RYA Course to skipper your own boat charters?

[chalkgsy]

Hi all. I've done the RYA day skipper and am toying with the idea of getting a new boat and the qualification to be able to run small day trips / boat charters with it.

Does anyone know if you need a certain level of course for that? Or is it down to local governments to give you the permissions? The day skipper says yachts to 40+ ft with people on so just wondering if that would cover it?

[ChrisJHC]

This is really dependent on your location so it would be helpful to state that.

In Australia, for example, you’ll need much more than Day Skipper to take paying passengers.
Plus there are additional requirements for the vessel.

[chalkgsy]

Sorry yes. Based in Guernsey UK.

[boatman61]

The Coastal Skipper/Yachtmaster certificate is in the shape of a small hard backed blue book. This must include a commercial endorsement, this stamp proves a successful medical, sea safety and first aid course has been completed. The Skippers certificate is re-applied for every five years and this includes an ML5 medical.

[edsailing]

Probably YM offshore, commercial endorsement. Boat will need to be in code for commercial use, you'll need various insurances..... It's quite a long list!

[chalkgsy]

OK so after day skipper the coastal skipper is the next one to get? Thanks!

[Chotu]

Unless you’re very good at it already, take some marketing courses as well.

[psk125]

Accounting classes might be useful too, so you can see exactly how much less the income is than the expenses.

[Clivevon]

Originally Posted by psk125

Accounting classes might be useful too, so you can see exactly how much less the income is than the expenses.

Very droll. & very likely, I reckon.

[jmschmidt]

Every jurisdiction is different. In US waters you can use a recreational vessel for limited charter service. You will need either a US Coast Guard issued OUPV license (6-Pax) or an MMC with a limited "Master" endorsement. The limits will be for the Gross Registered Tons (GRT) of the vessel and the range of operation, usually expressed in nautical miles offshore.

The vessel must be US built, or if foreign built it must be "imported" through US Customs into the US with duty paid and perhaps require further approval of the National Maritime Administration.

Insurance will be the big consideration. If you have a thousand or more well documented "sea days" and the appropriate licensing, you can probably get the liability coverage that you will need to run a small charter business.

[grantmc]

Originally Posted by ChrisJHC

This is really dependent on your location so it would be helpful to state that.

In Australia, for example, you’ll need much more than Day Skipper to take paying passengers.
Plus there are additional requirements for the vessel.

OP please complete your profile details, then it's far easier to answer your questions and/or comment on your additional posts.

Same in New Zealand and Australia.
In simple terms there are two quite different streams of maritime education. RYA are basically amateur/pleasure craft based (non paying customers) where as commercial Skippers gain their qualifications through a Maritime School of some sort.
(Yes there is a cross over, and it's relatively common to have qualified amateurs cross over to being professionals.)

RYA: Day Skipper => Boat Master => Coastal Skipper =>Ocean Yacht Master

Oh and no matter which side of the coin you choose it's a significant cost, and requires considerable effort.
And my personal frustration is that all the qualifications expire and so to remain certified one needs to periodically redo them.

[psk125]

OP's avatar/ID shows he's in Guernsey. This is one of the Channel Islands, known for Guernsey cows. This is in the English Channel Islands, not the California Channel Islands. So not US, not OZ. Because of Brexit, not Europe. Definitely not Ireland. OP is going to need to research this extensively because there are lots of exceptions involving the English Channel Islands that make them unique, even in Britain. Good luck.

[goboatingnow]

Mca rules still apply in the Channel Islands and these will determine the situation

[Pete7]

Originally Posted by goboatingnow

Mca rules still apply in the Channel Islands and these will determine the situation

Indeed. You will need to study this in detail regularly whilst setting up.

https://www.gov.uk/government/public...ng-authorities

Do not overlook the cost of buying the boat and then having it coded. An open rib cost me £2k, a yacht will be a lot more. Also be aware there are some yachts that will struggle to get coding beyond 20m day time offshore.

Finally, are you going to be better than the locals that are already doing it? Very competitive market. You will make more money stocking shelves in Tescos. A lot of the south coast charter boat skippers do other things when there are no bookings, like the building trades. They have to, very difficult to get consistent work all year round.

Pete

[chalkgsy]

Cheers for all the replies. i imagine things will be complicated and full of bureaucracy but I'll go through the motions and see what happens!

No body is doing any sort of charter on a Catamaran in Guernsey so there may be a market for it. I wouldn't aim to make it a fulltime thing anyway just something I can take occasional bookings for, and that alone might not make it worth the extra costs to get it registered and such.