How to Get A Boat Job

If you live in a coastal resort area (or are willing to move to one), you could get a boat job as a sportsfishing guide. The captains of sport fishing boats need enthusiastic, able-bodied crew members to help their paying guests with rigging fishing tackle, netting the catch, giving expert advice, and many other tasks.

Sport fishing boats go out almost every day in good weather to search for the "big ones" such as sailfish and marlin. If you know your way around a boat you can be assured of virtually steady employment on a sport fishing vessel. And if you know a lot (or can learn a lot) about hauling in those prized specimens of fish, you will be sought after as an expert fishing guide.

Spending a summer aboard a commercial fishing vessel is something that everyone should try, at least once.

You can get a boat job with one of the huge trawlers working the coasts of the Atlantic or Pacific and experience a slice of working life few others will ever know. For sure, being a commercial fisherman is strenuous and often exhausting work. And you will get soaked to the bone as you maneuver around a slippery deck, helping to haul in those big nets to make your daily quota of catch.

I wouldn't trade my own stint on a commercial fishing boat for anything. It taught me the meaning of putting in a day's work and the feeling of pride of being able to pull my load. Honestly, though, I'm glad I eventually found other options for working on a boat - such as the glamorous superyacht position I now hold. The folks who spend their entire lives in commercial fishing have my undying admiration.

All over the world there are companies that ferry tourists around on boats. The boats take vacationers cruising around busy harbors, with guides pointing out important sights. Or, they may take them to a nearby island for a day of birdwatching or lazing on a beautiful beach.

There are dinner cruises, where the whole point is for a boat's guests to dine on delicious food while watching dolphins play or the sun sets into the ocean. There are even pirate cruises, in which costumed bucanneers climb aboard and "attack" the tourists - just for the fun of it, of course.

You could get a boat job as a crew member on one of these tourist boats. For many of the positions, no special training or experience is needed. It's the perfect job for a college student on summer break.

If you bone up on the natural and manmade history of an area, you could even become the person who talks over the loudspeaker, making sure the passengers don't miss anything important. Hey ... maybe you could be a pirate!

This job is similar to being a sportsfishing guide or a crew member of a tour boat, except that you are taking SCUBA divers to prime diving spots in your area.

To get a boat job in this niche, you need to know where the underwater sights are that excite divers, such as coral reefs, unusual underwater formations, and old shipwrecks.

Besides ferrying divers out to sea, you might be called on to help beginners and novices with the finer points of SCUBA diving safety and techniques. You will need to be familiar with diving equipment and be able to do safety inspections on it. You will also need to refill air tanks as needed.

Although it's possible to get a job on a diving boat without knowing a lot about the sport, to be of maximum value - and make the most money - you should get SCUBA certified yourself. You won't regret it - it's a great pastime!

Of all the boat-related jobs I can think of, this is the absolute best.

Superyachts - those huge pleasure vessels whose owners are often the multimillionaires and billionaires that you hear about in the news - need crew members all the time. You can get a boat job on a superyacht as a steward or steward, an exterior deckhand, a chef, a first mate, or even (with training and experience) as the captain.

Imagine seeing the world aboard a luxury boat and getting paid for it, while getting your room and food for free as part of the bargain. Also, most yachts today provide health insurance, accident insurance, and so forth. If you feel the need to spend money, you can save it for the markets and shops of the many exotic ports of call that you will be visiting.

Superyacht jobs require work, of course. But it's work that you'll enjoy learning to do, involving real-world skills that will make you a valuable and sought-out member of the crew. You'll also make incredible friendships, and who knows - you could even find romance afloat. It has been known to happen!

If you would like to work on a superyacht, you can start by seeking out all of the information you can. Find out what training you will need. Also, learn about the kind of person who does best as a superyacht crew member - it's as much about personality as it is specific skills.

Good luck, and I hope I'll be seeing you ... at sea!

All my deckhand-related lenses in Word doc/ebook format:

Deckhand Job Guide - Secrets to Employment On A Super Yacht Publish at Scribd or explore others: How-to-Guides & Manu deck hands superyachts