OFFSHORE THRILL RIDES
 

being that my boat is costing me money and not making me money i have considered getting my six pack license (USCG)and chartering my boat, up to 6 passengers part time. i have been on a few of these boats and its a great deal for the passengers and for the boat owner(if nothing major breaks) any insight, success/horror stories, or advice??? thanks!!!

I think insurance for something like that would kill ya if youre doing it on a small time scale. :(

But hey! Check into it anyway....ya never know till ya ask! And dont let word of mouth discourage ya from doing waht you want till you get all the facts! Good luck! :D

you figure at 100 bucks a head for 1hr, thats $500 , maybe $75 in gas. do a few runs on saturday, a couple during the week, it all adds up. a friend of mine owns the THRILLER on Paradise Island,Bahamas but he is on a very large scale taking up to 40 passengers!

The Bull,
Goto: www.BenHedrick.com and click on the link, "Hot Boat Adventures". This is a friend of mine, who is based out of Cape Coral. He might be able to give you some more formation. His name is Phil McCombs.

Good luck.

Hey Bull a buddy of mine once owned one of those in Destin, made really good money during the season and loafed the rest of the year :D Go for it ;)

thanks ben!!! ;)

driver, thanks for wishing me luck, everyday i go to work, stuck in seasonal traffic and think, damn i should be on the water makin' money and makin noise!!!!!!!!

Thriller. Right next to the Atlantis Resort. Awesome machine! :) :)

I hear ya :D Hope it will work out for ya, My buddy is now retired and just kickin back. Damn what did I do wrong????????????? Here I sit in a hanger bangin on a computer :rolleyes:

justsay, i went on that thriller boat 5 times in 2 days, he even let me drive for a minute, that thing has 4 merc 250s on it and runs hard in the big stuff, and what a stereo system!!!!!

cool idea...
How big of a boat are you running for these charters? just wondering ;)

Wasn't there a company a few years back that did poker run charters? They had a big Apache. I think it was called Paradigm Charters. If you can find them, it might be a good source of info.

thanks there big daddy for the info, i will check into it,
scream, the boat is a true 28foot(no swim platform) with twin 454/475hp, looks identical to a cigarette 28ss

yup paradigm charters does all types of charters all the way up to russian mig fighters, i talked with them yesterday, they are out of sarasota, pretty helpful

I remember two guys in Ocean City doing that a few years ago, not sure how it went. I have thaught abought it many times, I thank BJ's Pantera would make a great boat for this, stand up bolsters all the way around, add helmets and an intercom for that real race feeling, hell I'd pay a $100. Do you think the helmets are good or bad idea?

Eddie Simmons

paradigm charters does mostly poker runs for big money ! Several thousand per head . There parent company ,I geuss you could call it ,is called "Ultimate advetures' I think . And yes they do every thing that you can think of and probably not afford ! Fly jet fighters , Fly into outer space , Covert ops , You name it they will charge you for it ! Good luck bull !Let us know what your insurance man says ! :eek:

Hey Eddie,

Ya, the guys in OC used an older Scarab, about 30 ft. I never saw it running, just sitting at the dock. I think they had 1/2 hr. rides. Out the inlet, up the beach a few blocks and then back.

Dave M.

fasteddie, helmets are a good idea, it would make the passengers feel like pros!!! might be a little hot down here, but safety should come first. i checked with my insurance company, and they havent gotten back to me yet....i am sure they are making up a huge, expensive policy as we speak!!!! for my uscg license,they want 360 days, 8hrs a day documentation drive time behind the wheel to prerequisite the course!! i have been running boats since i was 10, more than 20yrs, but i never documented the time!!this might be a challenge. the course is 12 weeks 8-4 m-f for $6000. that might be difficult as i work for a living....there must be a better way!! :rolleyes:

Hey Bull goforit ,get ins (must),thriller was a great ride,needs more speed but was worth every penny :D :D :D :D tripps

Sounds like a good idea, you may need a dock space in a high traffic area, there is a guy in fort lauderdale, that does it on a sonic for about $35 per hour, per person, its a new sonic, crazy greg.

I will be up a peanut island today. Mabe I can catch up there.

I run some corporate events in Florida every year, and our entertainment contractor gets us 5 boats every 4 days in Miami for an evening run out the Cut and back. We get the "Crazy Greg" Sonic, the Apache (triples) a Big Donzi SportCruiser of some sort and even an F3 cat. Ther are a couple of other boats that come and go. We have been doing this for 3 years now, with good feedback - the guests LOVE it. I'll try to find out more details on rates, etc.

Crazy Greg has a web site at Speedboatrides.com Telephone number is 954 779 7660. Have to go for a ride whenever we are in Miami, nice and guilt free.

Hey Bull, I have been trying to get this going on the west coast. What class is it you are looking at that is $6k? The one here is $850.00 (6 pack) and it is 2 weeks long. I have not checked into insurance yet. I'm still trying to figure out the most convenient (cost effective) way to stay busy. IE: Not putting the boat in the water for an hour or two a day and spend 3 hours cleaning it. Anyway E-mail me and we can discuss this some more. Dave