Sailing Charter with a Licensed Captain

Every JADA charter sails with a USCG-licensed captain aboard. There are no bareboat rentals, no peer-to-peer arrangements, and no captain-optional packages. The captain is the same person responsible for the vessel — for routing, for weather decisions, for guest safety, and for the final call on whether to depart or hold dockside.

JADA herself is USCG-inspected under the small passenger vessel regulations and carries full marine insurance plus a pollution endorsement and WQIS certification. The crew on every charter includes the licensed captain plus a deckhand; for larger events, a host or hostess is added.

The licensing matters in three concrete ways. First, your charter is legal to operate commercially — many San Diego "charter" listings on peer-to-peer platforms are not. Second, you are insured under JADA's policy, not a personal boat-owner's policy that may have charter exclusions. Third, in the rare case of weather or mechanical issue, the captain's call is the operational call — there is no ambiguity about who's responsible.

JADA was built in 1938 in Stockton, converted to a yawl rig in 1955, and has been in continuous USCG service for decades. She accommodates up to 28 guests; rates start at $400/hour with a three-hour minimum.