USCG Licensed Captain - How to break into the market

There's only one way to break into the market - get experience... this means doing as many deliveries and other passages as you can... for free... don't expect to get paid for a couple years, except for whatever daywork you can get...

If you can put in a couple years of hard work and log a few thousand sea miles, then you're on your way...

But if you're like so many cocky young guys out there that want to make the "big bucks" without having the experience to back it up, then you're wasting everybody's time...

Bill

I believe that is totally untrue. There are plenty of opportunities to gain experience getting paid as a mate on deliveries. Once some experience is gained you will be getting deliveries through word of mouth, yacht brokers, and etc. I went from being a captain and was completely booked. Albeit I learned from an excellent captain with a 1600 ton masters who has traveled in every ocean except the med. Signing up with a delivery service such as global delivery service and you will pick up jobs. I have found that going on free deliveries is that you are going to get as much experience as you are pay. As a captain I will only do a delivery with a qualified mate and possibly someone un-experienced as a back-up or deckhand.

Capt Bill N,
Exactly what market are you trying to break into?
If your goal is yacht deliveries on small boats (under 100 ton) then you need to put your resume out to yacht brokers in your area and visit them in person to let them know who you are.
If you are interested in getting into yachting then it may be possible to get a job as a deckhand. This would get you seatime for an upgrade and probably allow you to act as tender driver (this does require a license with charter guests aboard).
Most important thing in either case is a positive attitude and will to work.
Good luck,
Dave

While all of the above is fairly good advice, the post about networking with brokers is the most accurate. They are the source of the work. If you want work- Go directly to the source. Bear in mind that they are usually inundated with Captains who are hungry for work, so you need to stand out- that is where experience comes in. An experienced Captain helped me get my start by throwing me a job here and there which allowed me to put some bigger boats on my resume. Funny how things work- I now have plenty of work and he is slow, so I always return the favor to the guy who helped get me started. Good luck.

P.S. While you should be prepared to work for minimal pay on some jobs, never work for free.

Hi,

Hopefully the guy has found what he was looking for as he made the first post 3.5 yrs ago and then there was no more posts till today, and now there is two.

The guy probably doesn't rate the speed of replies here on YF when you consider it took 4 months for the first reply here, 2 more for the next, 5 for the next then a quick 30 months to get to todays double delight.

If you happen to read this Capt Bill can you spare a few minutes to post back here and let us know how you actually got on?