Who will run the boat is as basic a question as its length and the number of cabins. Some owners run their own boat, some employ a captain all year and some settle on something in between. The right answer depends on the size of the boat and the way you use it.
What decides whether you need a captain
A few questions go most of the way. How big is the boat, and how complex are its systems? What experience and what certificate of competence do you have? How often will you use the boat? Will you make night passages or long ones?
Depending on the boat's length, flag and use, the person in charge may have to hold particular qualifications. The rules differ for private and commercial use, and vary with the flag state and the country the boat is in. You confirm the current rule for your own case with the competent authority.
A captain's job is more than taking the boat to sea. For many owners the real reason to employ one is to have someone who looks after the boat out of season, meets the engineers and checks the mooring lines and stern lines after a storm.
Ways of working
A captain is in charge of the boat and follows its maintenance too. Some owners run the boat themselves and call in a captain only for particular trips, such as bringing the boat from a distant port. On large boats a deckhand, a cook or a steward is added.
In choosing a captain, check whether their qualifications fit the boat's length and flag and whether they have worked on boats of similar length and drive system. Previous owners are asked for their opinion. Technical knowledge matters as well. A captain who can describe a fault accurately shortens the engineers' work and the time the boat spends ashore.
What it means for the choice of boat
A boat run with a crew needs a crew cabin. When we search, we look at its size, whether it has its own entrance and whether the crew can reach the galley and the deck without crossing the guests' path. When we count cabins, we keep the crew cabin separate from the guest cabins.
If you will run the boat yourself, other things come first: easy handling, bow and stern thrusters or a joystick, the view from the helm and whether the boat can be moored short-handed. We cover these in our articles on drive systems and equipment. Even then, a few trips with an experienced captain in the first season help you get to know the boat faster.
The budget and a written agreement
Captain and crew are among the large items in the running budget: pay, social security, crew insurance, food and accommodation, renewal of certificates and training. The liability section of the boat's policy often doesn't cover the crew, and they need separate cover. Which law governs the employment, and where your responsibility as owner ends, are matters for your lawyer or your tax adviser.
A written agreement is made with the captain. It sets out the duties, the period of work, how the float for expenses is used and how spending is recorded. It also fixes the limit up to which the captain may decide on an expense without calling you.
The captain's part in the purchase
If you already have a captain, it is good for them to come on the sea trial and see how the boat behaves at sea. At handover they attend the introduction to the systems. If the boat is to come home under its own power, it is usually the captain who decides whether it is ready for the passage.
Once it is settled who will run the boat, the range of boats worth looking at narrows by itself.
