Crew Wanted: Repositioning Needed

[Rubicon King]

Hello all, I am looking for a quote on a repositioning from Daytona Beach to Marathon. Boat to be in Marathon by Nov 17th and can leave anytime after the 6th of Nov.

She is a 45' gulfstar, fully seaworthy with a full compliment of new raymarine equipment, Radar, Chartplotter, Instrumentation, Autopilot, New Icom VHF with helm comms, 3000 Watt Inverter, 800AH LiFePO, fully enclosed Bimini, 2000 watts solar, new flat top stove, air conditioners and refrigerator. New Electric windlass with 70 pound CQR anchor, interior has been made new again. 2021 Highfield dinghy with 20HP yamaha. In other words a newer feeling boat.

We will vacation for a week on her and sail her back home.

If interested in repositioning , please PM me. Non smokers only please

Thanks and take care

Mark

[Rubicon King]

Sorry If I wasn't too clear. i am looking for a captain to reposition the boat for my family. we will not be on the boat from Daytona to Marathon. This is a Paid job

[hilep]

Sent you a PM!

[trmitc]

PM’d you

[JGrigg]

Hi, Captain Jim Grigg here. I live on the water in Jacksonville and reposition boats.
A video of my most recent delivery of Mystic Schooner from Freeport, Bahamas to Norfolk can be found here https://youtu.be/zyjV0zcFNsw. I've also recently moved a 50 ft. boat locally out of a Daytona marina.
I recently completed the 100 Ton Master Merchant Mariner course.
I was the keynote speaker in August at The North Florida Cruisers Club discussing the boat transport business and my experiences.
I am on The Board of out Youth Sailing program in our community. I am a non-smoker and do not allow alcohol aboard my deliveries.
In addition I can provide a quote and my sailing resume as an attachment to your email if you would like to provide it to me. Feel free to call me anytime as well.

Captain Jim Grigg
915 Yacht Harbor CT.
Jacksonville, FL 32225
904-510-1573

[Rubicon King]

Hello all, thanks for a great response of 8 interested captains, with pricing ranging from 1600 to 4500 I was a bit surprised at the swing. We have selected our repositioning captain and are grateful for all replies

[Jughead135]

Originally Posted by Rubicon King

Hello all, thanks for a great response of 8 interested captains, with pricing ranging from 1600 to 4500 I was a bit surprised at the swing. We have selected our repositioning captain and are grateful for all replies

Out of curiosity & potential future need: without getting into anything you consider private, can you describe what the differences were in either experience, qualifications, and/or services provided? That's an awfully big swing for "identical" services, so I'm forced to wonder....

[Paul Annapolis]

That is unusual to publish the range of quotes, and the range itself is really quite unusual. I am interested along with Jughead, and am forced to wonder as well. I think it would require a paid captain, a paid mate and possibly an unpaid deckhand to make it a bit easier. The trip could of course go offshore and hug the beach or ramble down the ICW with all its no-wake zones, bridges and delays etc.-stop at dark and then Hawk Channel of course, or a combination of both. Assuming the crew is in Florida, their transportation costs to or from would be minimal. This is about a 350 NM trip. All told, preparation, inspection, provisioning and travel home, accounting for different route options, weather, 24 hr watches vs. resting at night etc, this would make this anywhere from a bare minimum and "if all goes well" 3 day trip to a possible 7 day trip. Anyone calling himself a professional and only asking for $1600 for this journey is well...amateurish and probably desperate and inexperienced. That quote should be disposed of quickly. $4500 is on the high side but not altogether unreasonable. If captain and mate were billing $500 a day plus food for an estimated 7 days plus transportation--who knows? I do hope the OP made his or her choice based on a number of factors and NOT making cost the primary factor. All boat owners should be aware of the old simple rule of life--you get what you pay for. Perhaps the OP will provide some more details as was reasonably and respectfully requested by Jughead....???

[marcjsmith]

i would not discount the low price right off the bat.



maybe hes local to daytona so no travel expenses other than from marathon back to florida.

maybe he's retired, and looking to make some side money to supplement his retirement...
maybe he and his wife just want to go sailing on somene else's boat/dime for a few days and looks at it as a vacation and not a job.


or maybe hes inexperienced and trying to cut his teeth and get in the game. and its hard to charge a fuller price when you don't have the sea miles under your belt...


could be an easy sail down the coast, a mind numbingly boring motor down the icw, or a perilous adventure on a boat that you might not be familiar with....

[Paul Annapolis]

I would agree with you and certainly alluded to that and covered those bases...but hopefully the OP will provide us with some more insight as a service to readers. One thing I know for certain is that a professional being paid a professional fee is probably more experienced that most boaters and is more likely to get it done--done on time and done right, whereas a casual recreational boater is not ask likely to move as efficiently. But there are other reasons as well. In the end, one usually gets what one pays for, and people who own and afford boats and can afford professional fees should know this as well. I just think that what the OP provided could be expounded upon for everyone's benefit.

