Starting a Charter Business

[andres22]

I plan on taking a captains course to run a charter business on my catalina 25. My plan is to take the course, and be able to take people aboard for daysails and some overnight trips within galveston bay in Texas.
What is the process of starting this type of business?
What else do I need to do besides changing my insurance policy and taking the captains course?
Are there any negative points on chartering a smaller boat like mine?
Thanks.

[cockeye]

i believe that to charter in US waters your boat has to be US built.

[gonesail]

a negative would be you couldn't fit many paying customers in a catalina 25.

[denverd0n]

Your boat doesn't have to be U.S. built to let it out for charter in the U.S. (though a Catalina is U.S. built anyway)

You do, however, have to have a Coast Guard license, and there is a lot more to that than just taking a course. Mainly, you have to document your boating experience and meet certain minimum standards. The Coast Guard is very specific about how the time is documented, and how much time you have. You need to spend a bit of time perusing their website.

Charter Boat Captain Information - USCG National Maritime Center

You will also need to check local regulations, as you may be required to have a business license of some sort, collect taxes from your clients, and so on.

[teneicm]

Actually the Jones act and the Passenger Services act DO require a charter boat to be US built if operating in US waters. There is an exception for "bare boat" charters, but that exception does not apply if the owner acts as the skipper or otherwise does not relinquish complete control of the vessel (which does not seem to be andres' plan). Many time this rule is broken, not because it is legal, but because enforcement is difficult.

The Jones Act

[denverd0n]

Well, from reading the link that you provided I am not sure if the Jones Act or the Passenger Services Act would apply to a captained charter. What I do know, however, is that if the boats are supposed to be American built then this is a law that is completely ignored. At least, on the Gulf coast of Florida. I can take a sailing or fishing charter, from any one of a hundred or so different docks around the Tampa Bay area, any day of the week, and the odds are probably 50:50 that the boat will NOT be one built in the U.S.

[denverd0n]

Doing a bit more research on that link you provided and it says that the Jones Act does not apply to boats that are authorized to carry no more than 12 passengers. So that is probably why a large percentage of the "6-pack" boats that you see around here can be foreign built.

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by denverd0n

Doing a bit more research on that link you provided and it says that the Jones Act does not apply to boats that are authorized to carry no more than 12 passengers...

The Jones Act applies to ALL vessels travelling between 2 U.S. ports; but, under the Small Vesell Waiver Program, owners of vessels carrying <12 passengers may request an exemption (waiver) from that requirement.

SMALL VESSEL WAIVER PROGRAM

The coastwise laws (such as the Jones Act and the Passenger Vessel Services Act), provide that a vessel cannot transport passengers between two U.S. ports unless it is U.S.-built, U.S.-owned, U.S.-flagged, and U.S.-manned. Traditionally, the only way to receive a waiver from any of the requirements of the coastwise laws has been to convince Congress to enact a special legislative exception for a particular vessel.

The small passenger vessel administrative coastwise waiver process is an effort to transfer some of the burden of considering certain waiver requests from the Congress to the executive branch.

The Secretary of Transportation has been authorized to waive the domestic build requirements for foreign built or rebuilt small passenger vessels authorized to carry no more than 12 passengers.

The program allows vessel owners to request a waiver of the US build requirement of the coastwise trade laws for a vessel eligible to carry limited (12 pax) passengers in a specific area.

In order to grant such waivers, the Secretary must determine that employment of the vessel in coastwise trade will not adversely affect US vessel builders or the coastwise trade business of any person who employs vessels built in the United States.

Once this waiver is obtained, the vessel must then meet all requirements imposed by USCG for other vessels working in that trade. Since the 6 passenger and 12 passenger requirements are fairly minimal, this will allow many owners of foreign built vessels to put their boats into commercial service.

The process requires filings with the Maritime Administration, certain reports on effect on other builders and operators in the required geographic area and publication in the Federal Registry. The Secretary then evaluates any opposition to the waive and makes an administrative decision.

See ➥ Passenger Vessel Association

[osirissail]

Originally Posted by andres22

I plan on taking a captains course to run a charter business on my catalina 25. My plan is to take the course, and be able to take people aboard for daysails and some overnight trips within galveston bay in Texas.
What is the process of starting this type of business?
What else do I need to do besides changing my insurance policy and taking the captains course?
Are there any negative points on chartering a smaller boat like mine?
Thanks.

The easiest way to help with the costs of maintaining your boat is to put it up for "bareboat charter". And even easier is to join a "co-op" sailing group. All you need is the commercial insurance which the "co-op" club will arrange. They will handle the booking and checking out prospective charterers for you. There is a very old established one in Florida - used to be in Miami but is now located near St. Pete. There are also some in the Texas coastal areas - and the various clubs have an interlinking association with each other so that if you are a member of the Florida club you can charter a boat with a Texas club or even a California club and vice versa. I did that for about 10 years to build experience before buying my own boat.