On Sat, 15 Jul 2006 11:09:18 -0400, Jeff wrote:

Shortwave Sportfishing wrote:
...

As I said, I don't know the exact name of the term, but that's the way
it works - I know guys who do it occasionally - perfectly legal
because you are being hired to operate a boat- even if it's your own
boat - you are just an employee of the charterer. As the original
poster asked, it is a loophole in the laws/rules/regulations -
whatever.

I don't know about the legalities of this situation (seems OK but
sleazy), but it is quite different from the OP since the captain
actually has a license. The whole point of the original post is that
the *unlicensed* owner can make money as a captain by creating a
"legal fiction" which I believe is completely illegal.

A long long time ago I was part of a charter group where the owner
insisted that his friend be aboard as the "first mate." I've been
told recently that changes the charter from a bare boat to passengers
for hire, and thus he should have had a license. I don't know if this
true but it sounds like it is.


What you cannot do is exceed the 12 person max - that's the key. And
you have to stay within the tonnage and distance limitations of your
license - so, for instance, if you have an OUPV Near Shore out to one
hundred miles and your boat can handle the capacity safely, that's the
limitation. And you have to be hired to operate the boat - even if
it's your own boat.

OUPV is 6 passengers.


What you seem to be missing here, is the fact that the legal loop hole
in this deal is, as I recall, that due to the fact that the boat is
first chartered bareboat then that charterer hires a captain to only
run the boat, there are no paying passengers. There for you can put
on board as many people as the boat can handle based on it's size.


It's just like if you hired a captain to run your own private boat for
a day. There are no paying guests, so there for the "captain" would
not have to have a license according to the USCG. And yes, I have
asked them about this. But in most cases your insurance would require
it.

I've been doing this for decades. And I even know of a large, 90" +,
foregn charter boat in this area that got stopped by the CG on just
this issuse. He had all is ducks in a row as far as the contract paper
trail goes, and nothing came of it.