Considering Running a Charter - Bad Idea?

Bordering on crazy, but maybe there are options...

First, we have no significant experience (although we did charter out an earlier boat a few time)... because I've penciled out the details a bit for our case... and the answer in our case is that it won't pay expenses for operations and upkeep. Might contribute, though... maybe... depends...

In our case, we (I) decided guests could make do with the VIP and spare bunk room... or they could shop elsewhere. We (I) mostly also decided focusing on overnight guests, beyond maybe a day or two here or there, wasn't going to be our thing. Partly 'cause I'm not particularly sociable, and of course that kind of attitude will put the kibosh on lots of stuff.

I already had all the licensing; would mostly just have needed insurance. You'd probably want to understand the time/cost to achieve licensing before diving in head first... given the sea time requirements. Unless you have all that already and documented... it's not gonna happen overnight... and hired captain/crew will pretty much eat up any kind of income stream during that period.

You might consider breaking down the "charter" idea into smaller pieces for study. Day trips to Annapolis or St. Michaels and back? Overnight trips to either or both of those. Overnight trips to Bal'mer? Lighthouse cruises? (With hors d' oeuvres and cocktails? You'll need a stew for that.) Fishing? (Not much call for a 70-footer during trolling season...)

Et cetera.

Plan B: Just get a boat you like, enjoy...

-Chris

Hear, hear!

@EvanLyst: first of all welcome to the asylum. Back to your point, I guess you were hoping to get plenty of support to your idea, but I'm afraid that most folks here know a thing or three about running a boat - as opposed to "contemplating" that, in your own wording.
And the truth is, pleasure boats are design to DRAIN your money, rather than allow you to earn any.
That's the nature of the beast, so to speak.

I'm not saying it's impossible to work with boats for a living, mind.
But only as long as you accept to approach it as a job, and organize/manage it as such.
Enjoying a sweet life with other people paying for it (even if just partially) is wishful thinking.
Not uncommon at all among boaters, BTW.
But the hard fact that this idea is somewhat popular only among newcomers should tell you something about its practical feasibility...

You can do both. Keyboards can fit nicely in a decent sized boat.



You might find boats don't have to be huge to live aboard. And larger boats of course mean larger dockage, larger insurance, larger fuel bills, larger maintenance costs, etc. Start looking in the 40s and see what you want that they don't offer (if anything). Adjust from there...
-Chris

I ran day charters in Fort Lauderdale a few years ago with a smaller boat.
The income did help with fuel and insurance but that was about it, never made a profit.
Running the business and always keeping the boat clean and ready to roll did keep me busy and out of the bars.
Because of Covid the IRS left me alone and I didn’t have to show a profit to deduct 100% of the expenses, got away with murder.
It was kind of fun because I was retired and needed something to do.
Still retired and don’t miss it.

Amen to that.

Myself and my wife have been living aboard for 8 years on a 53' timber trawler, before replacing her (just because I had enough of wood maintenance, more than anything else) for the 56 footer in my avatar, where we lived for the following 9 years and counting.
Not permanently, but during all this time we spent at least 70%+ onboard, about 10% in the land home that we kept, and the rest travelling.
Based on this experience (during which we never felt the need for anything larger), I always recommend to anyone who ask me a suggestion on boat size to NOT look at the larger boat they can afford, but to the smallest that is sufficient for their intended use.
All boats are headaches, so it's better to live with as little as possible of it!

Yes, it matters quite a bit as you usually pay by the foot for dockage, haul-outs, cleaning, bottom paint, cruising permits, etc.
My personal max IF I was going to buy a boat for cruising The Caribbean and The Bahamas would be 55 feet, like an Offshore 54 and other medium size boats.
No crews needed and you can fit in many marinas and at fuel docks the bigger boats can’t.
Yes go big if you want but it gets quite expensive and the insurance company may require you do hire a Captain to run the boat and he/she needs a decent salary, food, drinks, airline tickets and TLC

Yes, and/or maybe. Remember as length increases, so does beam... and the resulting increase in overall spaciousness (?) starts getting a bit exponential (or some such math term that I've forgotten).

An 80 might have two or even three more ACs than a 60, a 60 might have one or two more than a 45, etc. More boat often means more plumbing, and a leak anywhere is usually difficult enough, let alone creating more space/places for leaks to show up. And as Pascal mentions, dockage is often by length. Just bottom cleaning, painting, or washing/waxing an 80 might to start costing 2x over a 60.

