Capt. Scott Gaffga 116-foot motoryacht Serenity
Date interviewed: April 2008
How did you realize you wanted to become a captain?
I was raised in the Florida Keys on boats, so I’ve always been around them and loved the ocean. I moved up to Fort Lauderdale by taking land jobs, not in the boating industry at all. In fact, one job was for a computer company. But I met a lot of people in the boating industry, and it seemed like a great career.
What training did you undergo to become a captain?
I knew, career-wise, that I would need a license to make a go of this. So I got my 100-ton license right off the bat, and I went to work as mate onboard the 98-foot charter motoryacht Destiny. I was there for about four years, and I got offered a job with my current boat’s owners in summer of 2006, when they owned an 80-foot motoryacht.
Did you help the owners as they built your current command, the 116-foot Serenity?
When I got the job on the 80-footer, the owners said they were very interested in moving up to a bigger boat. They signed the contract just a few months after I joined them, and I ended up over in Tampa, Florida, at the Lazarra shipyard for the better part of the next year, helping to oversee the build for Lazarra’s first-ever 116.
We’re one of the only Lazarras with a light wood interior, and we are handicapped accessible. There was a lot of customizing.
What do you think makes Serenity's crew unique or special?
That Serenity is handicapped accessible, that’s unusual. The owners’ sister uses a wheelchair, so we designed a lot of features, including an entire stateroom, to make it easy for her to go boating. And we’re constantly improving in that area. Obviously, getting on the boat in the first place is huge for a handicapped person. We’re looking into getting a gangway that is wheelchair friendly.
I also like Serenity because she is fast with a shallow draft [the boat’s depth below the water], which means she can get places other boats can’t, and she can get there quickly. She’ll do 24½ knots cruise, with a top speed of 28 knots. Our draft is just 5½ feet, so we are great for the shallow Bahamas.
Our crew is special, too, because we are young and energetic. My mate is new in the yachting industry—not to boating, but to yachting—so we’ve been molding him. He’s done three charters now, and I just hired a new stewardess who’s doing great, having just finished her first charter. I have a terrific freelance chef that I try to bring in all the time, and all I’ve ever done is charter, so I know it well.
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How do you determine your charter itineraries?
I find out what the guests want to do, whether it’s nightlife or privacy or something else, and I take them to the parts of the Bahamas where what they want is available.
If they want nightlife, we have Atlantis and Harbour Island. If they want privacy, we have Sampson Cay in the Exumas. For diving and fishing, we tow a 27-foot Intrepid tender, so we can take them to rendezvous diving, or we can take them fishing on our own boat. We also have a Brownie’s Third Lung setup, which is like scuba diving while being attached to an air hose back on the yacht.
We try to be flexible during the charter itself, with the understanding that some marinas require 48 hours' advance notice for dockage. I never say no to a charter guest. I try to provide options to give them something they’ll enjoy.
That’s why I’m here, to be flexible with people.
What are some of your favorite cruising destinations, and why?
I’ve been to New England and done some charters up there, and I’ve been to the Caribbean, including St. Maarten and St. Barth’s, but to be perfectly honest, I’m from the Florida Keys. I like shallow water that’s warm, where you can see the bottom, so I love the Bahamas, in particular the Exumas.
The Caribbean is beautiful with mountains and scenery, but it’s all about partying. New England, it’s beautiful too, but it’s all about dinner and shopping. In the Bahamas, we always have the water toys out, we’re always in the water—you’re actually using the water, which is what a boat is for. You’re not going from marina to marina in the Bahamas. You’re actually using the yacht.
What features onboard Serenity do you particularly enjoy sharing with guests?
Guests like the sky light in our galley, because it’s bright. We also have a quartz floor that’s backlit in the guest foyer, and that’s a nice feature.
In general, people seem to love the all-around comfortable feeling of the boat. It’s elegant, but you feel like you can put your feet up and sit on the couch. You feel like you can use it and enjoy it. I’ve been on boats where people feel like they have to walk through with their hands in their pockets, because they’re afraid to touch anything. Our boat isn’t like that. We’re comfortable.
And our swim platform, that’s a great feature. It’s 20 feet wide and 6 feet deep, which is big for a boat of our size. It lowers hydraulically about three feet into the water, and guests can sit on it in the water, or on chairs on it in the water, like their own private beach. It’s especially great for overweight or physically challenged people, because we can lower them already in the raft or chair, and then get them right back up, without them having to climb up or down any stairs.
When guests aren’t using the swim platform, we can even put bait on it and get sharks to feed on it, which is really cool to watch.
Describe a typical guest’s day onboard your yacht:
We do no more than three hours’ travel from island to island, and as soon as we get in, we get the guests outdoors. We do something like a beach barbecue or a fishing trip or a snorkeling trip, or we use the Jet Skis. If there are little kids, we’ll take them tubing. People tend to like being off the boat from morning till dusk.
We don’t set things up hour-by-hour. If they want cocktail time, we’ll do cocktail time. If they want to leave late, we’ll leave late. I wake up in the morning and say, “These are the three great things we have in our next anchorage. What do you feel like doing in the morning, and what would you like to do in the afternoon?”
Guests on our boat tend to be tired fairly early from all that outdoor fun, so we’re not usually up all night long. That’s good for them, because they’re having fun, and it’s better for the crew, because we actually get rest at night instead of having to serve drinks until two o’clock in the morning.
What kind of charter guests are your favorites?
We’re a family boat in general. We’ve done many trips with guys who want to have parties, but our boat is geared toward having a good time for all ages. We do great service, we do great dinners, but our main goal is to take you out during the day and have fun, no matter how old you are.
We had a 2-year-old on our last charter, and it was great. As long as there’s a nanny or a designated person to watch over the young children, we’re happy to have them.
What else should CharterWave readers know about you and Serenity?
For charter, we are listed as taking ten guests, but that is including a small kids’ room that has two Pullman bunks, plus two twin beds that can push together to make a double. So if you want to come aboard with ten guests, ideally it should be four kids plus six adults. If there are no kids in your group, we’re better suited for eight than ten adults.
People also should be aware that I know the Bahamas very well, and that we have all the toys you need to enjoy them. In addition to the toys we already discussed, Serenity carries two SeaBob water-surface scooters, two Jet Skis, and a 15-foot Novurania tender—which is a lot for a 116-foot boat.
We’re based year-round in Florida and the Bahamas, though the owner is going to spend this July in the Dominican Republic and the Turks and Caicos. If you want to charter us this summer [2008], look to book in May, June or August.
Serenity is part of the fleet at Robert J. Cury and Associates. Her weekly base rate is $65,000 plus expenses. Contact any reputable charter broker for more information.
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