Retirement job driving dive boats?

Please register or login

Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.

Benefits of registering include

  • Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
  • A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
  • You can make this box go away

Joining is quick and easy. Log in or Register now!

I never felt manipulated by @Wookie and I trusted him because of it. He and Mel always had our best interests at heart and it showed. I still count sheets of toilet paper. :D
We all still count sheets of toilet paper.
 
Thank you all for the replies.

Being in charge of everyone's safety is something I would look at very carefully before you decide to do this. [...and lots of other insightful comments...]

Being a captain requires a certain mindset and personality and I get that. It means you're responsible for the safety of others who are depending upon your skill and judgment in ways they don't even realize. A dive boat isn't something I'd want to run for free. It's a job that's suitable for people who have the ability and the mind set. Question is whether it's a good one, and you bring up good points.

Besides small 6pk charters, I don't think I can name even 1 dive boat charter captain who is a directly related family member of the owner in JUP/WPB area. Down here it is a seasonal busy business, but there are plenty of openings for local captains when slow. Although it varies depending on duties, but with a USCG Master license and proper certs,,A captain averages $150-175 per 2 tank trip plus variable % of tips. That may sound nice, but you may only run 150 - 225 trips a year. Also most capts are required to do fluid changes, maintenance, haul-outs, bottom scrape & paint, etc, etc, but good to ask ahead of time.

Thank you for that. Very helpful.
 
I didn’t like to hire retirees as captains because they had a tendency to die on me from all that other retirement stress.
I’d just get the guy settled in, fitted out with the four epaulet white shirt and personalized coffee mug, and ~BOOOM!!!!~ that damn call at 4am that Bob just died...
I don’t miss that part of the otherwise highly glamourous dive industry, although a couple of the widows....
 
I didn’t like to hire retirees as captains because they had a tendency to die on me from all that other retirement stress.
I’d just get the guy settled in, fitted out with the four epaulet white shirt and personalized coffee mug, and ~BOOOM!!!!~ that damn call at 4am that Bob just died...
I don’t miss that part of the otherwise highly glamourous dive industry, although a couple of the widows....
I already have the coffee mug and white shirt. Am I a go?
 
It’s the hat that makes it complete.
 
I have read this thread with great interest since I have been thinking about doing the same thing. My problem is that I don't have the experience to get to instructor or the on the water experience (I'm pretty landlocked in MN and AZ). My timeline for retirement is longish (around 10 years from today).

Is there a viable way to get experience without moving somewhere on the coasts? Or Hawaii?

What kind of timeline is reasonable for getting to the point of being an instructor and a captain? It looks like at least a couple of years for instructor and a couple of years working on a boat to get to captain? Is that realistic?

Do you have to be really skilled at diving to be an instructor?

Any other insights appreciated.

Dave
 
... It looks like at least a couple of years for instructor ...
There's schools in Florida that you can be an Instructor in 2 weeks. On the GI Bill? It gets even better.
 
I may be wing about my dates for Capt licenses but I think you need either 180 or 360 days on a vessel of the tonnage your looking to apply for.

There are some classes that get you a 6 pack license pretty quick. They're basically test prep courses.
 
I may be wing about my dates for Capt licenses but I think you need either 180 or 360 days on a vessel of the tonnage your looking to apply for.

There are some classes that get you a 6 pack license pretty quick. They're basically test prep courses.
360 for an Operator, 720 for a Master.
 
People are going to wander into this thread and confuse this Master stuff with the Seinfeld episode about being Master of Your Own Domain.
The three days that I coordinated two aircraft carrier battle groups steaming together in the Indian Ocean during changeover, I thought then that I was Master of My Own Domain.
Of course, later on, with the benefit of retrospection and 20/20 hindsight, I realized that I was pretty much the Master of Jack Squat.
On the plus side, I did get three consecutive days off in Singapore and a chance to drink a pink gin at the Raffles Hotel which was kinda cool from a historical perspective.
 

Back
Top Bottom