APPROVED CAPTAINS

Ensuring the Validity of Your Bareboat Charter

A bareboat charter allows you to rent a boat without a captain or crew, giving you the freedom to navigate on your own.   This is a necessary element that the Coast Guard considers when determining that your charter and use of the vessel is “recreational” and not “commercial”- the latter requiring additional/different safety equipment, licensing and other compliance matters.

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In practice, charterers usually wish to hire a captain with training and/or experience operating the chartered vessel who is familiar with the docking and undocking procedures and local navigation.  Alternatively, charterers may present themselves, or a captain they wish to hire to operate the vessel on their behalf.  Most insurance policies, however, require vetting of the operator and doing so in advance of a charter can be difficult logistically, and adds expense.

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The following list contains the names and email addresses for USCG Licensed Captains who are familiar with the boats made available by Whale Tale Marine and have been approved by the vessel owners and their insurance companies to operate the vessels.

Nathalie Criou: nathalie.criou@gmail.com

Barry Demak: bdemak@demak.com

Dogen Hannah: captaindogen@gmail.com

Steve Hoffman: captstevehof@gmail.com

Rodney Mayer: rodneymayer@yahoo.com

Matt Sessions: mcsessions@gmail.com

Pip Ziman: phziman@gmail.com