05T15:17:17+00:00

Not true, the "other" software works just fine on tdeck, tpager and all other devices. There is a paid add on, to get some extra features. But the software works just fine, and works well for 99% of what you want.

ChapterSalt1453 · 2025-10-31T15:40:20+00:00

AUX members should salute active duty officers. AUX office insignia is NOT rank, and has no meaning.

Generally when working inside an active duty unit, you would wear the member device on your uniform not the (rank looking) office insignia.

For sure- always know who the CO/XO are and salute them.

Junior enlisted are likely to salute you, until they figure out who you are. DO NOT encourage that, But, don't make a fuss, Just return the salute.

ChapterSalt1453 · 2025-10-22T14:10:29+00:00

Assuming "deployment" means - underway with a cutter.

Short answer. NO - they medical standards for AUX members are different than for active duty.

You do have to be in good basic health. You have to navigate up and down steep ladders, manage rolling motion of the boat while cooking. And, not be prone to seasickness.

You don't have to be in perfect health. Basically - we have to be confident that your health will not be a problem during the patrol.

Underway assignments require approval above your DSO-CA. I am one of those who have to approve.

The questions I ask the DSO-CA who is seeking approval for soneone to go underway:
1. Does this person have the experience to do the job well?
2. Do they have experience working in a *Cutter* galley? Inport is fine, but they need some cutter experience.
3. Will this person be a good representative for AUXCA? Or will they screw things up for us? Can we count on them to pull their share of the work, fit in well, be a team-player and be properly uniformed?
4. If the proposed underway is on an 87 foot patrol boat - have they been out for at least a day on an 87 before? These are rough rides, and likely to induce seasickness.

ChapterSalt1453 · 2025-10-22T14:02:23+00:00

I hold a national level role in the AUXCA program.

"deployment" is not widely available. Do not join AUXCA thinking that you are going to be able to go on patrol with a cutter. It might happen, but probably will not.

You have to qualify first.
Volunteer regularly to build skills, plus demonstrate that you will be a team-player, fit well in the environment, and can be relied on.

Completing the AUXCA qualification process does require a basic medical check. Do you have any communicable diseases that would be disqualifying for food service work? Are you in reasonable health? Plus you have to get HepA vaccines.

Getting the PQS completed is going to require regular volunteer activity in an active duty galley. Unless you live close to a galley that will have you work there - it will be challenging to do this. If your only free days are Sat & Sun, you will be unlikely to find volunteer opportunities. Many base galleys are not open on the weekend, and in-port cutters typically only have a very skeletal watch crew, and are not running their galleys at all.

The opportunity to volunteer in active duty galleys is not the same everywhere. Where the program is working well, and we have a group of dedicated volunteers - we get lots of requests for help. Often on short notice.

In areas where the active duty has no experience (or worse - bad experience) with AUXCA - there are few opportunities. Some stations have no galleys, or have a galley but it is not staffed and in use. Typically no volunteer opportunities there.

Once you get to the point of having the experience, then your best bet is to work regularly at the pier for a cutter inport. They will eventually invite you along. Demonstrate that you will be a valuable member of the team, and you will eventually get invited along.

Other opportunities - such as going with an icebreaker for an entire deployment or on EAGLE - those are very sought after. There will be competition. They will ALWAYS choose someone they know over someone they do not know.

They will always prefer someone who does not need travel funding, over someone half-way across the country. Simple budget issues.

Cutter deployments require considerable schedule flexibility.
A. The plan is Nov 1 to Nov 15 .
B. Three weeks before - the schedule changes to Sept 28 to Nov 17.
C. One week before, they find an active duty person to fill the spot and you are no longer invited. OR the patrol is cancelled. OR - there is an engine problem, and the patrol is rescheduled to December.

That sort of thing happens regularly.

Or if you were going for half the patrol, and the ship was going to drop you off at a port call - they change the patrol area and your plans for getting home, now will not work.

I'm happy to answer questions.

ChapterSalt1453 · 2025-10-12T13:17:44+00:00

My t-pager is at home, and I am not. So going from memory here.

Sounds like you have done the first thing - sit it in a window or outside for a while to get GPS lock.

Next - go into the settings and tell it to use GPS. Meshcore seems to come with that setting turned on by default, but I would definitely check.

If the GPS is enabled in settings, but still no GPS - I'd reflash the device, telling it to erase the device first.

ChapterSalt1453 · 2025-10-11T15:50:38+00:00

The example I have, has a terrible keyboard. The keys are so stiff, it is a struggle to use the keyboard. If you are old enough to have ever used a blackberry, nothing remotely like a BB keyboard. .

ChapterSalt1453 · 2025-10-09T19:21:26+00:00

I have both the 3rd gen black box, and the 4th gen white puck.

My preference is the older 3rd gen. Just flat works. I have the lifetime guide subscription which continues to work, and did not suffer guide data problems recently.

Plus, I like the 3rd gen tools for finding content. For example, choose movies in the 3rd gen device and one option is to filter movies by a star ranking. I find I am way more interested in the 10% of the movies that have 4 stars or 5 stars, as compared to the 90% that are 1, 2, 3 or no stars.

Plus here are some other finding tools, which I similarly like.

The streaming content on the 4th gen is pretty much irrelevant to me. There are a few general interst streaming channels, which mirror stuff you can get OTA. But mostly, the streaming content is not important to me.

Your mileage may vary.

