Help and Info

[stu]

I have just joined the forum and hope some one out there will be willing to offer me some important information. I have fished on a limited budget out of a small boat for a long time and have worked on boats for a living but never charter fishing. Recently I have the chance to buy a 36 inboard with what is supposed to be a turn key charter operation. I assume many of the people on this blog are experienced charter boat owners. For me, this would be a make or break deal. I understand that it can be a really hard business, and have taken what I hope is all the factors into consideration. Not having owned a operation before what would be some of the costs I may not be considering tha a novice may overlook. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Everyone tells me dont do it. But I love my fishing and I would love to do it for a living. Thankyou for your help

[freezorburn]

Did you get your 6 pack yet? That costs about 600-800 dollars and then it takes 3 months for the paper work (you can not start chartering untill you have that complete).

best of luck, there are many captains with loyal customers that do well for themselves.

[Harry Klauber]

Originally Posted by freezorburn

Did you get your 6 pack yet? That costs about 600-800 dollars and then it takes 3 months for the paper work (you can not start chartering untill you have that complete).

best of luck, there are many captains with loyal customers that do well for themselves.

They guy is from Costa Rica - the only license he "might" need can be obtained in a Cracker Jack box. He has alot bigger cost concerns than a license.

[B767]

Originally Posted by stu

I have just joined the forum and hope some one out there will be willing to offer me some important information. I have fished on a limited budget out of a small boat for a long time and have worked on boats for a living but never charter fishing. Recently I have the chance to buy a 36 inboard with what is supposed to be a turn key charter operation. I assume many of the people on this blog are experienced charter boat owners. For me, this would be a make or break deal. I understand that it can be a really hard business, and have taken what I hope is all the factors into consideration. Not having owned a operation before what would be some of the costs I may not be considering tha a novice may overlook. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Everyone tells me dont do it. But I love my fishing and I would love to do it for a living. Thankyou for your help

If it is what you really desire, GO FOR IT!!! There are definetely a lot of hidden costs that you might not expect. Do your research. Do your homework. Ask around. It is a big risk though. LIFE in itself is a big risk. I have friends doing it and they are very succesful, and another one that went belly up. Don't expect getting rich overnight but from what they tell me, they wouldn't do anything else. In every arena you will find success stories and "Learning lessons". Good luck!!!!!! BAY (Back at you)........

[Disco Lady]

MY FRIEND GO FOR IT!!!. DON'T LET ANYBODY TELL YOU HOW TO RUN YOUR LIFE.I HAVE RUN CHARTER BOATS AND MATED ON THESE BOATS, FOR 29 YEARS.GET READY TO DEAL WITH ALL KIND OF GILLIGANS ABOARD BUT REMEMBER THESE GILLIGANS ARE YOUR PAYING CUSTOMERS SO TREAT THEM RIGHT. ITS A HARD BUSINESS AND TOUGH WORK AND GOD FORGIVE IF YOU BLOW AND ENGINE, YOUR A SITTING DUCK.. BUT ITS A GREAT WAY TO MAKE A LIVING LOVING WHAT YOU LIKE TO DO FISH. AND I CAN'T TELL YOU WHAT KIND OF LICENSE, YOU NEED IN COSTA RICA BUT FIND OUT.

GOOD LUCK! DL

[B767]

Originally Posted by Disco Lady

MY FRIEND GO FOR IT!!!. DON'T LET ANYBODY TELL YOU HOW TO RUN YOUR LIFE.I HAVE RUN CHARTER BOATS AND MATED ON THESE BOATS, FOR 29 YEARS.GET READY TO DEAL WITH ALL KIND OF GILLIGANS ABOARD BUT REMEMBER THESE GILLIGANS ARE YOUR PAYING CUSTOMERS SO TREAT THEM RIGHT. ITS A HARD BUSINESS AND TOUGH WORK AND GOD FORGIVE IF YOU BLOW AND ENGINE, YOUR A SITTING DUCK.. BUT ITS A GREAT WAY TO MAKE A LIVING LOVING WHAT YOU LIKE TO DO FISH. AND I CAN'T TELL YOU WHAT KIND OF LICENSE, YOU NEED IN COSTA RICA BUT FIND OUT.

GOOD LUCK! DL

[stu]

Thanks for the upbeat replies to my thread. I will let you all know soon if the deal goes through. Its good to hear the positive attitude. Really appreciate the encouragment! thanks

[Certifiable]

Stu,
You are doing on of the best "marketing" things that you can do right now...getting the word out on a active fishing forum.
Guys like me are sitting here in South Florida watching the wind blow for the last 3 months with no end in sight. We can only look forward to a trip to the Bahamas where we can expect to pay $5.50 - $6.00 a gallon for fuel.
Doing some simple math in my head...it is probably a smarter choice to pony up some $$ and fly to Costa for some insane fishing action where the weather never gets bad enough to cancel a trip.

We have a few regulars on this site from Texas and Venice LA that will get some charter action from thier friendly and informative posts...you can follow suit if you take the plunge on the charter boat deal.

The only advice I may give you is to have the boat profesionally surveyed.
Last thing you need is to buy a sled that needs a complete rebuild on 2 engines before you can pull away from the dock.

Good Luck

[jagerhunchback]

i would make up an excel spreadsheet that goes over the basics i.e slip fee, loan payment, insurance, boat supplies, repairs/maintenance, office overhead, credit card fees, major boat projects, marketing (website-business cards-photography-etc), cell phones, health insurance, crew payroll, dry dock reserve and anything else you can think of that you would want to have a monthly amount of money set aside for. jumble the numbers in excel and it will tell you what you need to make per charter and how many charters per month you need to start making a profit. best of luck my man!!!

[stu]

When running a charter you obviously get your gilligans. But I'm sure I will also get a lot of guys with more experience than I have. On my last sailfish trip here the mate sat at times up on the flybridge with the captain. We were getting strikes but they did not want us to handle the hookup. It was driving me up the wall losing fish I think i could have connected with. What are regular charter boat rules on how the rods are handled and when are exceptions made, is it only for repeat customers you have faith in. and is there an added price for people who want to fish there own rigs and run there own rods. stu

[Unreel]

they might not want you to of handle the rods because some people that charter boats don't have a clue what there doing so the captains and mates are worried that they might hurt them selfs are lose a rod.but the mate should definitely of been in the cockpit.i use to be a mate on a charter boat and people would bring there own rods and lures and it would be junk and could never hold up to the fish we were fishing for (Wahoo tuna dolphin marlin).well i hope that answers some of your questions. also down here if i wanted to get into charters i was told i would have to have a business license and liability insurance so no one could sue me. and like DL said be nice to ever one even if there jerks ( one time on a charter a customer was taking horrible about my captain and i kept just smiling not really caring and i knew he could hear ever thing he was saying he was telling me how old school he is and all these things he learnt from marlin mag and i ask him how many marlins he has caught this year and he said i still looking for my first of my life and i said oh wow well you have come to the right place my captain might be old school but he has found many marlins in some where that is not well know for them and sure enuff not long after that we hook up in a nice blue about 200lb and of course my captain never bragged are said anything to the jerk