After graduating the Chapman’s School of Seamanship PMT program and attaining my Merchant Mariner Credential (Captain’s License) I took a job in Alaska running tour boats. I’ve always wanted to explore Alaska and as luck would have it I was never stationed there while I was in the military. This seemed like a good opportunity to make some sailloot for our cruising plans. You may not have heard this before, but sailboats are expensive. Yeah, I wish someone would have told me that earlier.
I’ve never had a seasonal job before. I always liked knowing when and where my next paycheck would come from. Now that I’m retired I have the security that comes with over 20 years of military work. A seasonal job was perfect for our current situation. I don’t want to be tied down to one job right now. I don’t need another career while I’m trying to sail around the world. A summer job in Alaska sounded like the perfect fit. There are many jobs around the world for boat captains. If you’re willing to travel you can find descent pay in some beautiful places. Lots of people think of the Caribbean or other tropical places to run boats. There are some amazing benefits to these jobs for sure. It seems the pay is inversely proportional to the amount of sunshine a place receives. In the Caribbean you can barely throw a rock in the water without getting a licensed captain wet. They are almost a dime a dozen in beautiful tropical places and the pay generally reflects that. Not that it’s poverty level by any means but if you’re willing to travel and go to more remote places the pay is a little more. I wasn’t sure how financially beneficial it would be to travel all the way to Alaska for work. Originally Lisa and I would count it as a win if we were able to net $6,000. We figured with all the additional costs of me being in Alaska and Lisa in Puerto Rico and travel expenses we would make a few dollars. It ended up being better than we had hoped. We cleared an additional $20,100 for our sailing kitty.
All figures are rounded after tax dollars for our calculations. Some expenses like car insurance are wrapped up in the “Vehicle column”. I did get a car for $1 and a few repairs. My rent was $1,200 a month. I didn’t spend much on food since I was working nearly every day for over 8 hours. Meals consisted mostly of lunch-meat wraps and food from the boat. There were several uniform items I had to purchase like work shoes and pants since I didn’t have a lot of black pants for my Caribbean attire. There were a handful of required certifications like a Food Workers and Alcohol training since we sold food and liquor on board.
Captain Job +$30,000
Rent -$6,000
Vehicle -$1,000
Vehicle fuel -$250
Flights to and from Alaska -$1,600
Clothes for uniform -$350
Required Certifications -$100
Food -$600
Total profit for one season +$20,100
If you’re looking to make some additional money for your cruising dreams this may be a good route for you.
I’ve never had a seasonal job before. I always liked knowing when and where my next paycheck would come from. Now that I’m retired I have the security that comes with over 20 years of military work. A seasonal job was perfect for our current situation. I don’t want to be tied down to one job right now. I don’t need another career while I’m trying to sail around the world. A summer job in Alaska sounded like the perfect fit. There are many jobs around the world for boat captains. If you’re willing to travel you can find descent pay in some beautiful places. Lots of people think of the Caribbean or other tropical places to run boats. There are some amazing benefits to these jobs for sure. It seems the pay is inversely proportional to the amount of sunshine a place receives. In the Caribbean you can barely throw a rock in the water without getting a licensed captain wet. They are almost a dime a dozen in beautiful tropical places and the pay generally reflects that. Not that it’s poverty level by any means but if you’re willing to travel and go to more remote places the pay is a little more. I wasn’t sure how financially beneficial it would be to travel all the way to Alaska for work. Originally Lisa and I would count it as a win if we were able to net $6,000. We figured with all the additional costs of me being in Alaska and Lisa in Puerto Rico and travel expenses we would make a few dollars. It ended up being better than we had hoped. We cleared an additional $20,100 for our sailing kitty.
All figures are rounded after tax dollars for our calculations. Some expenses like car insurance are wrapped up in the “Vehicle column”. I did get a car for $1 and a few repairs. My rent was $1,200 a month. I didn’t spend much on food since I was working nearly every day for over 8 hours. Meals consisted mostly of lunch-meat wraps and food from the boat. There were several uniform items I had to purchase like work shoes and pants since I didn’t have a lot of black pants for my Caribbean attire. There were a handful of required certifications like a Food Workers and Alcohol training since we sold food and liquor on board.
Captain Job +$30,000
Rent -$6,000
Vehicle -$1,000
Vehicle fuel -$250
Flights to and from Alaska -$1,600
Clothes for uniform -$350
Required Certifications -$100
Food -$600
Total profit for one season +$20,100
If you’re looking to make some additional money for your cruising dreams this may be a good route for you.
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