A station license isn’t needed for recreational use yet an operator’s card is. As said above, you can get one through your local power and sail squadron (in fact, the only organization you can get it from) and it’s good for life.
Point: if you have a piloting VHF license it doesn’t cover marine use: you have to get a marine use operator’s card.
The test isn’t that hard. It’s more learning procedure in handling the normal use of VHF and the three main levels of distress calls. Mayday, Pan-Pan, and Security.
The update to the course, this year, is in MMSI and digital distress calls. Once you’re registered with a MMSI number and have a VHF capable of sending a digital distress call on channel 70 and have your VHF slaved to your GPS the Coast Guard will respond faster.
Also, channel 83 Alpha is now the preferred inter-operational Coast Guard Radio channel for things like radio checks and hazards. Channel 16 is still the inter-ship hailing and distress but in a few years it’s going the way of the dodo as it’s replaced by digital.
MichaelR