I have been told that a person could captain any size boat he'd want to
provided there is no commercial interest. In other words if a person could
afford a 150' boat he wouldn't be required to have a Captains license or
hire a Captain to pilot the vessel. Is this correct?
Paul

Ok, we're talking "in the US" here, as every country is different:

There's a bit more to it than that. Vessels are categorized by their
intended purpose, tonnage, waters to be operated, etc. and certain vessels
will require a licensed master no matter their size. But, as far as I know,
you are essentially right: if you wanted to purchase a 150 foot private
yacht and drive it yourself, there are no laws or regulations requiring that
you carry a license or a licensed master, so long as the vessel is only used
as a private yacht. In fact, there are alot of private yachts over 100' out
there, and if an owner wanted to hire you to drive it, you wouldn't need a
license to do so. Likewise, a license is not required (by law at least) to
deliver yachts.

I think this is where a lot of people get confused: It's not necessarilly
whether you are paid to drive the boat, it's if you have passengers aboard
who have paid to ride, thus the common expression "Passengers for Hire".

The reality is this, even though the law may not require a delivery captain
to have a license, if you don't have a license, you'll have a darn hard time
getting work as a delivery captain. Likewise, although you may be able to
afford to buy a 150' yacht, if you don't have a licensed captain aboard, you
may have a very hard time insuring it.

Let me just conclude by adding this: I'm not a lawyer, nor am I an expert
on Federal law. I'm just a licensed mariner that is doing his best to stay
within the law and protect myself and familly from "unreasonable risk".
There are lots of grey areas in this business, and I've always tried to
steer clear of anything that might later bite me, and I've always
recommended that others do the same.

All the best,

--
Paul

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