Captain, 106-foot Lazzara motoryacht Stop the Press

Date interviewed: December 2012

How did you become a captain?

I’m from Miami, and I am the first of my family to be born in the United States. My family is Spanish, and my father built boats. We used to grab Hobie Cats, Chris-Crafts, all kinds of boats to fix up and then re-sell them. I am living on boats since I was 13 years old. I tried to work in charter when I was in my early 20s, but it did not happen. Now I am 33 and I am back, and it is going well.

When did you join Stop the Press?

I came onboard in June 2011. I met the owner, and he told me that he had been having bad luck with captains. I was able to get him excited again about boating. We made a list about what to do, and then the boat went into charter. Now the owner is using the boat a lot more, we’ve turned around the charter program, and we are booking weeks after weeks in the Caribbean and Bahamas.

What did you do to rekindle the yacht’s charter program?

The first thing was to get completely new crew, a crew that is good at charter. We wanted happy, fresh people. There are four of us, three from South Africa plus me.

For the boat, we just upgraded to a new satellite dome for Internet, we got new scuba gear for charter guests who want to dive, and we are installing a new multimedia system with 2,000 movies on a digital server. We have a 3D television coming for the main salon, we have purchased all new linens and towels—we are making the boat the way that a good charter boat should be.

Does that include adding lots of water toys?

Oh yes. We have a 31-foot center console tender that is included in our weekly base rate. We use it for snorkeling, water skiing, fishing, all kinds of fun. It can go up to 40 miles per hour, so it can get guests to wherever they want to be very quickly.

We also have two Wave Runners, two paddleboards, fishing gear—I really do think that we are a lot of boat in a 106-foot package.

Stop the Press is part of the RJC Yachts charter fleet. She accommodates eight guests at a lowest weekly base rate of $46,000, and she can accept two additional children on a pullout sofa in an office. Any reputable charter broker can tell you more or help you book a week onboard.