Conference unifix::sailing

  Chris,

	I'm not sure if the same applies in your knee-of-the-woods but I heard 
of a guy who sailed a very large privately owned pleasure boat from the Med 
towards the U.K.

	It sank. 

	Because it was large and was outside the limits of the small-ships 
definition the insurers wouldn't pay up and the skipper did not have a 
merchant ticket.

	I never did find out who was liable.



	Good luck,


		Gregg

    Ill jump into the rat hole! I think a lot of 'Delivery boat Captains'
    are like a lot of 'Marine Surveyors', ...self declared! 
    
    For Yacht size deliveries, there are no license requirements. You
    'sell' your qualifications to someone and head off to deliver the boat.
    I know a fellow that has made several deliveries. He has no formal
    qualification, but now can call himself an 'Experienced Delivery
    Captain'.
    
    Of course, carrying passengers for hire is different, a license is
    required for that. Although I suspect at least one yacht charter is
    operating somewhere without license based on a 'bare boat' charter
    agreement, where the charterer just happens to bring along some guests. 
    Murky area here.
    
    So, if you want to be a delivery captain, Just Do It.

    What does the definition of the vessel have to do with insurers paying
    in this case?  If the boat WAS INSURED, it was insured for what it was
    wasn't it?  If it didn't meet the definition of the type of vessel
    which was being insured they wouldn't have issued the insurance in
    the first place?  UNLESS, the USE of the vessel fell under exclusions
    and they failed to pay on that basis.
    
    Jeff
    

Yacht delivery and Charter[skipper/crew/hosty] fall into 2 completely
different catagories, I think you need to figure out which catagory you want. 

The short answer to both is contact the companies that already advertise the
service you are most interested in providing. You can find companies that
advertise yacht delivery in the sailing magazines, charter companies in the
travel agencies. Alternatively look 'em up in the phonebook  etc. Tell them
what experience you have and what you want to do. Maybe they will take you on a
trial basis.  

  
Delivery
In Yacht Delivery the idea is to delivery the boat from A to B as fast as
possible with no damage and minimum crew (to save costs). That means they go in
almost any weather, sail for days at a time, stop only to refuel/provision etc
You work within a "professional" crew, no passengers. I met several skippers,
they habitually clock-watch when ashore.

If you work for someone, you have to convince them of your ability. Most
companies would be able to asses your ability pretty easy.  If you work for
yourself you have all the normal small business worries, so you won't be
running away to sea yourself much.


Charter
Up-market there will be paying guests aboard, you "drive" a nice boat between
nice places and the guests party, play sailor-boys when its calm and sunny,
stay ashore if it gets windy. The patch you cover could be only a 100 miles.
You get to take care of (=clean/fix) the boat, the hosty looks after the food,
drinks, waitressing etc takes the guests to the hottest night spot. You need
the personal skills for this one, its not about sailing much. Out of season the
boats are either laid-up/repaired or bigger ones are taken to new "in season"
place (Bahamas or whatever) by a delivery crew.

I know a married couple who did this for 2 years before the economy went
belly-up. The deal they had was part of a package they bought into. They bought
the boat and worked it, a holiday company filled the spaces. Boat was a 2 year
old 48 foot stink-pot, 6 guests in 3 state-rooms + 2 crew, very nice.
Qualification, well they owned a 30 foot boat on the river and never took it in
sea-water ;^) then again they owned the boat, so no risk to anyone else.
They worked the French Rivierra in summer then laid the boat up and managed 
a small ski-resort in winter (part of same package). Had a great time, 
didn't make too much money. Lost heavily selling up when the recession hit. 

The down-market stuff is based around flotilla work, lead-boat crew etc. The
emphasis is more on keeping the boats running than on social skills. Very
occassionally you skipper for 1 or 2 days while the flotilla guests learn to
sail. Small patch, no demanding sailing, need people skills, good tan, poor
money sums it up.

Steve

	Working in Valbonne which is only a stones throw from Antibes which is 
the major charter yacht place in the Med, I come into contact with some of crews 
that work on the charter yachts. There are a number of agancies here which place 
crews/skippers. If you want the names and addresses contact me and I will send 
them to you. As the previous reply says, most of the boats stay in harbour, 
occassionly go to Greece or Spain, and some even venture across the Atlantic to 
the Caribean for the winter. Most of the time on these yachts is spend being 
servants to the owner and making sure the brightwork stays bright. The level of 
qualification is fairly low, unless you want to be skipper on one of the larger 
mega yachts. The major requirement is how you present yourself to the owner. The 
best time to look for work here is March/April time, when the season starts. 
Otherwise the flottila companies in the Med look for skippers for the flotillas, 
which involves shepherding 10 -12 boats with crews of varying abilities, but they 
normally have an age requirement of under 30.

	Stephen Kell	

    This question might be subdivided a bit:
    
    1) Yacht delivery - No license needed, though many delivery companies
    will respect you more if you have one.  Unless you have a documented
    strong track record, you first opportunities would probably be
    assisting a paid skipper.  Often these positions pay expenses only,
    sometimes up to $50/day...not real money.  Skipper's per diem varies
    with the individual's reputation, experience, size of vessel, risk of
    voyage, etc.  Moving a 40' sloop from Norfolk to Miami isn't in the
    same league as taking an 80' cutter from New York to the Med, for
    instance.  The best make a good living, but aren't home much.  
    BTW, Patrick Ellam used to take on relative greenhorns from time to
    time; I had a couple coastwise gigs (as crew) arranged once long ago,
    but both cancelled.
    
    2) Yacht charters - I've heard that a majority of those you see in
    Cruising World's annual crewed chartering section are owner-operated.  
    
    As mentioned in an earlier reply, some bareboat charter companies will
    provide crew for inexperienced charterers; the pay is not much, perhaps
    $100/day.  Often they just pull an employee from the ranks, since at
    those rates there aren't a lot of truly full-time people doing that
    work.
    
    Years ago an aquaintance of mine had a job skippering a 90' motor
    yacht.  When he got married, his wife moved aboard and functioned as
    cook/hostess.  In the mid-'70s they both got paid about $40K for full
    year afloat (two 2-week vacations, Christmas and springtime) deposited
    in the Cayman Islands (i.e., untaxed).  He'd spent about 4 years in the
    USCG, had a huge ticket, and had worked his way up from skippering 45'
    powerboats over many years.  He lucked into the job; they are few and
    far between, and my impression is that loyalty and trust between owner
    and captain are the binding ingredient.  
    
    Good luck; it sounds like something to pursue for love, not money!
    
    John.

 Thanks for all the replies! I appreciate the information and insight. I
just got the package yesterday sooo who knows...

 It's been a pleasure and a learning experience reading this notes file
Thanks to all and have fun!

          Chris