International Chartering for Hire Regulations

Having a captain's license will expose you to a completely different level of liability. So, if you don't expect to make a living at it, I'd be hesitant. Also, a 6 pack license isn't worth much in the commercial field. I'd suggest that you try to hire on as a deckhand or stew and get a feel for life on board and the business in general before putting your money down on a boat. There's a lot to learn. You may even want to charter a couple of boats so you can obresve close up while enjoying a nice vacation. Researching into the boat you'd like to charter will also teach you a lot.

Hi,

To tell you the truth as far as I am aware there isn't much in the way of enforced rules and regs that controls or restricts your ability to charter in the popular spots in the Caribbean.

There are a ton of rules for all the Caribbean Islands regarding chartering. There are as many rules as there are Islands and they are all different for each nation. It is best to do some research on the island you plan on chartering in before you show up and try and open up shop. There are specific ones you really want to pay attention to because penalties can be as severe as jail time and vessel confiscation. I know of a few American skippers who have gotten into some real touchy situations lately by trying to charter on the slide or just plain outright disregard the laws of the Nation they were in.

I'll start you off with some sound advice. Don't wear camo in Barbados.

Cap, What's your thoughts of the viability (make a living) of a 65' motoryacht chartering in the Caribbean?

Hi,

I should have added that the time I spent on charter boats in the Carib was 1984 till 2002 we were never hassled anywhere except USVI.

The smallest boat I was on was 28m and the largest 55m.

I don't think it is a good way to make a living period. There is no profit in running a boat. In fact I think that everything that is done is more of a tax write off than an actual profit driven business. You may be able to squeak out a small profit if you run a day boat charter (fishing or diving) type operation on a small 65 footer. I would wager to say that you would be lucky if you broke even.

Sorry to disagree, but, although having a license would not be cause for an action, it would certainly be a factor in determining liability and the extent of that liability. It takes no imagination to envision the scenario: Defendant 'I didn't know that was dangerous'; Lawyer 'As a licensed captain aren't you supposed to know these things?' Granted that's not case law; just logic and what I've been told by many lawyer-clients who wouldn't think of getting a captain's license.

Did that little bit you read say anything about a "6-pack" not being valid for international operations? It is an operator's permit to allow near coastal or inland operations in U.S. waters only.

If you want to charter internationally there is a whole new book you need to read and by the sound of it, you will spend the next few years gathering sea time and experience before you will be permitted to charter that 65 footer outside the US.

But then again, if you go with a red flag you could buy a couple of weeks of classes and get an MCA or International Yacht Club license to run a 200 ton boat.

Gross negligence is gross negligence no matter what license is or is not held. That's what your common sense should be telling you. Ignorance of the law being no excuse for breaking it, your lawyer friends should also be cognizant that pleading ignorance in boat handling will, if anything, make them more culpable because now they're knowingly creating hazardous circumstances by operating machinery with which they are unfamiliar.

Darned if you do, darned if you don't. So do whatever makes you happy. If you want a title, Captain, then get the 6-Pack.

It doesn't sound like he's going to be competing with you for work, so why try to scare him away?

And what evidence exists to prove that contention?

I challenge any reader to submit a verifiable report of a captain having his license revoked, suspended, or otherwise being held accountable for an incident or accident while in command of a yacht.

This carries one exception however, USCG reports related to the drunken operation of small boats or those couple of actions involving murderously stupid fishing boat skippers running the bars along the Oregon coast don't count.

When you cause an accident your defenses are ignorance or negligence. Neither good, but what else. So for damages you're at the mercy. Better it was my first time at a helm (ignorance) than I'm a professional who should have known better (negligence). It may not change a verdict, but it may adjust the award. Most damages aren't statutory but discretionary. As for scaring him away, he's not asking for advice to get a salesman's pitch. He deserves to be told that a 6-pack won't find him much work, that he'll be laying out a thousand or so by the time he has it, that it will be hard to make a living off a 65' motor yacht, etc. The competition I don't mind, and someone with a little more education out there is certainly welcome. I'd love it if a 6-pack were required to run a boat.

When I entered this business over 20 years ago I had a dream much like what you described. Man I wish there was something like YF back then. Can't say it would have persuaded me away from the business (I'm stubborn that way ), but it probably would have saved me a lot of mis-steps along the way. Good luck.

To quote Donald Trump on yachting: The second happiest day in his life was when he bought a yacht. The happiest day was when he sold it!