Consider also that running a boat sometimes means docking or locking, and that in turn either gets a little hectic if you're by yourself... or you might find you need at least one crew to help deal with outside stuff while you're busy showing off your docking prowess. Bigger isn't necessarily a show-stopper here, but layout can be... especially if you're single-handing and you find yourself needing to be in two places almost at once. There are some technology aids, for some of that, but then too having to depend on tech can maybe get you sunk sometimes.

Anyway, you might be surprised how much room there can be in some boats shorter than what you're imagining. Especially for you being the only full-timer.

We have room for guests, but seldom actually have any staying on board. There's usually a decent hotel "right over there" (somewhere) and guests can park themselves there for a bit.

Another thought: all 60s are not equal, nor are all 80s, etc. Our boat started life nominally as a 55 (before the marketing guys (probably) messed with the name). A Fleming 55 probably weighs half again as much as ours and probably has half again more usable space. A Fleming 65, for example, is probably twice the boat compared to a Sea Ray L650. Et cetera.

I'm back to what I said before, start looking at boats in person, start in the 40s -- or maybe even at a Fleming 55 you can use as a conceptual straw man -- looks for ideas about what (if anything) you maybe could be missing in a specific boat in that size range, use info like that to decide how to gradually look at larger boats.

-Chris

Posting on behalf of Chris...

Agree ref tanks, storage, and refrigeration. Maybe a minor quibble about the differences between a "little marine fridge" (often fridge/freezer combos) and better household fridges that aren't necessarily full size: our current separate units are household under-counter models and have been easily sufficient for us.

Sufficient tankage certainly helps, but if OP is at the dock most of the time, dockwater can solve supply issues easily enough. I'd not want the extra maintenance involved with yet another system (e.g., watermaker) for trips from Maryland to Florida, and probably not even for an occasional trip to the islands. Ditto stabilizers; an extra system, likely worth it if you're off-shore a lot in unplanned weather, maybe not so much for optional travel along the the US east coast including the AICW when useful.

We don't live aboard, but we do spend about 6 months aboard over some winters. Our previous 42 convertible was OK for that, even though not at all designed for that kind of mission. A ~45 designed more for life aboard, versus fishing, could easily have been just fine back then. Our current 55-ish sedan, ditto not optimized for living aboard, is fine too... and I suspect a boat of similar size but laid out better for living aboard (probably like any 53 Hatt, maybe even the 53 YF)... could feel positively spacious.

Posting on behalf of Chris - continued...

IOW, design and layout I think are more important than nominal length. And then features like duel-helms and side-deck access become more useful for single-handing (unlike our boats). Hence my thoughts about starting the search in the 40s and potentially moving up -- for cause -- from there.

OP's first post suggests maybe zero experience, in turn maybe not aware how boats are often laid out, how design and specific features combine to make a boat suitable -- or not -- for a given float plan, so walking out and having a look seems like a better first step. Versus throwing a dart at a (relatively large, for a newcomer) length first.

There's a boatload of viewing possible in/around Deale... which is just down the street from us a bit. Burr Yacht Sales, in nearby Edgewater, can probably arrange viewings for Fleming 55s, 58, 65s, etc... not to push that brand but just to get an idea about how lengths translate into usable space. I suspect a 65 has about ½-again more usable space than a 55... and as I said before, one of their 55s probably has quarter- to half-again more usable space then we have, as would most Motor Yacht formats. I see a 2018 55 Fleming advertised in "Bristle" condition on the YF front page; good pics...

Wintering in Deale is possible but first needs solutions to winter pump-outs (it's a No Discharge Zone) and winter water. Some folks do it around our place, but there's work involved.

Apologies to everyone in this thread that is getting hit with auto-mailers. Took a few posts to diagnose.

I should have also mentioned winter heat around here needs a solution too. We don't always have hard freezes, but water temps will be lower than what will work in a typical reverse-cycle system. One couple we knew had resistance heat sources added to their reverse cycle systems, to take advantage of the existing ducting.

-Chris

Just curious, why a 70–80 footer? Is it the extra living space, guest accommodations, or something else?

For these kind of long trips, I'd prioritize layout and mechanical condition over length. A well-designed 55–60 footer could meet your needs with lower dockage and maintenance costs.