I have both and they're night and day
The Coast Guard license is a completely different animal than the one you receive from the Marine Patrol. I have a 50 ton license that involved an 8 hr test in five parts, all of which must be passed to get the license. The one part on navigation took 2 hours and was only 10 questions. Passing score is a 90 on just that one part. The rules themselves had more questions also with a passing score of 90. The merchant ship stuff had a lower pasing score. Basically, it's not an easy exam. There's a high expectation since you are responsible for the lives of others.
The NH commercial test took me less than 30 minutes and was not much different than the recreational boaters test. Theoretically, you could know nothing about commercial operation and still pass it. There were only 5 questions related to commercial operation - and if you read the 3-5 pages of material on commercial use, you were all set. I don't recall what the passing score was. Many of the people who take this test are crew members on the commercial boats on the lake. I have noticed that a good majority of "operators" do have the CG license as well. I believe it brings comfort to passengers to know they have more credentials than they actually need.
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