How Do I Become A Yacht Captain

Young Captains

You live in Key West, you have a real advantage. The best thing you can do is get a deckhand job aboard one of the daysail boats there, as a start. The advantage of this type of vessel is that they are on the move alot, several docking evolutions per day, and though you may repeat the same route the underway experience should give you lots of practical experience in a very short time. And, you will get good exposure to a great variety of guest personalities. Strive to figure out how to make each guest's day on the water with you a memorable experience they will want to repeat.

Work for different captains, and remember what you like and dislike about their skills/management style/attitude. Work your way up from the bottom, and learn about every task aboard. This can range from changing oil to varnish work to how to make a bed perfectly, and serve a cocktail with charm and grace.

Any time that you get aboard should get documented with a small vessel sea service form. Start logging the days, and get licensed in some form or another as soon as you possibly can.

A college degree may or may not serve you well, thats more of a personal decision.Attending a merchant marine academy may help you more than enlisting in the Coast Guard, as far as how far along you will be towards a big ticket license after giving either institution 4 years of your time.

I a sure there is plenty of advice other here can give you, but those are my thought as a start... Good luck!

Hi Patrick,

Long time, no post! Hope your holidays were good. It was nice of you to take the time to give a young guy some guidance. For what it's worth, I appreciate it!

I'll be floating around the ditch during the holidays, taking some pics and generally... getting away from the monitor. Let's get a beer!

When you want to go get a license, they will ask you to show proof of your time abaord vessels. The sea service form is how you do that. Any time you work on a boat for someone, make sure you get them to fill one out for you, and put it away in a safe place. I think these days they even want it notarized with a letter from the woner as well.... though I am not completely sure about that. When you turn 18 I think you can apply for a Operator of Uninspected Vessels License, and you will be happy that you already have all the sea service forms in your possession. There is nothing worse than not being able to get credit for your time because you could no longer find the captain or owner.

Well, they wanted them notarized last time I renewed my ticket, but nowadays the current forms are back to the old "self-certified" type.

Down loaded the forms from the USCG site a few weeks ago for the third issue and noted that notary was not required any more...?

Do I need new reading glasses, or....?

Another option is to go and do a cadetship, which means you have experience on ships and this is more direct, then you should try and get a job in the yacht sector. you also get accomadation and training paid for and it is a laugh to.

Becoming A Captain Of A Yacht

Hello

As a sophmore in highschool i have been looking into alot of different areas of what i might want to do after I graduate. I am planing on finding a college in Southern California being from Maine and because my sister is in the Navy and stationed in San Diego.
The other day i thought about getting my captains license so i could go to Ireland from Maine. I think that would be the coolest thing ever! This brought me to another thought. I would love to become a captain as a job. Preferably a captain of a Yacht were i could bring people to islands and just on nice tropical cruises.
I have never been on a yacht or have any type of experience manuevering a boat. I was wondering if you could tell me what i would have to do or if there is a school that i can go to to learn how to become a captain. I imagine you start out at a certain rank.
Either way. Does this sound realistic? Should i have had more experience as a kid?

-Erin Lisa, (Trying to figure out a career)

As I said above, if you contact shipping companies they may pay for your training, this allows you to gain an OOW certificate so you can not only captain yachts but any ship of any size. This is better as it allows you to take work when you can find it. I myself am an engine cadet and once I gain the OOW (AKA ticket, COC, Cetificate Of Comptency) can work on any ship. Obviously for a yacht owner the attraction of having a captain that has moved 300m ships is that 60ft yacht wont be a problem. Hope that helps, and if you want industry and you work hard you will have no problems.

Erin Lisa,
The best thing you can do is get around boats. Look for a summer job in a local marina, just to get exposure. Try to get out on boats. Consider Maine Maritime in Castine, they have a program that can lead you down the yacht path, or the commercial shipping path.
Best of luck !

Hello Erin!

I am a "Desperate Boat Wife" living in Saco, Maine (lived in OOB for 7 years prior). My husband is a captain on a 130 foot motoryacht (in the Bahamas presently). I worked as his purser (finances/human resources) on a previous 130'. I would be happy to speak with you regarding the yachting industry. From the date of this post, you will be graduating this year??? My cell phone is (561) 358-5178 (a Florida exchange, but I am in Saco right this minute). Let me know!

Lori

Regardless if you want to Captain on a superyacht or not, you are going to need seatime and work your way up in licenses. The largest license you can get with no previous license is a 100 ton. Then a 200,500,1600. The requirements for a 100ton last I checked were 720 days of seatime. 360 during your lifetime on any size vessel, and 360 in the last 3 years and over 36 Gross registered tons.

I would recommend getting on one of the large sailboat tourboats or large head boats as a deckhand and start accumulating seatime to at least get your 100ton by the time you can which I believe is 19 (may be 21). Once you get your 100 ton, you can get a job as deckhand or mate on a 100'+ yacht and get your 200 and 500 ton. You're going to most likely need at least a 500 ton to be considered as a Captain of a superyacht and experience running vessels up to the size you're looking to run.

The way I would do it is once you've got your Captain's license work your way up to Captain on around an 80', run that for a few years, then a 95-100' for a few and up and up. You can jump 10-15' in length from one boat to the next. But I highly doubt any owners are going to hire a Captain from an '80 MY to run there 160' MY. It does happen but is few and far between. Needless to say you want to get your 100 ton as soon as possible. You can also get seatime as a deckhand on a superyacht and get your licenses, BUT you usually won't get much of any time behind the wheel and real experience.

The form should be attached to this reply. If not you'll find it here:

http://www.uscg.mil/forms/cg/CG_719S.pdf


I would also suggest looking into becoming at least a dive master and perhaps taking some diesel mechanics classes at a local vo-tech school if offered. And while working on the day boats look into getting your STCW training as soon as possible. Not sure what the age requirements are for that.

I would also suggest taking a class in small boat/tender handling at say a place like http://www.mptusa.com/ in Ft. Lauderdale. While you may be able to handle a small boat just fine now, having the cert. looks good on your resume and can help you stand out from the crowd. As well as taking a class in radar, silver service, first aid, CPR, etc. when ever you have the time and money to do so.

On another thread we were discussing the industry changes we anticipate in the coming years. With that in mind I have to say forget about working on a yacht for experience except on school breaks. The CG may not lead you there either although it may. With the changes I anticipate I'd say get into a maritime accademy. I think that the days of working your way up from DH are fading. Technology and regulations are rapidly changing. You need degrees to show. A side major in hospitality or hotel management would also help.