> Perhaps Mike, Peter, and other skippers > can comment on what they expect of > a person who wishes to hire them, > and how they select who they'll work for > and what boats they'll handle. >> Well, first off, in all most 30 years >> of doing this I've never had a written >> contract. This is interesting - I would not work with someone without a contract, and I belive most of my clients would not work with me without one either - it helps us both to undersstand reciprocol responsibilities. Most of the boats I move are >$1M boats, owners of boats like that are used to contracts in their daily life so "contract" has a positive connotation. In a contract, all anticipated costs and contingencies are estimated in writing. Scheduling deliveries - with all the weather, mechanical, availability variables - is challenging. I had a couple "handshake" deals early where the owner changed their mind and I was left with 10 days of dead time. I required a hefty deposit to be placed in queue, even if the delivery was a year off. As far as what boats I would take, it varied. Most boats are self-selecting. Its cheaper to truck a 37' gas powered boat to Seattle than deliver it, so the requests for boats like this were few and far between. Sure, some boats were not built for offshore work but were reasonably adaptable with some work and good planning. The owners I meet are generally very anxious to have their boats fully prepared and enjoy working together to accomplish that goal prior to departure. One thought on a USCG license. Its no different than a college diploma - having one is no guarantee of anything. Companies hire on the ability to do a particular job - the interview process includes probing questions and reference checks. A USCG license is simply a very small (though sometimes necessary) piece of the puzzle. When I was hired to drive a 78 passenger dinner-charter boat several years ago, I needed a 100T ticket to even be considered. But I was hired due to my abilities. No marine company would hire someone solely based on their ticket, just as no non-marine company would hire someone solely on a diploma. The problem boat owners have is they do not know the business, do not know what questions to ask, and are seemingly willing to accept people on face value. If there is a problem, its not with the USCG licensing process, its with the hiring process people use - caveat emptor. Peter