As expected, this has been an interesting thread. Many thanks GLENFWB and paulwall for the kind comments. Dr Dive is back at Seville, behind the Fish house, after a brief stint at another marina due to oil booms across the harbor entrance. It is lobster season PW, but spinys have been in short supply since Ivan. Also, due to increased federal permit enforcement, where we can lobster legally is limited. We can talk more about that in another thread.
Back to the original thread topic, there have been some interesting thoughts and suggestions. I can't speak to them all, but will comment as I can.
Some sort of flat rate pricing was suggested, as well as a pre-pay plan. I believe Capt. Gary tried that once, perhaps he can speak directly to it. It does make the bookkeeping tricky. Most of the suggestions included some significant price reduction as well. My thoughts are that if per trip prices are a major issue, then paying for 5 or 6 trips in advance makes price more of an issue. In addition, if, over the course of the season, you are unable to make even one of the pre-paid trips, you've wiped out most of your "savings". In addition, you have to have some way of tracking how many trips are used/remaining. I'm in favor of affordable pricing, but after having kept my pricing static for several years, even during the summer of $4/gal gas, I'm hard pressed to see significant price reductions as viable. There have been several operations over the years who have offered cut-rate (cut-throat) pricing and they are all out of business at this point. Charter operations are a business and there are many costs that factor into the pricing equation. In addition, it's not just the hours the customer is on the boat that factor in. There are many additional hours involved for the captain and crew to have the boats ready and in good condition for you while aboard. I have to agree with kalik that $85 is still cheap, all things considered. Also, bear in mind that most charters in vacation destinations have a 2 - 4 mile run to the site. For most operations in Pensacola, and this would be true for FWB unless you tied up at Destin Harbor, you have a longer run than that just to get to the Gulf, then the "short" run to the dive site.
Destination selection also seems to be a major concern. An upcharge to be able to call the destination as well as group preference in calling the destination have been suggested. Site selection is based on several factors. Captains share information and trip reports to have the best chance of putting customers in the best conditions for the trip. It is unfair to the customers to put the responsibility for site selection on them without benefit of the "inside information" the captains have regarding conditions. As a customer, I would be unhappy if, after learning that the first guy to sign up, or the guy that paid the extra fee had picked a site with lousy conditions, and I'd had to go there because of that. As a captain, I'd be embarrassed to admit that I'd put a boat load of customers on a bad site because I took extra money to let somebody else do part of my job or because luck of the draw had put his name first on the sign up list. We always ask for input from customers regarding preferred sites and try to honor any specific requests as much as possible. It's tough sometimes, but we try.
I hope the thread continues and hope I don't seem too negative regarding the suggestions made. I'm always interested in ways to improve the charter experience and to serve customers better. That being said, I have to stay in business to be able to do that. I hope the ongoing thread helps Whyphysco sort out the particulars in deciding on starting the venture. After making the initial investment to earn your Captain's license, you're just getting started. I'd be happy to chat offline with you if you have specific questions. I enjoyed the support and assistance of several captains as I was getting started and am happy to share information if I can.
