Are staff members required to have a boat captains license?
While many of our captains do have captain’s licenses, we don’t require it. Doing so would exclude too many strong candidates. The typical captain’s license, often referred to as a “6-pack”, meets U.S. Coast Guard standards for operating a vessel in U.S. waters with six or less people onboard. It requires only a written test and a recorded number of sea hours. It does not require any practical test of seamanship or boat-handling ability. Importantly, having a captain’s license does not ensure that a person will excel at teaching sailing to and managing a group of teenagers – an imperative for having responsibility for one of our boats. Sail Caribbean staff must demonstrate they can expertly handle a 50′ sailboat with 12 students onboard – all new staff must first prove themselves as mates before being promoted to the role of captain.
