Job Description & Requirements:
Captains have a large impact on our guests’ experience. We like to hire captains who are friendly, well-spoken, enjoy meeting others, and are good sailors with solid sailing and boat handling skills. It’s important to realize that we’re in the hospitality business as well the sailing business, so you need to not only like to sail, but also enjoy showing guests our fantastic harbor and bay, talking with them, and being a friendly host. Many of the people we take sailing have never been sailing before. It’s your job to sail the boat well, answer questions and help guests have a nice experience. We want them to write us an excellent review, tell their friends or rave to the concierge at the hotel how great the captain and crew were!
While these jobs are fun, they are physically demanding. We take out scores of guests and offer four to five sails a day with 20-30 minutes between sails. You need the energy and stamina for that.
Captains are leaders and mentors for crew and oversee the safety and cleanliness of the vessel. All captains should take great pride in sail trim, tide, and wind conditions, covering as much ground as possible on trips, and docking in tight quarters.
We currently operate 3 sailing vessels all with different schedules. Aquidneck is an 80′ steel schooner designed by Charles Wittholtz, sailed by one licensed captain and two crew USCG certified for 49. Sightsailer is a very light, narrow, 46′ aluminum sloop with a heap of sail area, designed by Yves Marie Tanton, sailed by one licensed captain and one crew, and certified for 13 guests. Starlight is an O’Day 34 which sails by private charter only with just 2-6 guests. When applying. please indicate which boat you think you’re interested in.
AQUIDNECK CAPTAINS: Aquidneck, our 80′ schooner, sails with one licensed captain and two crew, from May until the end of October. Additional work for handy people who like getting their hands dirty is available in the yard pre and post-season.
We’ve had Aquidneck captains who sail from May until the end of our season at the end of October and then help down rig the boat and leave for delivery, and we’ve had captains who start with us in the yard in March or April and work until Thanksgiving or even later. Each situation and person are different. The workload is shared between two captains both of whom work around 40 hours per week.
SIGHTSAILER CAPTAINS: Sightsailer sails weekends only from late May until mid-June, then 5 days a week from late June through Labor Day in September. After Labor Day, she sails weekends only until the end of September. She’s sailed by one captain with a Master’s license and one crew. Ideally, the captain and crew should be available from late May through Labor Day and able to sail weekends in September. We usually hire just one captain and crew for Sightsailer.
STARLIGHT CAPTAINS: Starlight, our O’Day 34, is sailed by one licensed captain. She sails on weekends beginning Memorial Day, seven days a week from late June through Labor Day, and then again on a limited schedule until Columbus Day. We typically hire two captains who work a rotating 4 day/3-day schedule.
All Captains need to have excellent sailing skills as well as outstanding boat-handling skills, docking sailboats under power. Our boats are docked in a congested, high-profile marina surrounded by million-dollar yachts and historic wooden boats. Aquidneck is 80 feet long with a beam of 17 feet and needs to be consistently backed out of and returned to her slip unscathed as well as without wiping out the ol’ wooden Hinckley or Fife at the dock next door. She has a bow thruster but still, you need confidence and experience in tight quarters. Starlight and Sightsailer are easier to handle but your boat handling skills still need to be razor-sharp!
Captains are responsible for performing routine daily, weekly, and monthly maintenance checks.
Captains must learn and adhere to arrival and departure schedules for our boats and others we share the dock with.
Learn the boat, pay attention to sail trim, tides, and current. Sail the boat well enough that you get it where it needs to go, so you deliver what’s described, meet and manage guests’ expectations.
Learn the points of interest we sail past so you can help point out sights or answer guests’ questions about them. You don’t have to talk the entire time, but you shouldn’t expect the crew to carry the entire boat to make up for your lack of knowledge.
If sailing on our larger boats with the crew you should enjoy getting to know them, sharing your knowledge, and fostering the camaraderie and mutual respect that will hopefully develop. And if sailing with crew, you are expected to share all work and work side-by-side with them whether it’s loading food/drink aboard for a charter or performing maintenance or cleaning tasks.
Appearance/Dress Code & Hygiene Standards:
We will give you company shirts, outerwear and assorted swag to wear which must be worn while working. You and your clothes must be clean and odor free. Additional dress, hygiene and appearance codes are spelled out in our company handbook.
Licensing Requirements:
All captains must pass a Pre-Employment drug test (or show proof of having been tested within the past 180 days) and be enrolled in an industry-required Random Drug Testing Program.
Aquidneck: USCG Master’s License, Inland or Near Coastal, minimum 50 tons, with Aux Sail endorsement. FCC MROP.
Sightsailer: USCG Master’s License, Inland or Near Coastal, minimum 25 tons with Aux Sail endorsement. FCC MROP.
Compensation:
Captains are paid a flat day rate, plus tips when sailing. On Aquidneck & Sightsailer tips are pooled equally with crew. Tips are frequently very good.
For the right individuals, these jobs are a lot of fun. It can be hard work, however, you get paid to sail all day in one of the prettiest, most interesting, and historic harbors with some of the best sailing conditions to be found anywhere, and meet people from all over the world. There is no other place like Newport. And at the end of the day, you’re off the boat. Think about that!