How to Make a Living on a Boat
Making a living on a boat is an obtainable dream, though it takes a lot of preparation. One major decision must be made first: Will you live and work on your own boat, or will you work for someone else? Consider working for someone else for a year or two to make sure living on a boat is really for you.
Other People Are Reading
Instructions
-
-
1
Working on a cruise ship will earn you a living without any prior knowledge about boats. Give sea life a try by working on a cruise ship. Cruise ships hire seasonal workers for several months at a time doing all kinds of different jobs. You can be a bartender, a travel coordinator, a chef, a beautician, a lecturer, or many other possibilities depending on your interests and experience. Working on a cruise ship will earn you a living, and you don't have to have any prior knowledge about boats to get a job on one.
-
2
Become a tour guide either for a company or using your own boat. Become a tour guide. This is something you can eventually do on your own boat, but you can learn by working for a company. Learn the environmental history of the shoreline, or become an expert on the early settlers. Market yourself as an expert, and people will pay to take a boat ride and hear you speak.
-
-
3
Obtain the proper licensing and work as a water taxi, or make your boat a party boat that people can rent space on for weddings and graduation parties. If you'd rather not host the public, be a commercial fisherman. This way you can work alone or with one or two partners.
-
4
Freelance. If you don't want to bring people aboard your boat, and you want to work for yourself, consider doing some kind of freelancing work. As long as you can occasionally dock and get online, there is plenty of work you can take to sea with you, like editing and technical writing. Establish yourself with a couple of regular clients, and spend most of your year at sea, working a few hours a day.
-
5
Become a travel writer. What better way to document your sea faring adventures than to write books and articles about them and get paid to travel? Travel writing comes in many forms: You can blog about specific aspects of travel and sell ad space to companies, or you can query magazines and book publishers with ideas about writing from your experience. Some research will be involved in books and articles, but this can be a rewarding way to support a life at sea.
-
1
Tips & Warnings
Buying and maintaining a boat are very expensive. Be sure to fully consider this step before plunging in.
References
Resources
- Photo Credit boat image by SdoubleU from Fotolia.com cruise ship image by Brett Bouwer from Fotolia.com Boat Tour at Alexandria Egypt image by TekinT from Fotolia.com