[donradcliffe]

I am your worst nightmare. I just moved a 70 ft race boat and a 48 ft Bene. Each trip was 350 miles. Total bill including expenses and travel was $1650 for the race boat and $1350 for the Bene. I have 200,000 miles of experience and have held a 100 ton license.

[Island Time O25]

Just as there are $15k cars and $215k ones. Do we classify a 15k car as not really a car based on the price alone?

It's probably 3 to 5 day trip, may be 6 to 7, with a good weather window of 10 days. Not an ocean crossing or some such. $1,600 seems reasonable under the circumstances (short trip in familiar waters, post hurricane season, covid related economic slump, etc) If someone would rather sit home and not make $1,600 waiting for $5,000 offer for similar job it is their right. Probably unemployment benefits ARE that good afterall.

[Paul Annapolis]

That's not a nightmare--at least not for me, but perhaps for you. Now that you brought this up, why would you beat yourself up like this on behalf of wealthy boat owners with luxury items? Perhaps these were pleasant ocean voyages that took 2 days--or maybe 3? Let us suppose it was three days plus your time to get ready, return and get back to normal shorelife. Let's suppose that's 4 days total and you are moving this boat around the clock, or 96 hours--perhaps easy, perhaps grueling, but either way it is work-and away from home. 1350 divided by 96 =well you get the point. But wait--you did all that and it included travel and expenses too??? It's a helluva way to earn a living--plus you have a federal license, specialized gear--and training and are subjected to risks not associated with most jobs. Few on that salary can live well--or certainly afford a big boat, unless perhaps you work 365 days a year--which would kill an average person (and be darn near impossible to get that much work) but again I hope you get my point. You get on a boat that might be a mess, poorly maintained etc. Who pays your health insurance, for your vacations? pension? 401k? Who covers you if you are hurt, need medical care and are out of work for weeks or months? With all of your experience and skills and license--why are you willing to go to work at such a low compensation and in those conditions? Either way, you just announced to Cruisers Forum that you are willing to move luxury yachts for those low fees. I hope it keeps you busy, warm and well-fed, but again, if it does not, that is not MY worst nightmare. And as you gain yet more experience over time, things like that just get more difficult as none of us are getting any younger. That may explain why the boatowner paid you--and did not do it himself--all the more reason why a pro should be well compensated. Thank you.

[Snore]

Originally Posted by donradcliffe

I am your worst nightmare. I just moved a 70 ft race boat and a 48 ft Bene. Each trip was 350 miles. Total bill including expenses and travel was $1650 for the race boat and $1350 for the Bene. I have 200,000 miles of experience and have held a 100 ton license.

350 NM, assuming a 5.5 avg VMG = 63 hours or 2.6 days. Call it 3 days to provision and move the boat. Add at least one day for travel. Two 1-way car rentals to/from the boat costs $120, plus $50 for gas plus food for 3 for 3 days, at least $100. So expenses were about $300.

So for the Bene, you billed your labor at about $1,050 or $250/ day if you took 4 days, or $200/ day if you took 5. This assumes you had competent volunteer crew. If you had to pay crew, your daily rate was even lower. Unless you single-handed the boat.

As a benchmark, top-level experienced and competent deck hands earn $125-150/ day.

For a week before every delivery, I monitor weather. On passage I download weather twice a day and use PredictWind Pro to route us efficiently. My customers get a report on their vessels advising of any issues and suggested improvements. They can also track their boat, and me, using my inReach.

So I am hard pressed to work for a little above deck hand wages. Apparently many boat owners agree, I have almost no openings through the end of January.

[Paul Annapolis]

Please just keep this in mind--boat owners pay hundreds if not thousands each month in slip fees. They pay in some areas, $125 and more per hour for mechanics, technicians etc. The sleep in their beds at night. So how is that $250 for a full 24-hour day looking now. As long as there are people willing to accept such low, low fees, which are anything but "professional" fees, what about the prestige of yacht captains?

Some of these boat owners earn $200, $300, $400 or more per hour and sleep in their beds at night. Of course they are willing to pay someone as little as $250 a day for a 24 hour day and stay on their boat. Of course they are! But that does not mean captains should not demand more--unless they absolutely must do boat deliveries and can't do other work. So let those owners take lowest bid...I hope it works out for them.

Attention boat owners--the wind may be free...but the rest of the boat? Again, perhaps the OP is willing to share more details about the 8 quotes he got, without divulging any privileged information. Did he accept the lowest bid? The highest bid? Or what?