Captain Rates (day rates, maintenance, services)?

A suggestion: learn to dock the boat WITHOUT thrusters first... then carry on to thrusters, then joystick.

To the rest: it depends. For instance, I charge different rates for cruising versus training. And note, skill are different (driving/docking/etc. a boat, contrasted with teaching). Maintenance is often completely separate, often not really "Captain's work," and I don't offer that; no one should pay my rates to get the boat washed/waxed or detailed, etc., and there are brand-specific engine or other systems specialists who can provide better service in those arenas than I could. And so forth.

That doesn't address some routine or sometimes unexpected maintenance while underway on a delivery. Water pump impeller craps out, replace and carry on. Etc.

-Chris

A lot of variables. I would expect a captain to charge a daily rate of $350-400 in the FLL area. Overnights would be same daily rate but I also expect tipping, especially on longer days and on trips. A day to me is 8 hours and when it runs longer, then I think if the rate doesn't reflect it, the tip should. I find most captains tend to lock themselves into a daily rate and don't appropriately charge for the 12 and 14 hour days.

Delivery trips are the same, but most captains are going to take a mate at another $150 or so per day. Plus add in expenses as the captain and mate have transportation costs on top of meals and other daily costs.

$2-$3 for washing, $2-3 for diving. The more frequently you schedule and commit, the lower the cost per time. A one time job is going to be at the high end or even more where as if you commit to every three weeks or four weeks the rate goes toward the lower end.

Compound and wax, I'll go with Pascal's numbers although again if it's a one time job I'd expect to pay more versus if it's someone you use for regular washing. How often to Buff, Compound and Wax? I think some way over do them. Understand that compounding does remove finish. I don't believe in buffing or compounding until a boat ages and starts to show issues. Waxing depends on the paint. I believe the Prestige is gelcoat and, if so, then I'd say two to four times a year, depending on where it's kept and how used. Paint would be more like twice a year, unless Awlgrip which should be cleaned and treated but not waxed.

Engine and equipment maintenance rates vary widely but in FLL I'd expect $100-$120 an hour on average. Now, routine work like oil changes should be less.

One thing to consider with all the things to be done is perhaps using a captain who is also a yacht manager and can schedule and arrange all the jobs you've outlined for you plus make sure routine maintenance is kept up. The captain will not do the other work but will make sure it's done timely and right.

Question from the North.

Do you guys tip the yard manager or the actual person doing the work.

For Captaining- the going rate is $400 per day plus expenses. Same price for training, deliveries or trips with owners (overnight passages would be more). Usually on trips with owners, they tip, and for good reason there is a lot more work involved at the dock. A day is usually 8 hours, 10 hours maximum or the Captain should be compensated more. I have many owners that will book me months in advance to deliver their yacht and/or wait until I'm available and will not let me even recommend someone else to do their trip. I also have some dealers and owners that will pay me more per day, and tip extremely well. I have one large dealer that pays me $500 a day to get priority. I started out charging $300 a day in the early 2000's and don't know anyone reputable that would work for that. That being said, the smaller boats should pay the same or more. If you're doing a delivery on a 50' compared to a 70', at the end of 8 hours running in the ocean you are BEAT from the smaller boats, everything hurts, you're physically exhausted. Whereas I just delivered a new 70' SF 300 NM's at 35 knots, a few weeks ago and when you get to the dock it's like you've been sitting in your living room all day. Whereas I ran a 36' Luhrs 5 hours up from Key Largo yesterday in 2-4' seas for an owner I've worked for, for at least a decade who won't let me subcontract another captain, and today it feels like I played in the super bowl yesterday.

Compounding and waxing REALLY depends on what condition the gel coat is in, and the boat itself, nobody can quote a per foot price for compounding it without seeing it, straight waxing yes. Good waxes cost a lot more than cheap. Price out a gallon of rejex compared to the regular blue bottle of meguiars wax. You could get exactly what you pay for here. If you pay peanuts, you get monkeys and have nothing but issues. Same with washing, the going rate is $3ft on up. When my washdown guy went on vacation, I couldn't get any other reputable company to do washdowns for as cheap as $2 ft, and that's with 10 boats and companies I've done business with for at least 10 years. You don't make hardly any money off of washdowns, they're just a necessary evil. Washings every 10-14 days depending on where the boat is docked in Fort Lauderdale, some extremely dirty places I've seen it as short as every 7 days. The going rate for divers are $3 ft for traditional, $3.50 ft for IPS. The other thing you have to understand is that a 50' Prestige is a ball buster to wash, it takes as much time as most 70' because there are so many wingdings, stainless in hard to reach spots, windows, etc.,just the flybridge ladder and window behind it take 20-30 minutes to chamois dry due to access. One thing you have to understand, is someone can do thousands of dollars in damage in a minutes time using the wrong products. If they're some 18 year old aussie kid that you got from a crew house, what recourse do you have? That being said, I don't hire illegals, un-insured vendors/people, or people that aren't IN the marine business. I would say the rates in Fort Lauderdale are higher than Miami due to the last sentence. Almost every boat I've dealt with that came out of Miami was a total mess, many things and systems were "island engineered" instead of fixed properly.

With IPS, I would have only the Volvo dealer service them. Annually.

Mbevins- if you feel the person working on your boat or yard manager has done an amazing job, by all means tip them.

GCSI- Capt J=me