Hire a Licensed Captain for Your Own Boat in Florida
I’m a USCG-licensed captain for hire in Florida, a private captain for the boat you already own. Hire me for a day out with your guests, an event, a run to the yard or relief on a long passage, any month of the year.
Or give me a call at (248) 497-5791. If I'm on the water, I'll call you back same day.
NOT A CHARTER
Your boat, your guests, your plans
A charter is a trip on someone else’s boat, and a rental hands you someone else’s boat. This is neither. You hire a licensed captain to run the boat you own, for the day or the trip you have in mind, and your guests stay your guests. If you run charters yourself, I’ll captain yours, once the boat and its paperwork are set up for paying passengers.
Day captain
Events
Relief captain
Runs to the yard
Sea trials
Your charter
WHAT YOU CAN HIRE ME FOR
What owners hire a captain for
Most jobs fit one of these. Moving a boat out of a storm’s path is part of the work too.
IF GUESTS PAY
When money changes hands
The Coast Guard draws a hard line between guests and paying passengers, and where your trip falls decides what the boat, the captain and your insurance need. Here’s where the line sits.
Your guests
If nobody pays to be aboard, they’re your guests. I’m the captain you hired, and your carrier approves me in writing before the trip.
Shared costs
Guests who chip in, voluntarily, for the actual fuel, food and drinks aren’t paying passengers under the federal definition. Splitting my day rate is a different matter, so ask me before anyone chips in toward it.
Paying passengers
If anyone pays to be aboard, directly or through someone else, they’re passengers for hire, and the boat and the captain both have to meet Coast Guard rules for carrying them.
More than six
A boat carrying more than six passengers, at least one of them paying, needs a Coast Guard Certificate of Inspection.
Before I say yes
Tell me up front if anyone is paying. I’ll tell you what the boat and the paperwork need before I take the job.
The definitions are in 46 U.S. Code 2101. The Coast Guard’s warning about illegal charters makes the same point from the passenger’s side: ask to see the captain’s credential, and confirm the boat is authorized to carry your group.
HOW IT WORKS
How booking works
01
The call
Tell me about the boat, where she’s kept, the date and what you have in mind. If anyone aboard will be paying, say so now.
02
The paperwork
A written agreement covers the job, the rate and what happens if the weather doesn’t cooperate. Your carrier gets my credentials and puts me on your policy.
03
The day
I’m aboard early to walk the boat and check her systems, and we go over the plan before the lines come off. Weather decides when we go.
04
After
She comes back secured, and anything I noticed that needs attention comes to you in writing.
Jobs run on a day rate, or a half-day rate when the job really is half a day, and longer trips work like a delivery: the day rate plus travel and expenses. The boat’s fuel and dockage stay with the boat, and the quote comes after we talk.
BUYING A BOAT?
A captain for the sea trial
The sea trial is your best look at how she runs. I’ll put her through it with you and give you my read before you close.
MOVING HER?
Boat delivery in Florida
Across the state, to the Bahamas or north for the summer, with a route plan, a written agreement and itemized expenses.
INSURER WANTS HOURS?
Time that counts
If your policy wants hours with a captain or a check ride before you run her alone, a day with you at the helm can count, with your carrier’s OK.
WHO SHOWS UP
Who runs your boat
Most days it’s me. When I’m in Michigan, a licensed captain I’ve vetted and worked beside takes the Florida jobs, working under Offshore Captain Services, and you’ll know who’s coming before the day.
Their credentials go to you and your carrier before the day. It takes about two minutes to check a captain’s license with the Coast Guard, and I’d encourage you to.
Tom Ketelhut
Owner, Offshore Captain Services
CREDENTIALS
Licensed for your boat and your water
My licenses cover both kinds of Florida water. Inland water, meaning the ICW, the bays and the rivers, falls under my USCG Master 100-ton license. The ocean side, up to 200 miles offshore, falls under my 50-ton Near Coastal license. Both carry the Commercial Towing Assistance endorsement.
The details are on my credentials page, and your carrier gets my one-page credential submission whenever they ask for it.