If a captain is included in the price of your boat rental, then you must ensure that you are operating in a legal capacity. The USCG states:
- If the captain is included in the price of a charter for the below passenger counts, the boat owner will need to obtain a Certificate of Inspection (COI).
- 7 or more passengers if the vessel measures less than 100 gross tons.
- 12 or more passengers if the vessel measures greater than 100 gross tons.
- You or the captain provided has a valid captain’s license to operate the vessel listed.
- The vessel has the required insurance to operate.
- The only exception to this is if you are operating as a charter broker in which case you are able to operate a legal bareboat charter, but still collect the boat and captain payment together through Getmyboat. So long as you pay them separately.
The requirements for a certificate of inspection can all be found on the USCG website here:
We recommend contacting your local USCG office, to speak with an officer and get the process started. And to keep renters safe, we encourage all boat owners to properly maintain, store and keep active maintenance/registration records. Additionally, it is mandatory to install and/or make available federal regulations or state regulations safety equipment.
If you need to obtain your captain’s license, our partner Mariners Learning System offers our US-based boat captains and owners special discounts on USCG-accredited courses offered online. Use promo code "GETMYBOAT10" for 10% off products sitewide. It’s the most efficient way to get your captain’s license and brush up on any refresher safety or training courses you may need.
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