Some Delivery Captain Questions

[wayne.b]

I have an interest in doing some delivery work and have a few questions on getting started. Background information: Over 40 years of cruising and racing experience on both sail and power boats, 42,000 nautical miles on my own boat in the last 12 years ranging from the Bahamas to the southern Carib to northern Maine. Experienced with RADAR, AIS, ARPA and all other typical navigation devices. Experienced with customs clearance procedures. USCG 100 ton near coastal license, power and sail. Retired manager from large US bank, live south Florida, no current paid delivery experience, references available. Good health. No problem standing overnight watches offshore.

Now the questions.

Insurance: It seems advisable, perhaps necessary, to get personal liability insurance. Does anyone have advice to share regarding costs, typical amounts of coverage and a good broker?

Contracts: What should be in a typical contract? Does anyone have any contract examples that they'd be willing to share?

Work availability: Are there any good delivery companies or individuals that need applicants? I'm willing to start as a mate. Other good sources for getting delivery work?

Rates: Are deliveries usually contracted by the day or by the job? What happens with weather or mechanical delays? What are typical rates? How are expenses taken care of, both personal and boat related?

Anything I've forgotten?

Thanks in advance, all advice greatly appreciated.

[CarstenWL]

... some answers ...

Insurance: It seems advisable, perhaps necessary, to get personal liability insurance. Does anyone have advice to share regarding costs, typical amounts of coverage and a good broker?

... http://pantaenius.de/uploads/media/l...ability_01.pdf

Contracts: What should be in a typical contract? Does anyone have any contract examples that they'd be willing to share?

... http://www.boatus.com/procaptains/pd...lecontract.pdf

Regards,

Carsten

[yeloya]

Originally Posted by wayne.b

Work availability: Are there any good delivery companies or individuals that need applicants? I'm willing to start as a mate. Other good sources for getting delivery work?

Rates: Are deliveries usually contracted by the day or by the job? What happens with weather or mechanical delays? What are typical rates? How are expenses taken care of, both personal and boat related?

I don't how this does work on the other side of the Atlantic but in The Med, there are many delivery companies and they get a commission the on the deliveries that you are given. The skippers I talked with are not generally happy with this and the ones that have enough experience and can find themselves enough job are staying away from them.

Rates depends on a number of factor; the experience of the skipper and how much he/she needs the job, the size and the state of the boat, the cruising area and season, etc. Normally, all expenses (marina, fuel, food, first mate and seaman that they take with them) are included in their prices. Exceptional conditions are cited in the contract and subject to extra payments. (bad weather longer than X ..days, major breakdowns longer than Y....days, etc.)

Cheers

yeloya