So, you want to be a boat captain, huh?

 

I got a private message on one of the boat forums I follow...

Xxxx wrote:Hello James,
I live near Lake Coeur d’Alene in Idaho and own a XX-XX and am considering getting a Captains license to be able to charter my boat out for sightseeing trips on the lake. Thinking of getting the Master license and was looking through posts, saw yours and was hoping to get your thoughts on pros and cons, best company’s to go through for licensing and insurance, etc.
Thank you,
Xxxx

Hi Xxxx,

I'll give you my experience, though it may not match what you intend to do. I went to a school in south Texas to get my first license (OUPV) about 20 years ago. We never used our own boats for charter. While you will be able to write off a portion of the boat expenses, the liability insurance you will need to protect your assets won't be inexpensive. Plus - and this is a big deal - we used our own boats for getting away from people, rather than hauling them around.

I got my Master license about 3 years after getting the 6-pack, and drove excursion type boats for companies that I did not own. After years of doing that, I sold our cruising boat and did not have a boat of our own for several years (kinda "boated out"). I enjoyed my years as a captain, especially being able to be in some spectacular places, but I will tell you the challenges, as I do have friends who do charter work on their own boats.

The downside: your time is no longer your own. If you do charters, you are not your own boss, you have a boat full of bosses that change with each trip. People are not aware of all the potential dangers on the water, so it is up to you to be responsible for every person on the boat... the little kids, the old people, the ones who don't dress for the conditions, the ones who have had too much to drink, people who get seasick when even stepping on a boat, people who are late, people who want you to violate the law... I had one guy on one of our whale watch boats tell me, "There is a BIG tip in it for you if you will get us right next to the whales."

My response to him was, "That tip better start at $50,000, because that could be the fine and I will lose my livelihood, so I may have to come live with you. Oh, and I'm going to need that cash up front before I make my move to get close."

He said, "I was just kidding."

I said, "I'm not."

I had occasions where someone chartered the boat and said, "I paid for this boat, so you'll take us where I say." (Usually said to impress others in his party - wedding parties, family reunions, etc.)

I would generally say, "You have HIRED this boat and crew, and once we push away from the dock, I will be making the decisions. If that doesn't suit you, we can certainly refund what you paid for the charter."

I had people ask if we could feed the whales to get them to come closer. People who asked if they could "toss a line in" while on a wildlife cruise. People who would try to sneak booze onboard (check your state laws to see what that might be for a chartered outing). People who came onboard who had obviously been over-served before getting to the dock. People who would try to get their schnauzer onboard by saying it is a "service animal" (you have to be up to speed on the ADA laws - and there is a difference between a service animal and an "emotional support animal", which is not covered by ADA rules). I had parents who would let their kids run wild on the boat, disturbing other guests. People who came onboard with muddy shoes and stood on the cushions (no, we didn't allow people to stand on any area used for seating). There were times I had two charters on the same day, and the first one would show up an hour late and the second one would be there an hour early... while we scrambled to get the boat cleaned up and ready to go for the second trip. People who would charter the whole boat for a family of 5, then show up with 10 people.

Perhaps you can see why I didn't want any of that on MY OWN boat?

You will be asked to go out when the weather is crap because "This is the only time we have." You will have people who reserve and then don't show up when the weather is perfect. You will have people who, even when told how to use a marine toilet, will try to shove an entire roll of toilet paper down there. You will have women flush feminine hygiene products in your marine head that will plug up the line (I had to disassemble the lines a couple times to remove tampons that had swollen up to the size of a football, plugging the valves)... even though you put a sign by the head telling them to put it in the waste basket.

Now, the majority of people won't be like the above. But, if you drive boats for hire long enough, you WILL see all of this and more. And, you won't know which trip it will happen, until you are in the middle of it. I will state absolutely that what you have done for pleasure (the reason you are considering this) will become... a job. If you take it casually, you will still be held responsible for every life onboard.

The insurance you pay now will skyrocket. If you use your boat for charter and don't tell the insurance company, they will deny the claim if you have one. If someone gets hurt onboard, even though you didn't do anything wrong, you have the potential of being sued. You can have people sign waivers, but that won't hold up in court.

Now, after all that, if it is still something you want to do, I suggest you go to an accredited school that will train you to proficiency, not just teach you to pass the test. Besides passing the tests, you will have to have letters of recommendation, pass a federal background check, pee in a cup for drug testing (you will also have to have some random means of testing, even if you are chartering your own boat), pass a physical, get fingerprinted (they will check those records), First Aid and CPR certificates, and most importantly: have documented sea time. Yes, I am aware that some schools will tell you you can log hours on your own boat, and you certainly can (they may imply you can "embellish" - you can't). The insurance company may have a different opinion of what constitutes sea time. On almost every commercial boat I drove, the insurance company wanted you to have time on the boat you'd be driving before being able to assume MIC (Master in Charge). I drove boats in one National Park that required me to pass a Department of Interior test - similar to the USCG Master license test for the written, but also required a practical on-the-water test... six hours of emergency procedures, fire fighting, man-overboard (first time I was ever required to tie a bowline with my body in the loop - tied behind my back - yes, really), etc, etc. For two seasons, I also drove a rescue boat, and saw lots of things I would not have imagined.

It was all enough that I went boatless for a few years, and didn't miss it one bit. My wife wanted us to get another small boat for local sight-seeing and dolphin watching... just the two of us, no paid passengers. And having her as my main boss, I said, "Yes, ma'am," and got what she wanted. Instead of boat cruising for months at a time, we take our motorhome out these days to enjoy land cruising for months at a time.

If you take a captain course and decide not to charter, you will still learn a lot about safe boating. You will become aware of all those other boaters out on the water who don't have a clue about Rules of the Road or any other safety procedures. It will make you a safer boat operator. I do recommend it. As far as chartering your own boat, plenty of people do it. Seems the most successful people running an OUPV operation are small fishing boats (and in our state, also requires a guide license) - that is beyond my experience, as I am not a fishing kind of guy. Friends and family enjoy going out on your boat, and you are probably well versed on the history and scenic areas along the shoreline. They may even tell you, "You are good at this - you should do it for a living!" How many would go along if you told them it was $50 per head? If you decide to offer a "friends and family discount," I'd suggest it should be 20% additional. Yes, I'm joking about that last part. Only the last part.  Does $50 sound like more than most would spend?  What does it cost you per hour to run/maintain your boat?  Will they sit inside while you narrate?  What if they want to sit on the aft deck while you drive?  Will you need a second person to keep track of people while you're at the helm?

What do you need for business/tax licenses in your area?

Sorry I can't recommend any training in the northern Idaho area; the guy who operated the school where I got that first license has long-since retired, and the guy who took it over is the epitome of running people through for the money, knowing that many won't qualify for a license (not enough actual sea time, mostly). I took the Red Cross CPR training there once, when he was just finishing up a Master license class... one guy that I sat next to who had just finished the Master class was calling himself "a captain", even though he had NO LOGGED SEA TIME. He has one year to apply to the Coast Guard for the license, but needs 720 days of sea time to qualify. How's that gonna work? Don't spend your money on a "school" like that.

Good luck with the decisions.