Hi all, I'm looking for a life change and am buying a yacht to go cruising. I'm just wondering what licensing and training would be required to take paying customers on overnight cruises. The boat will be probably a Lagoon or Leopard catamaran around the 43-47' range. I have a recreational boat licence, but the only experience I really have is taking the runabout out a few times a year...

Thanks in advance for any advice you are able to provide.

Would do the relevant ICC course from here;

ausseasailingschool.com.au/courses/

Then read up on all this and comply with it. Or the equivalent rules and regulations and red tape etc for whatever state you are in.

www.nsw.gov.au/driving-boating-and-transport/waterways-safety-and-rules/rules/commercial-vessel-use

Note that there are many Lagoon catamaran structural integrity situations highlighted on line but I realise this wasn't your question.

Yeah thanks mate. I have seen a lot about bulkhead issues on the 450's, I'll look into this further. A pre-purchase survey should pick up on this right?

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nath2099 said..
Yeah thanks mate. I have seen a lot about bulkhead issues on the 450's, I'll look into this further. A pre-purchase survey should pick up on this right?

My experience is that pre purchase surveys pick up what the prospective buyer can see. They rarely if ever go any deeper. If you want a full and proper survey for commercial use you will have to pay for it with a properly qualified surveyor.
Best to buy a vessel already in survey for what you want.

As per MB - for sure would not assume "should pick up on this right" as it depends on the surveyor and numerous other issues - qualifications, experience especially with the specific vessel type in question, integrity, report content and extent, time and access allowed for the survey, what inspection tools / instruments are used, a member of a survey association, other. If you knew the surveyor before asking him for a specific job, including good independent testimonials etc, it would probably assist a suitable outcome. For buying a boat from oseas with a survey included in the selling documentation this could elicit caution...........depends on your risk appetite. This post is obviously not intended to be a broad slag of all surveyors

uk.boats.com/boat-sellers-guide/boat-surveys-an-essential-guide/

mmsurveyor.com/en/the-various-tools-of-the-marine-surveyor/

marinesurveyors.net.au/home/surveyors.php

www.amsa.gov.au/vessels-operators/domestic-commercial-vessels/find-accredited-marine-surveyor

The only experience I have is taking a runabout out a few times a year!
I'll be pretty blunt. Do you feel you are ready to take peoes lives into your hands. Because that's what your are doing and are legally responsible for. I don't know exactly what tickets you need in Oz but you will have to have logged a certain amount of miles to get them.
Chartering can be a nightmare. Strangers on your boat. Screaming kids, blocked heads, outboards playing up etc etc. Can you fix all of these whilst being asked stupid questions by punters.
Buy a cat. Go cruising and enjoy it. Maybe buy a smaller cat and invest some money to give you some sort of income.

< 12m a coxswain class 1 and a sail endorsement <12m 4 passengers & 2 crew you can apply for an exemption from survey the vessel will still have to comply with the NSVC part G the vessel will be treated as a commercial vessel and as such watches, record keeping, alcohol use etc will need to be observed. If you want to carry more than 4 passengers or the vessel is >12m it will need to be in survey annual inspections etc and if it doesn't have a current certificate of operation then it will be treated as a new vessel and will have to comply with all new standards, remote fire suppression system etc etc etc. and if you are operating in the Great Barrier Reef are you will need some sort of permit and more record keeping. I hope that has cleared things up a bit.

Yep. Buy a smaller cat! The difference between a 43 and 47 ft is a lot of money. Invest that in property.
Even 40 ft is over 12m.

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tarquin1 said..
Yep. Buy a smaller cat! The difference between a 43 and 47 ft is a lot of money. Invest that in property.
Even 40 ft is over 12m.

12.2m so that puts you in master 5 territory and the way legislation is worded is less than 12m so on the line is out ! Coxswain can operate a vessel of 11.99999999m Gota laugh at the digital system

Your cruising cat has just become a heavy slow dog with all that extra stuff on it.
To think you can make a bit of money doing the occasional charter is false.
Keeping safety equipment up to date. Doing your tickets and keeping them up to date. The list goes on and on.
People work hard for years to make a charter boat work and pay for itself.
A 47 ft cat is a big boat.
If you still really want to do it charter a 47 ft cat for a weekend and see whats involved. Talk to the skipper and crew and get an idea of how it all runs.
Just getting your class 5 will keep you busy for a while.

600 days sea time in the past 5 years

What it requires is a perverse form of insanity whereby you keep telling yourself what fun you are having all the while you are hating every second of it.
You also need a large stash of cash to sustain yourself while the charter operation makes you bleed money.
I heard once that the "Golden Plover" charter yacht ate four houses.

The biggest problem with running a charter boat is you have to deal with people. Talk to a few people who have run charter yachts and charter fishing boats and take note of their views.

This Golden Plover?
About 34 years ago I did a week on her in the Whitsundays, filled in for a deck / kitchen hand that was too drunk to show up on a charter trip.
It was an interesting week, not to mention the day she "bumped" a bommy and started to take on water. I have a photo on her beached so temporary repairs were made to the bow.

She was used in the move Dead Calm, some then not so famous Aussie Actress played the lead lady,

PS Nath
I looked into, thought about, entertained the idea of making some income from chartering.
I decided that it was a dumb idea, would cost too much, would be a lot of pain in dealing with people etc etc as said above.

Get on your boat and enjoy it

My ex brother in law wanted to do a similar thing with a catamaran charter business. He moved to Cambodia to do it because there were no qualification or compliance requirements, just buy a boat and take out guests.
Never happened, I think he handed his cash to the wrong guy and lost the lot.

I've been working on boats all my life and the only thing that sounds weird in that post is my ex brother in law? Please explain that to me??

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tarquin1 said..
I've been working on boats all my life and the only thing that sounds weird in that post is my ex brother in law? Please explain that to me??

My sister in law divorced him.

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cammd said..

tarquin1 said..
I've been working on boats all my life and the only thing that sounds weird in that post is my ex brother in law? Please explain that to me??

My sister in law divorced him.

OK, I've got to ask - if your sister-in-law divorced your ex-brother-in-law, does that mean our ex-brother-in-law is actually your brother? Or, did your sister (not sister-in-law) divorce your ex-brother-in-law? Or was it your husband's/wife's sister divorcing someone who is not a sibling?

Or, am I thinking about this too hard, and feeding the trolls?

I'll shut up now.