OBS vs other certs in this field — is it worth it salary-wise?

Appreciate everyone sharing their experience here. I'm 5 weeks out from my OBS exam date and feeling more confident after reading this. The consensus on exam prep being the hardest section matches what I'm seeing in my practice scores — going to put extra time there this week.

For anyone finding this thread later: the OBS is passable with consistent effort, even working full time. I studied 51 minutes a day for 9 weeks. The obs navigation & route planning kept me honest about where my gaps were instead of just drilling things I already knew.

Failed first attempt, came back to this thread. The consensus on obs practice test being the make-or-break area is right. Focusing almost exclusively on applied questions this time around.

Failed my first OBS attempt by like two questions and honestly it stung because I went in thinking it'd be easy. The thing that killed me was right-of-way rules and the navigation buoy stuff. I'd skimmed the material once and figured common sense would carry me. It didn't. Second time around I actually did practice tests over and over until I stopped guessing, and I made myself learn the specific distances and the markers cold instead of just kind of recognizing them.

As for the salary question, I'll be straight with you. For me it wasn't really a raise thing, it was more that I couldn't get considered for certain seasonal gigs without it, so it paid for itself just by getting my foot in the door. If you're banking on a guaranteed five grand bump I'd temper that. But it's cheap and it's not hard once you actually study, so the real cost is your time. Just don't wing it like I did the first time.

Failed my first OBS attempt and honestly it wasn't even close. I went in thinking I could just wing it because I grew up around boats, but the docking and right of way stuff caught me off guard. The questions aren't hard once you've seen the format, but if you've never done a practice run you're basically gambling. That was my mistake the first time.

Second time around I actually drilled the obs obs boat operation docking skills until I stopped second guessing myself, and it made a huge difference. Passed with room to spare. As for the salary question, in my area it's less of a raise and more of a door opener, a lot of the better paying gigs won't even talk to you without it. So worth it, just don't underestimate the test like I did.