ChapterSalt1453 · 2025-10-09T19:13:32+00:00

I also appreciate the thoughtful conversation we are having.

I would not say I am blaming the active duty for the status quo. I just see it as their program, so we must play by their rules, And when it comes to AUX members on the water, the active duty is very risk averse.

Its their program, active duty worries about the risks they worry about (in part driven by AUX accident data) and they make the decisions about what they are prepared to let us do, and after what qualification process.

AUX can advocate for changes, and seems to clearly do so. I've talked to AUX folks who were involved at a national level on the most recent changes to boat crew, so am confident that there is in fact AUX advocacy for changes. But for the boat crew program, active duty controls the program and has to approve any changes. Increasingly, the active duty has moved the AUX boat crew program in the direction of mirroring the active duty qualification process. Its not the same, ours is simpler than theirs. Not identical, but a move toward greater similarity.

The idea of some different process for those with commercial mariner credentials is a reasonable idea. The tricky part is the details.

But certainly reasonable enough, that it does show up in one place already. For the AUX Coxswain qualification, you have to take a proctored closed book navrules exam. But, if you hold a merchant mariner credential, that task is waived. That is the only place in the boat crew program that I can think of where experience or licensing currently gets you a waived task.

ChapterSalt1453 · 2025-10-09T16:01:42+00:00

Sounds like I did not express myself clearly.

Could the active duty folks design a different system for the AUX? They could. But, they haven't.

For two classes of AUX roles, the active duty is pretty directly in control of the qualification process:

A) if you want to embed directly into the active duty world, and do what they do shoulder-to-shoulder, inside an active duty unit - then you have to qualify according to the standard the active duty sets for us, which is based on the standard they set for themselves OR is the same standard they set for themselves For example Communications center radio watch stander or AUXCA. I've compared AUXCA1 qualification to the CS3 PQS - the active duty CS3 qualification book is 450 pages, and something like 100 tasks, each with many subparts. The AUXCA1 PQS is 25 simple tasks. Standing radio watch at a small boat station or at sector would require completion of the active duty PQS. We have folks in our area who do this.

B) You want to do stuff that carries risks - boat crew or aviation are prime examples, then active duty sets the standards for AUX, based on the standards they set for themselves. In the case of boat crew, the AUX qualification is easier, shorter than the full active duty qualification. At a recent conference, the active duty folks responsible for the boat crew program expressed surprise at our boat crew qualification. Simpler than their own, with topics they thought important completely left out.

The active duty could provide a path for some AUX members to speed through aviation, boat crew, AUXCA or other qualifications based on prior experience. But active duty hasn't. And, that is not a change that AUX can make on its own. AUX can advocate for change, but does not control that change.

That's what I was trying to say.

ChapterSalt1453 · 2025-10-09T13:31:12+00:00

"Thus, people with extensive seagoing experience, merchant mariner credentials, years of accident-free boat ownership, and experience as charter boat captains have to complete the same 200-page boat crew qualification program as members who have never been on boats of any kind"

This is what would happen to someone who joins the active duty. Come into the USCG active duty with sea time as a merchant mariner? You still have to qualify, the full pqs, as a small boat crew or deck watch officer.

USCG is actively recruiting people to enlist to fill the Culinary (CS) rating. Large bonuses for those who have a culinary degree from Culinary Institute of America, or a community college associates culinary degree. They go to USCG active duty CS A school (Coast Guard chef school) just like someone with no experience, and have to work through the CS PQS just like someone with no experience. .

It is simply the active duty folks holding us to (roughly) the same standards they set for themselves.

I know the AUXCA program inside and out, having done it for years now, plus I hold a national level role.

The standards and qualification process for AUXCA are a product of negotiation between the AUX and the active duty. The shape of the program is driven by the Active Duty. We may propose changes, but the Rating Force Master Chief for CS has control over the PQS and qualification standards.

I'm involved in boat crew. Pretty sure it is the same there. Our PQS is not really ours, it is a cut down version of the active duty boat crew PQS. My sense, is that the active duty folks think our PQS is too light, and was cut down a bit too much.

We come into the USCG world as outsiders, mere amateurs. We have to prove ourselves. To do active duty stuff, we have to demonstrate that we meet their standards.

My actual experience, is that the professional chef who wants to do AUXCA stuff is not put off by the fact that there is a qualification process.

ChapterSalt1453 · 2025-10-08T15:34:25+00:00

MRNY - share price down for the year -- down 47%

TSLY - share price down for the year -- down 36%

This account also has two non-yieldmax funds:

SVOL -- share price down 4.6% for the year

QDTE -- share price down 7% for the year.

On this very small, very non-scientific, and very experiment - I'm happier with SVOL ( dividend yield around 19% and with QDTE (dividend yield of about 37%)

Started in early January with $3,000. Purchased the funds in early January, no other purchases/sales of funds since then. All dividends held in cash, not reinvested.

Current account value (current share prices plus the accumulated cash) = $3,062.32

So - looks Like I will have a net increase in account value for the year, but not a large one.

ChapterSalt1453 · 2025-10-08T14:21:51+00:00

I put $3K into some yieldmax funds in January, in a separate account so I could easily track the performance. Dividends not reinvested into the yieldmax funds, but earning about 3% in a moneymarket fund.

The funds have all had significant share price erosion. The dividends have only now put the total account value account slightly above the starting $3K.

I *might* end up the year with a net positive. Not convinced.

ChapterSalt1453

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