[boater4life]

Cabela’s will have a large professional fishing tournament in my home town in June of 2004 which is great for the community. However, the local people running the tournament will get other local boaters (friends) to transport the media, etc. for coverage of the event and we all know they pay the skipper for their effort. In the past, with other tournaments, I have asked these people if they planned to offer local Captains the opportunity to be hired. No Go!

I (we) as Captains would like to at lease be offered the opportunity to offset our expenses. As we all know, obtaining a Captains license is expensive and a commitment while maintaining a high level of professionalism. If we choose not to participate that’s fine, I have no problem passing it on.

My dilemma is how do I approach these people with out creating a local up rising to make them understand that what they are doing is illegal/wrong? I have explained this to them in the past. Again, I don’t want them to get a bad taste of Captains, in fact we want them to think of us as an asset to their community.

Any help and or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Nautically,
Capt. Todd R. Hurley

I am a USCG licensed master. With that being said I have some things to say here. Get over it! I know money is not an issue to this company, but if you were in their shoes, would you hire someone to drive your pontoon boat, or 30 something foot Sea Ray, or whatever they use for their media boat? I sure wouldn't! And if I was the owner of the boat, and drove it on a regular basis, the last thing I would want is some stranger driving my boat, captain or not. If someone was running a dinner cruise business, or tow company, or sightseeing cruises, that is one thing. That is not the case though.
I heard a saying a while back and I wish I could remember exactly what it was. It was pretty much this though. The defenition of captain-"Someone who thinks they have an important job." If anyone knows the whole thing please post it because it is pretty funny!

[YachtForums]

Hi Bob,

I found the "definition of a captain" on another thread, it reads...

"Someone smart enough to drive one of these things, and dumb enough to think it's important"

Hey thanks. I could not remember where I saw/heard that, but it's pretty funny!

[boater4life]

Boy Bob, what side of the berth did you get up on? I think your missing the boat here.

The reason most of us have a Masters license is because we enjoy what we are doing. If I wanted to feel important I would be running against Bush.

I have a vessel assist/rescue business in this area for those who "Thinks he's smart enough to drive one of these things, and dumb enough to think it's important". In addition, when I'm not chasing down these people I look for other ways to offset my operating costs as in charters etc., and again, because I enjoy it.

I have my own vessels and am not looking to drive a pontoon boat. This is not a little bring a child to the pond fishing tournment, it's quite large and brings in a boatload of cash to this community. All the major media networks will be covering this event including ESPN, CNN, etc. and pay big bucks for local knowledge.

Looking for a job Bob?

Dear Todd,
Now knowing what you just said makes it even worse. I had no idea you have a Vessel Assist towing business. It just so happens that I used to do some side work for a friend of mine who owned a Sea Tow business, and for free/the "fun" of it I might ad. Because of this, and many years on the water, I know a little about these operations and their marketing. I know for a fact that these companies, Sea Tow, Vessel Assist, Tow Boat US, usually VOLUNTEER to work these events. I will explain the reasoning behind this to you. You see, since these events are trying to make money, or at the very least, not spend all of it, they are usually very open to people who volunteer their services. In return you make a lot of 'boating industry people' happy, and if they are happy with you guess what???............They promote your business!! Now on top of that, you mentioned that there will be a lot of press coverage including ESPN, CNN,etc. Just imagine the money shot when that red and white Vesssel Assist boat is constantly in the background on ESPN! WOW! In your business it's all about getting your name out and being respected. If they see you as a good guy wanting to help out, and not just another person trying to rip them for $200-$300 bucks a day, it ($$$$$$) will come back to you in the long run! Try being the nice guy and not the sour apple.

As far as the job. If you are offering, I am not really interested in a career in recreational vessel towing, with a davit and outboard engine cooler sales gig on the side. I have been at my current job for a couple of years and am very happy with it. If the money and situation is right I might entertain the idea of taking a job that is well beneath the scope of my license.

I hope this post helps you out with some basic, simple marketing stratagies to grow your business. Good Luck!
Best Wishes, Bob

[boater4life]

My whole point here is, and being a licensed master you should know this, by law you can't charge for anything (including gas, food, etc) unless you are licensed. You go XX miles out of the way to tow somebody and you aren't supposed to be reimbursed for anything. Ring a bell?

Todd, my whole point is this. If you want to get down to it speeding is illegal. Have any of us not sped in the last day? We all have! I don't care about the legalities of it, and neither should you as that is not your/our job. As far as the whole "captain" part of it, if it was an ongoing weekly thing, and they were taking passengers for hire, or or something that was taking real money out of captain's pockets, I may be more on your side. But it is not. Get over it, move on, they don't want to use you!

As far as giving away tows, YES WE DID IT ALL OF THE TIME! The area we were in was all Boat US and had been for the past 10 or more years. They had a big time monopoly on the area. My friend, being the smart business man he was/is, VOLUNTEERED his services at any and every event around the area. I don't remember the exact numbers, but he had something like over 1000 members signed up in 8 or 9 months!
MARKETING=$$$$$ that comes back to you!