Captain available-full/part time, deliveries or training

Not sure if he needs it, but I'll put in my $0.02 for Capt Bill.
You will not find too many folks with his cruising experience, mechanical know-how, ability to refit a yacht from stem to stern, and pleasant personality all wrapped up in one. I did some work for Bill and had a great experience. I'll always put him at the top of the list for anything yacht related.

Good luck Capt !

Please let us know how long it takes you to secure a position, and whether you step up or down. You have good creds and refs, so it'll be interesting to see from an industry standpoint. How long have you been with your current boat Cap? I've always refused to tie down to one boat, because I consider it pretty much a career ender. My feeling is that potential employers will think that you're used to dealing with one type of vessel, one type of electronics, one type of owner, etc. and they see a learning curve that they may not be willing to deal with. I hope I'm proven wrong. Good luck.

I too have stayed away from the One Boat situation and it has worked out well. However, I do spend a lot of time on a few of the many boats I run and have given those customers preferential treatment when it comes to booking my time in advance. I have never required a deposit.. I have turned away and or passed on jobs to others for the period I was booked. I have been burned when plans are changed or cancelled last minute and it was too late to book other work. Maybe it is time to get deposits? I have been offered and considered full time positions but for now have decided to stick with my current situation. I like to travel and enjoy the challenge that each boat / location / situation brings. Shoot me a PM and I'll pass on contact info for a full time position on a 97' Motor Yacht in your area that I was contacted about last week. Good Luck.

Hi,

You might be surprised to know that at the other end of the yacht segment stability in employment which is seen as dedication are often things folks seek when looking for Officers either Engineering or Deck.

There are some guys who jump around like cats on a hot tin roof but these are in the minority and one even has the words six week used before his first name which more people seem to know him as than those who know his proper name.

I agree with you about the "other end of the yacht segment". In that world owners will often keep a boat for many years, and portions of the crew will often go with the boat to the new owners. However, the size yacht the flighty owners are buying is growing (too much silly money out there). It's not that unusual today to see 100' yachts treated like cars, and being traded in after 2 or 3 years leaving the crew high and dry. That's why I asked about how long Capt. Bill was with this boat. In the under 100' market 3 or 5 years on a boat could leave you severely out of date on the latest engines and electronics, etc. One of the main things that propelled my career these past 26 years is that I worked with so many different packages every year that I could step from one boat to another and be up to speed in a few seconds. Also, in the sizes I run owners seldom want to pay for a full-time captain although they somehow expect you'll be available for them on Saturday & Sunday. Sadly for them they find, as CaptGDunz points out, that we have to give preference to those who use us and pay us the most. The guy who calls us 3 times a summer is on his own.

In my father's day there was a partnership between employers and employees, where each showed loyalty to the other. Employers still expect that from their employees, but I can't think of a field where employers won't dump their workers in a heartbeat if it saves them a couple of dollars today. They shouldn't be surprised that workers are now following their example and keeping their eyes open for better opportunities. Plus there's the keeping up with technology thing. I learned my lesson early on when I went on vacation and came back to see a note on the door saying that I now worked for _____down the street, and ______ quickly told me that they took me because they had to as part of the deal but my career would never move further with them. It was reinforced when an employer asked me to delay my vacation and two weeks later they closed their doors without notice. Loyalty is a two way street.

Here's a nice little video.

Can not discuss politics; but enjoy the video.

Easy Cheese and Wine Party : Food Network

So very true. I even remember looking at your first employer as if they could be your career long employer. Then over the years I saw employers complain about employee loyalty when they showed no loyalty themselves. They'd ask employees about their commitment. I remember asking a business owner I met who was so concerned about employee commitment how many employees he'd given contracts too showing they were guaranteed future employment. Obviously the answer was none. I was one of the fortunate few to retire from the same company I started or at least essentially, as there were some ownership changes early and an acquisition.

Resumes of someone 45 years old once were expected to have three or four jobs. Then I heard when I started that six jobs in one's career were normal. But I remember hiring someone who was 35 and had 12 jobs. But my only criticism of him was perhaps he wasn't good at choosing employers.

The world has changed and I do not blame employees. I blame employers. Now how is this relevant to yachting specifically. Well, these employers, the executives of these companies that show no loyalty, are the same ones who are yacht owners. They've become largely immune to worrying about the good of their employees or crew. They look at dollars and cents and try to cut corners. They're short sighted and don't want to pay for a captain if they're not going to use their yacht for a few months. Their same lousy business practices carry over into their private lives.

I guess as a former executive and a business owner, I might surprise some with my stance and who I blame most for this. But to me it's clearly, the greed of businesses, of the Corporate world. I didn't like it when I was in that world and refused to be like that. I sure refuse to be like that in my yachting life. When we hired captains (as ours are a married couple, both captains) it was and still is my thought that they would be with us until they were ready to retire. We hired them before we even had a boat. We do have loyalty between us but it's because as owners we've shown it to them.

Hope you find good work soon Bill. I know from just what I've seen here that whoever hires you will be fortunate. There are many excellent captains and other professionals on this site and I'm sure had we not already had ours we likely would have hired one from here. Nycap just struck a nerve that makes me angry at many of my fellow yacht owners. Now I also know many of you have been blessed to find the good owners and their decency is well rewarded with loyalty from you.

I think both sides can be argued. Yes, someone who runs a bunch of boats may be seen as easy to adapt to new boats and new technology but I think any captain who runs an active boat will easily learn and adapt. I ve been running the same 70 footer for 6 years now and whenever I ve had to briefly run something else whether an occasional delivery or helping out a friend or just for fun I haven't found adapting to be an issue. After a couple of minutes at the helm you quickly know how the boat reacts.

But we re running a very busy charter program, maybe adapting is problem for a captain stuck on a dock queen...

It's like people in any industry. Some can quickly take their knowledge and skills and adapt to a new situation. Others struggle with any change. But I would feel pretty confident that any good captain can quickly adapt.

One year doesn't put you out of circulation for too long. I think you'll do fine. Good luck.

Owner selling the boat and/or getting out of boating is probably the most common reason for us going unemployed. Used to be a person didn't buy even a 40' without knowing boating well, and they considered it a long term comittment. Nowadays 100 footers are bought on a whim. Not a business for those who crave security.

I see plenty of captains and crew on the smallest boats which still need crew- 45-70 feet- which jump from job to job. I don't know a single one which has it better than long time employees of owners for which they stay on one boat. You don't need deposits for work you may do when your paycheck is direct deposit, your boss matches your 401K, the health insurance they help pay for applies to your whole family and the year end bonus + vacations pay help pay for upgrades and continuing education. In my marina alone there are close to a dozen captains who have stayed with one owner for close to or over a decade. My professional view is that those that can't or won't be stable are those that are not able to hold a steady job, but obviously others view life differently. It's all good- it takes all kinds to power the planet.

x2 ......


GLWS for a new job Bill!