CAPTAIN, STATE BOAT

Definition

Under direction of a supervisory official in the Department of Environmental Protection, operates, navigates, and maintains assigned boats, motors, and trailers; works to protect and conserve shellfish and marine finfish, and/or does work involved in marking channels, towing marine equipment, and enforcing applicable laws and regulations; does other related duties as required.

Examples of work

• Operates, navigates, and maintains assigned boats, motors, and trailers.
• Performs assigned duties in the supervision of the marine and shellfish industries.
• Enforces applicable laws, rules, and regulations.
• Operates various sizes of inboard and outboard boats in areas condemned for the harvest of shellfish.
• Apprehends violators of pertinent laws, rules, and regulations, and prepares apprehension reports and appears as a witness in court as required.
• Operates a patrol boat in NJ coastal waters to check licenses of menhaden stemers, beam trawlers, and licenses for gill, fyke, flounder fyke, miniature fyke, shad, drifting gill, fishpound, and other nets.
• Inspects the catch of lobster fishermen to ensure that they observe requirements of fish and game laws, secures evidence of violations of fish and game laws, and institutes required legal action.
• Using a guard boat, inspects leased and natural oyster beds of the state when oyster boats are dredging, and sees that oystermen's boats are kept on proper grounds as indicated by maps.
• Conducts or participates in hydrographic studies.
• Carries out the posting of areas condemned for the harvest of shellfish.
• Aids in conducting sanitary surveys of shellfish growing areas.
• Collects samples of shellfish and of their growing waters.
• Collects samples of potable water.
• Operates an assigned boat on New Jersey's Inland Waterway and in all side channels connecting to the Waterway.
• Operates, navigates, and maintains assigned boats of varied sizes and types including outboards, large work boats, and both single and twin screws.
• Operates a survey boat used for taking soundings in various inlets, on shoals in the inlets, along the New Jersey coastline, and for all soundings taken in the Atlantic Ocean, and along New Jersey beaches.
• Operates boats of varied sizes used in placing channel markers, buoys, and lights.
• Makes decisions regarding water and water conditions relating to particular jobs, and makes accurate judgments of wave heights and water conditions.
• Conducts periodic inspections of inland and/or coastal waters to see that navigation aids are intact and functioning properly.
• Performs necessary maintenance of boats, and gasoline and marine diesel engines and trailers including painting, lubricating, cleaning, and making minor repairs and adjustments to piping, wiring, pumps, and mechanical systems.
• Locates and marks shoals, and observes other obstructions to navigation or violations of laws governing navigation on inland waterways, tow barges, floating cranes, and other marine equipment.
• Stores boats and equipment to safeguard them against the offsets of weather and from damage and/or theft.
• Requisitions equipment, materials, and supplies and oversees their recording, safeguarding, and issuance.
• Cooperates with representatives of other agencies and organizations.
• Prepares factual reports.
• Maintains a current log book and other records and files.
• Plans, organizes, and assigns work of the organizational unit and evaluates employee performance and conduct, enabling the effective recommendation of the hiring, firing, promoting, and disciplining of subordinates.
• Will be required to learn to utilize various types of electronic and/or manual recording and information system used by the agency, office, or related units.

Experience

Five (5) years of experience in navigation of coastal waters in boats operated by marine diesel or inboard gasoline engines, including at least one (1) year of experience as captain, mate, or second-in-command in the navigation of small craft.

License

Applicants will be required to possess a driver's license valid in New Jersey only if the operation of a vehicle, rather than employee mobility, is necessary to perform essential duties of the position. Appointees may be required to possess a valid Commercial Driver's License (CDL) and applicable endorsements for the class and type of vehicle being operated.

Knowledge, skills and abilities

• Knowledge of laws, rules, regulations, methods, and techniques pertinent to navigation and their application to specific cases.
• Knowledge of safety practices and precautions to be taken in operating a motor boat under varying conditions to prevent damage and possible injury to individuals.
• Knowledge of the use of charts, maps, and instruments used in navigation.
• Knowledge of methods, materials, and tools used in the operation and maintenance of gasoline or marine diesel motor boats.
• Knowledge of factors which influence the judgment of water and weather conditions, and the estimation of wave heights.
• Knowledge of marine radio and electronic sounding equipment and their use.
• Knowledge of United States Coast Guard Rules of the Road relating to the operation of motor vessels in inland waters and bays.
• Knowledge of nautical terminology.
• Knowledge of problems involved and equipment used in making landings at docks, and moving barges and vessels.
• Knowledge of methods and techniques used to conduct inspections and investigations.
• Knowledge of towing procedures and of the maintenance and repair of motorized boats including making minor repairs, painting, and servicing and adjusting the boat and its motor, including cleaning and/or adjusting points, filters, and strainers, adjusting the clutch, charging batteries, and greasing and oiling movable parts.
• Knowledge of safety practices and rules for boat handling.
• Knowledge of equipment used to mark waterways and side channels.
• Ability to navigate assigned boats in inland and coastal waters, to use the compass, maps, charts, and other instruments of navigation, and to run a compass course from charts.
• Ability to operate a survey boat used to take soundings.
• Ability to conduct inspections and investigations.
• Ability to collect samples.
• Ability to read, analyze, and interpret laws, rules, and regulations applying to the operation and navigation of a motor boat.
• Ability to operate a motor boat under varying conditions, in daylight and darkness, and in varied bodies of water. Ability to make landings at dock, moving barges, and vessels, and in dangerous and close quarters such as around cables, anchor cables, cutterheads, pipe lines, and pontoon lines of hydraulic dredges, and stone jetties and groins in the Atlantic Ocean.
• Ability to enforce New Jersey shellfish and marine finfish laws and regulations.
• Ability to judge wave heights and water conditions for ocean soundings and to make determinations of wave and weather conditions for particular assignments.
• Ability to interact effectively with the public in the course of official duties.
• Ability to direct and assist in the painting, maintenance, and repair of motorized boats including servicing and adjusting the motor, clutch, points, filters, strainers, charging batteries, and greasing and oiling movable parts.
• Ability to instruct assigned personnel in boating safety practices.
• Ability to obtain, store, record, safeguard, distribute, and supervise the use of food, equipment, materials, and supplies.
• Ability to prepare reports.
• Ability to maintain records and files.
• Ability to utilize various types of electronic and/or manual recording and information systems used by the agency, office, or related units.
• Ability to read, write, speak, understand, and communicate in English sufficiently to perform the duties of this position. American Sign Language or Braille may also be considered as acceptable forms of communication.
• Persons with mental or physical disabilities are eligible as long as they can perform the essential functions of the job after reasonable accommodation is made to their known limitations. If the accommodation cannot be made because it would cause the employer undue hardship, such persons may not be eligible.
• CODES: 16/R17 - (40 hr) CAH 9/13/97 16/R15 - (35 hr)

Note

The examples of work for this title are for illustrative purposes only. A particular position using this title may not perform all duties listed in this job specification. Conversely, all duties performed on the job may not be listed.

Possession of a current, valid United States Coast Guard Limited Tonnage Master License may be substituted for the indicated experience.

Possession of a current, valid United States Coast Guard Operator of Uninspected Vessels (6-pack) license may be substituted for two (2) years of indicated experience.

The responsibility for ensuring that employees possess the required motor vehicle license, commensurate with the class and type of vehicles they operate, rests with the Appointing Authority.