Day charters are huge in SoFl especially Miami although the “quality” of the clientele has dropped drastically in the last few years... we don’t do day charters anymore.
Most of these illegal charters become illegal because of technicalities due to the bareboat charter rules. Most day charters are groups over 6 people, usually 10 to 12. The only viable way to take 12 people is on a bareboat contract since getting a vessel inspected is pretty much financially impossible. There are 7 conditions that must be met for a bareboat charter to be valid: charterer must have the option to pick his own crew, crew must be contracted and pay separately, charterer must pay all expenses (fuel, provision), owner can’t be on board etc
Where most bareboats fail is that the owner and broker sell an all inclusive day on the water for a flat fee. USCG boards, asks for the paperwork and either the captain didn’t know or didn’t care To do it right and doesn’t have the separate boats and crew contacts. If that happens, USCG says it s not a valid bareboat therefore it s an illegal charter. And rightly so.
When we used to do day charters a few years ago, I would always have the right contracts on board for the charterer to sign upon boarding since most brokers would never provide the right paperwork.
Add the fact that for years the USCG didn’t care and brokers, owners and captains have become sloppy.
Now actual fines is a question I have often raised on the FB group and the coasties are always very vague. Sure fines can be up to $50k for the first offense but in reality these are negotiated down and amount to a slap on the wrist.
The biggest issue is really that regulations haven’t kept up. Years ago, most charters where much smaller... so the 6 pax limit made sense. Nowadays the average day charter here is probably around 70/80’ where 12 passengers is perfectly safe. This forces owners to go the bareboat road but you have to follow the bureaucratic rules...
