Charter Rules and Regs in Australia

[KASHMIR]

There is a guy in our club in Melbourne that runs a sailing school and has done for years. He charges $100/head for a 4 hour lesson. His boat would never pass survey and I doubt he has a coxswains ticket. He is busy most weekends. I don't know how he gets away with it but he does. Be in big trouble if something went wrong though.

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[mausgras]

Originally Posted by KASHMIR

There is a guy in our club in Melbourne that runs a sailing school and has done for years. He charges $100/head for a 4 hour lesson. His boat would never pass survey and I doubt he has a coxswains ticket. He is busy most weekends. I don't know how he gets away with it but he does. Be in big trouble if something went wrong though.

Sent from my WL-101GQC using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

Sounds like a nice little money earner ..... But you are right, he would be in big trouble if anything went wrong and that is not my intention. Rules are generally there for good reason and thanks to the replies above (thanks everyone) I have done some homework and learnt that all I need is a coxswain ticket, because at 11.27 m my boat is just within the 12 m limit. I can do the course at a TAFE not far away and it is only a couple of hundred dollars.
All good and achievable.
I was worried govt red tape was going to cost thousands which would be a disincentive to start a small business which would not be much more than a hobby.

[KASHMIR]

I think you would still need your vessel in survey, I have tried the charter thing myself and made $2K over and Easter charter a few years ago and probably $1K on other jobs over 2 years.
My boat was built to survey and was less than 5 years since it was in survey and there is also a sister vessel on Port Philip that is in survey so it was quite easy to do. If you vessel has never been in survey and there are no sister vessels around in survey then it would be easier to change boats as others have said.
I also have my Coxswains ticket.

[mausgras]

My boat is a bog standard 2007 Bavaria 37 and currently leased to a charter company in Phuket. I will bring it back to Oz in about three years. It is in excellent condition because I spend any income on maintenance so I imagine / hope there will not be any issues with survey (fingers crossed).
I expect my biggest cost to be insurances.
As a self funded retiree I am not poor, but I am not wealthy either. But I am discovering govt red tape in Australia a real disincentive to entrepreneurship and for people to make the effort to get off the welfare sauce pot.

[ozskipper]

For a start you will need a Coxswains Certificate, that allows you to charter up to 12 meters enclosed and partial coastal waters (in nsw).

As others have said, getting the boat into survey would be a nightmare, especially if it wasnt built to survey in the first place.

However, given your experience, you could simply get your cox and sailing instuctors certificates and work for a school or other charter co. The pay rate is pretty ordinary, but you get paid to go sailing all the same.

Having said that, there "used" to be a difference between charter vessels and sailing school vessels. Sailing school vessels werent subject to the same scrutiny- as they were controlled by Yachting Assn NSW at the time. That was ten years ago when I managed to get my RL24 registered as a Sailing School vessel, but not as a Charter vessel.

I would suggest you not only contact the Roads and Maritime Services, But also YA NSW, though my guess is that things have changed over the years.