sailing jobs/careers??

Question

I decided I really want to work on or around sailing ships... but what kind of a well paying job could you get? Does the US navy/coast guard still work with sailing ships at all? I already have a 4 yr degree..... but little experience sailing... anyone know how I could get started working with sailboats?

some ideas...but not sure where to find these...

school sailing ships....tourist trips....? i donno help me out!!! :) thanks

Answer 1

The Coast Guard's Eagle is the only big sail training ship and its all Coasties crewed...there are about a hundred medium to large ( 100-150 foot) ships doing sail training in the States...look up American Sail Training Association to see the ship near you..


there are hundreds if not thousands of sailing yachts out here, and many need crew.......there are four boats in ST Thomas advertising for crew today as I write this....they are 35-50 foot boats doing day sails with tourists and its aseasonal business not great money but it gets you in the door and you can work several differrent boats....the way we all started was to show up in a sailing area.....St Thomas, FT Lauderdale, Annapolis, Camden Maine, San Fransisco, etc etc etc and start showing your face....tend bar or waitress.....clean boats..work in a boat yard office....take a job in the marine supply store....then you finally make a contact and can start work as a low paying deck hand and start gaining sea time and experience.........the sailing community in any given harbor is small and tight knit and word will get around that "well, inexperienced but a hard worker and willing to learn and doesn't drink too much".....after you have 365 days experience you can take the Coast Guard test for the entry level Captains License.

Go look at Sea Schools web site for all the tests involved..a drug test and something called STCW -95 is needed for deckhands, so if you have those when you show up for a job, youre one step ahead......

NONE of us old sea dogs were born knowing this stuff.we hung out, asked questions, did dirty jobs and made contacts and friends and 35 years later we find we have 30,000 miles experience and couple of books under our belts....and some stories that not even Jimmy Buffet would believe!

Answer 2

The Coast Guard still uses a Tri mast sailing ship for training but getting on this ship is not easy. I recommend that you check with some of the charter lines like barefoot cruising. If you are not serious about actually being on the water and fiberglass does not bother spend some time as a carpenters helper working in a boat yard if your good you may find the connections you need otherwise. Sailing centers in your community and yacht clubs are you last choice. If you are looking for a ride in the America's Cup this is your only choice for a place to learn to sail, but from what I've learned almost all of the people on these people can skipper their own smaller sail craft. They find each other in the Sailling community so go out to a couple of regattas (spectator status ) and start taking a few lessons if your good people will notice and help you find your place in the sailing community.

Answer 3

Not sure what others have told you, but I went to SUNY Maritime College and had an unlimited third mates licence, Deck, and no sailing jobs. Best bet is to just get a 6 Pak licence and run your own charter boat. You could also get a job with a sailing charter co. with this licence, but it won't pay well. Good vacation job. There are a few Private Schools on wind jammers still, a teaching licence might get you on one of those. Then again not for much pay, you could get a Ordinary/Stewards licence and try the windjammer fleet out of Maine.

Answer 4

Try merchant Marines Washington state i think they offer on the job training do not know about money.