Considering Running a Charter - Bad Idea?

Bordering on crazy, but maybe there are options...

First, we have no significant experience (although we did charter out an earlier boat a few time)... because I've penciled out the details a bit for our case... and the answer in our case is that it won't pay expenses for operations and upkeep. Might contribute, though... maybe... depends...

In our case, we (I) decided guests could make do with the VIP and spare bunk room... or they could shop elsewhere. We (I) mostly also decided focusing on overnight guests, beyond maybe a day or two here or there, wasn't going to be our thing. Partly 'cause I'm not particularly sociable, and of course that kind of attitude will put the kibosh on lots of stuff.

I already had all the licensing; would mostly just have needed insurance. You'd probably want to understand the time/cost to achieve licensing before diving in head first... given the sea time requirements. Unless you have all that already and documented... it's not gonna happen overnight... and hired captain/crew will pretty much eat up any kind of income stream during that period.

You might consider breaking down the "charter" idea into smaller pieces for study. Day trips to Annapolis or St. Michaels and back? Overnight trips to either or both of those. Overnight trips to Bal'mer? Lighthouse cruises? (With hors d' oeuvres and cocktails? You'll need a stew for that.) Fishing? (Not much call for a 70-footer during trolling season...)

Et cetera.

Plan B: Just get a boat you like, enjoy...

-Chris

Hear, hear!

@EvanLyst: first of all welcome to the asylum. Back to your point, I guess you were hoping to get plenty of support to your idea, but I'm afraid that most folks here know a thing or three about running a boat - as opposed to "contemplating" that, in your own wording.
And the truth is, pleasure boats are design to DRAIN your money, rather than allow you to earn any.
That's the nature of the beast, so to speak.

I'm not saying it's impossible to work with boats for a living, mind.
But only as long as you accept to approach it as a job, and organize/manage it as such.
Enjoying a sweet life with other people paying for it (even if just partially) is wishful thinking.
Not uncommon at all among boaters, BTW.
But the hard fact that this idea is somewhat popular only among newcomers should tell you something about its practical feasibility...

You can do both. Keyboards can fit nicely in a decent sized boat.



You might find boats don't have to be huge to live aboard. And larger boats of course mean larger dockage, larger insurance, larger fuel bills, larger maintenance costs, etc. Start looking in the 40s and see what you want that they don't offer (if anything). Adjust from there...
-Chris

I ran day charters in Fort Lauderdale a few years ago with a smaller boat.
The income did help with fuel and insurance but that was about it, never made a profit.
Running the business and always keeping the boat clean and ready to roll did keep me busy and out of the bars.
Because of Covid the IRS left me alone and I didn’t have to show a profit to deduct 100% of the expenses, got away with murder.
It was kind of fun because I was retired and needed something to do.
Still retired and don’t miss it.