AFTER THE HELM

“The old man was thin and gaunt with deep wrinkles in the back of his neck. The brown blotches of the benevolent skin cancer the sun brings from its reflection on the tropic sea were on his cheeks. Everything about him was old except his eyes and they were the same color as the sea and they were cheerful and undefeated.”

These words come from the first chapter of Ernest Hemingway’s iconic The Old Man and the Sea. The popular image of the boat captain is much like that of the cowboy: rode hard and put up wet, his body beaten by years of clinging to the helm in rough seas. When a captain retires, we imagine him riding off into the sunset. But after making a living catching giant fish in exotic places, how can anyone ever bring themselves to do anything else? While a career on the bridge might be the pinnacle of fishing, running a sport-fishing operation is also physically, mentally and emotionally demanding. Beyond the toll on the body, the job usually involves extended time away from home and family as well.

Although—thanks in large part to the words of Hemingway—there is a certain romance projected toward the lifelong boat captain; the skills, responsibility and perspective the position imparts also lend well to a variety of professions. We interviewed three highly talented captains who have leveraged their skillsets and decades of experience into roles beyond the helm. Their stories provide context into what is possible and