Current day rate for Captains?

when you say 50k are you talking $50k or £50k i ask because i was thinking about a career change until i read this because if your talking $50k then the business is wrong lol i thought i had it bad until now i would like to know how many days a year and how many hours a day you would have to put in to earn $50k a year
at the mo i work 8 hours a day for 163 days a year and im on $100k a year now thats as an engineer by the way

As an independent captain I work about 7 months a year, 6 to 7 days a week from Memorial Day to Labor day, 3 or 4 April/May & Sept./Oct. then a few weeks over the winter. Could I make more money in my old profession? Of course, but then I'd probably have to buy a boat to satisfy my addiction. I'd also earn more if I worked in Florida in the winter, but I don't want to. An independent captain doesn't get rich, but it's a great life if you like living on the edge a bit. A full-time captain will certainly earn a lot more money, but he has to be beholding to people. It's like a regular job. Additionally, most of his time is spent sitting on the dock, and if he loses his job he may be out of the business. For an independent captain every day working is a day running and every day is different, with different boats, different people, different equipment and different styles. Also, If I don't like an owner or a situation I dump them and move on. Is it a situation for everybody? Not a chance, but its worked for me for a long time. What I can tell you for sure is that if you're working for the money no job is worth it.

Hi Guys.. Found this site by accident.. Read thru many posts. Found this one very interesting.. Over here on the SW coast of FLA. we don't get much of a day/week rate.. Too many of us over here..
Example: A newer 75' Viking was advertising for a Capt. and I hear over 40 applicants from Naples alone. and a lot over 200 tons. (I didn't get it) I don't know how many actually applied, but it was a lot.

We don't get many Yachts here that big..

Scuttlebutt has it the owner is paying about 60 grand per year.

Most of us that are stuck here w/houses, wife's etc. are lucky to have a job in our field. (well that pays anything..!!)

my 2cents.

There's a very good possibility that a 75 Viking will have no other crew besides the captain. If he's paying less than 75K he'd best also have a boatwasher & housekeeper that come in. Forget the competition you can drive to Lauderdale for work. Is someone afraid that the owner can't afford to pay crew. This is a 3 million dollar yacht. I doubt he's looking to bargain for a captain. Lowballing the offer will only make a captain look desperate and most likely incompetent. The owner of a 75 Viking wants a professional and will pay what that costs..

Hi,

Cap Is New York on another Planet or did your forget there is such a thing as supply and demand even with Captains, this is the reality of what drives the market prices.

If there really are that many people with strong ties to the area who won't or can't leave then the Owner can take his pick of those willing to work for what he is prepared or able to offer.

From all the bad news I see on the TV everyday we should all be prepared for a bit of belt tightening regardless of where we are or think we are in the industry.

Sorry K1W1, but I must respectfully disagree. Anybody who can afford a 75 Viking would certainly put qualifications way above cheaping out on a captain and I doubt he'd respect a captain who didn't feel the same. I've seen many captains gouge their clients and I don't go for that, but a captain has to get what he's worth and what the job is worth or nobody will be happy. In the end a good (and happy in his job) captain will go out of his way to save the boss money in other ways. Remember, someone with a 75' Viking is not tightening his belt much.
Granted as the ecconomic crises works out there will be fewer jobs available. Some will leave the profession. We should be competing by being the right person for the job though, not by giving away our services.

one way to put things into perspective is to consider that it's cost an owner an average of $80 an hour to get gthe bottom scrapped or painted at the yard.... gee... that's $640 a day and these guys dont' have the responsability of a $3M yacht and the life or well being of its passengers...

ok... so the yard had overheads and insurance and EPA rules to deal with and property tax... have you checked the rates of dockside services lately?

anything... figure a mechanic doing an oil change or an "electrician" installing an inverter to technician installing a watermaker.... way over $100 an hour in most cases..

so, what's $300 a day to ensue a $3M yacht gets there safe?

what's wrong with this picture?

Hi,

Pascal- I know the thread title says Current Day rate for Captains but what I was replying to was the post by Captsam54 which seemed to me to be about a fulltime job.

I think I need to start one of these threads for Engineers rates after what I have heard recently.

well, this is about day rate too... As a captain, I get quotes from electricians or watermaker installers at a minimum of $600 to $900 a day from guys who can't barely speak english (sorry for the cliché) while i make a fraction of that, with my butt on the line caring for a multi million dollars yacht.

Yup, going rate for boat electricians in Fort Lauderdale is $80 to $90 /hr.
That is for a guy operating out of a station wagon.

I know I took the wrong turn somewhere back when..

OOPS.. That's right.. Captains daily rate.. Well I was just adding that up monthly..;0)

Shoot, I am considering myself lucky to have a job in my field that pays any decent money over here on the SW coast. It took me 9 months to find this one and I went and aggressively tracked the owner down and applied for the job when I heard the old capt. got fired..

