Old-ish thread,
Way back in the before-afore times, I was dragged onboard one of those cheesy sunset cruises around some island harbor, along with 50 or so other drunk tourists. I happened to strike a convo with the captain and found that far more fascinating than whatever crap we were supposed to be watching.
This guy was an I.P. lawyer out of New York and totally burned out on that former life. On a wild hair, he quit, sold his house, and moved to Key West. He spent a couple of years crewing on someone's tourist boat which was easy enough and sort-of paid the bills. During that he studied to get his master license, then he bought and captained his own boat, and started handing out flyers at the cruise terminals.
He said that after expenses and payroll he was still pulling in a high six figs. He claimed he was making more than he did as an attorney in NYC, and at half the labor-hours. And no wonder: 50 passengers paying 100 bucks a head for a one hour tour and bottomless low-end margaritas, and he did that three times a day, 6 days a week. Easy money.
I wonder how he's doing now?