Live aboard with part time charter

[huntexpress]

Ok...here we go....would like to know your thoughts on part time chartering while living aboard. Is it worth it? Not looking to get rich. Just looking at different options to keep the kitty where it should be. also to help offset repair cost and longer time for crusing.

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[Vasco]

Originally Posted by huntexpress

Ok...here we go....would like to know your thoughts on part time chartering while living aboard. Is it worth it? Not looking to get rich. Just looking at different options to keep the kitty where it should be. also to help offset repair cost and longer time for crusing.

Sent from my SM-N910T using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

To do it legally in whatever jurisdiction you're in requires qualifications, licenses and bureaucratic red tape, including, in some jurisdictions, having a "local" partner. The answer to your question as to whether it's worth it ... NO!!

[psychfeld]

Hi Vasco,

I'm getting ready to buy a 44' cat for circumnavigating and I've been wondering the same question. I don't think it's a simple yes or no, rather - it depends where one might want to do some part time chartering. I have heard people say they stock up their sailing kitty this way.

Have you found any resources that might suggest intelligent ways to pursue your idea?

Rob

[gjordan]

I lived aboard and cruised my 44 footer for several years, and then started doing some day charters. It required that we be in one local to get known by the booking agent, and being ready at very short notice. I also am not a real neat person, so I had to rent a storage locker ashore to keep the boat neat enough(too many projects). You have to expect to clean up other peoples vomit, and scrub head walls from men that insist on standing to pee when underway. I was licensed but out of the U.S. so it didnt matter, but in some locals the other charter boats will go out of their way to cut you out as competition. Some people really love the business, and some hate it, but having a background in a service industry is a good idea. If you are going to buy a cruising boat and have to depend on charters to keep it maintained, then I suggest that you spend less on a boat and keep a cruising kitty set aside. Just my 2 cents worth. ____Grant.

[Vasco]

My answer above hasn't changed. I know a few folks that tried to do it "under the table" with friends coming down but when "friends" pay they usually want service and that usually doesn't work out. Also you need a lot of "friends" to keep this up with no advertising. On your own you'll have a hard time scaring up customers. That's a big expense in the charter business. No agent will refer you because they don't know you, you don't have the proper insurance and you don't have an enticing layout on the web.

I think the answer is a simple "no". If you have to rely on income from "chartering" to further your dream I think you'll be disappointed. A better approach is to stop somewhere, go home and get a job. Or you might be lucky enough to find work where you stop. But that brings up a whole lot of other factors.

[bobnlesley]

I don't think it's a simple yes or no... I do; like any business, it's only going to be genuinely profitable if you're both good at it and prepared to undertake it in a committed and professional manner.

it depends where one might want to do some part time chartering... Why?There's no point/profit in offering charters where there are no customers and anywhere which does have a customer base will also have an existing charter industry; they are not going to look kindly on a casual/fly-by-night competitor who is trying to undercut their prices by running a short-term un-regulated and uninsured operation.

I have heard people say they stock up their sailing kitty this way. So have I and another one who claimed to be doing so by 'treasure hunting'; I didn't believe any of them.

I do know people who've earned a few £/$/€ by Skippering charter boats on a part/full time basis for properly licenced charter operations, but you need to have genuine experience, generally some formal qualifications and invariably some contacts/references to get such a gig. If you do have the experience/qualification/contacts to get something like that, remember that a downside is the work tends to be available in 'high season', just when you'd most like to do your own cruising.