Believe me, anything else around here pays 15-20 dollars an hour, or a daily rate of 80-120 bucks for things like , marina work, boat detailing, charter fishing etc.

I have had my license since 1986 and started out in 1963 when my family moved to the Bahamas on our 32 f.t trojan. When I left home I went to Lauderdale and Bahia Mar as a 1st. mate in 1970, so I do have some background knowledge and perspective.

I would love to find a proper Yacht that MOVES.. Down in the Caribbean, S. America etc., private yacht or charter.. Doesn't matter..

I guess a little rebuttal is forthcoming as it may seem we/I are a little lazy over here on the west coast.. Not wanting to throw myself into the hustle bustle, who's the best,, who's who. and who do you know, bragging rights etc.of the capt. and crew scene of the Miami and Ft. Lauderdale area.

Besides, I hate to wear whites.. I am more of a khaki working capt.

If you want to see a place where there aren't many captain jobs come up to NY. So we just don't have many captains. A few guys dabble part time, but only a very few can make it full time. I've seen a lot of guys come in asking 200 a day. I laugh because there are only so many days a captain will work and at that rate their home will be in foreclosure come winter. I get $400 to 600 a day and keep very busy. A commercial captain makes $27 an hour. If you charge less you won't work any more days. You'll just be doing something else (where you can earn a living) next year. People don't want to put their multi-million dollar asset into the hands of a cheap captain. They want to put it into the hands of the captain they have confidence in. BTW, as fuel prices (and the cost of living in general went up recently marina labor rates went up from $108 per hour to $168, boat washers are getting $300 for a 50 footer and none of them gets their butts handed to them like I did today. Why would a professional captain charge what he did 3 years ago, and how can he expect to pay his bills if he does.

N Y Cap Sure glad My boat is not up in New York. You sound like you and the other captains have a monopoly up there. The rate on the West coast runs between 250 and 300 per day, plus expenses. If I need a captain for a week or more they also give a discount. For example moving from P.V. Mexico to Seattle.

Also the person with the 75 Viking paying 75k a year for a captain, Seems like a fair rate. Not all yacht owner have a unlimited amount of money. To some of us it is a dream that we are fulfilling.

UUMM.. More like 62 thousand... Wages are lower here.. I am on a 72 and getting 47 thou.. But it's mainly general care and maint..

Actually, the rate offered was 60K. 75K (1K per foot would in fact be fair). As for 250 to 300 per day on the on the west coast, how do you possibly afford the cost of living there (unless this is a side job for you)? For me this is full time. I have to support my family, pay my mortgage, taxes and health insurance, etc. Here we have a few part-timers who charge cheap. If the customer is ok with someone who runs a boat once in a while that's fine. As for the owner of a 75' Viking not having money, you may not have thought that one through. He's paying $500 an hour to run that thing NOT including maintenance, dockage, the cost of the boat, etc. My salary is the cheap part...especially if it keeps him off the rocks. Oh and as for fulfilling a dream, that left years ago. Once you do anything long enough for a living it becomes a job, a job I love, but a job.

I am sorry I read that He was getting 60k and posted 75k. I thought that at 60k that is not unreasonable. Maybe the owners are great people and they are great to work for. I was thinking about what you said that He should get 75k or He should have a boatwasher & housekeeper that come in. At 60k do you think the captain needs those people as He sits and orders them around on a 75' boat?
As far as the daily rate of 250 to 300 a day. That is what Captains quote and that is what I have paid. You miss understood me, I hold a 100 ton license but I am not the Captain, I am the owner. I am fulfilling me and my family's dreams and don't have a huge checkbook.
My Captain started for me 7 years ago, He left for a while for more money. He has just rehired with me at a lower rate then He was getting from his previous boss. Stories He has told me about some owner, I would not work for them at any dollar amount, as there are some Captains that I would not hire at any price.

Our boat washer gets $300 for a 50 foot boat. A full time captain on a 50 to 80' boat maintains the boat. That is a lot of hard work. Once he gets above 80 feet he'll usually have deckhands, stews and maybe even engineers helping depending on the size, but it will at least be a husband and wife team. In other words, the captain of a 75 footer is one of the physically hardest working captains in the business. Although I only work by the day as an independent, I've read on this forum that the rate for full-time captains is $1,000-$1,200 per foot.
"My Captain started for me 7 years ago, He left for a while for more money. He has just rehired with me at a lower rate then He was getting from his previous boss."
You had a captain who was loyal to you for 7 years, and obviously knew your boat and your ways and you would not match the offer of a stranger? Obviously, if the other owner was willing to pay more, that is the prevailing rate. Then, when he asks to come back you would still take advantage of him? Over the years I've worked for a few companies who considered employees interchangable "bodies". Not for long though.

If an owner can afford 60 but not 75 (a 25% increase!) I don't see how that's "taking advantage" of anyone. If you can afford a $40,000 car, do you buy a $50,000 car so you don't take advantage of the poor salesman selling it to you?

Not every owner has as deep of pockets as some would like to believe.