The industry isn’t heavily regulated in the Caribbean… anyway, a buddy of mine worked as a marine mechanic (first as an apprentice for basically just a bunk and a meal) and then on his own… doing general work port to port around the Caribbean just to earn enough to not starve and to keep his boat floating. He did get an official certification I think from SAMS (something something surveyors) but that was just to give him some “street credit” among paying customers. He’d be the first to tell you, “[He] learned surveying by working on boats.” His bread and butter are foreigners flying in to buy boats for sale in the Caribbean.

I honestly don’t know how well he is doing financially. I don’t really talk about finances with my buddies… that’s weird. Hell, maybe he is on this sub and will properly answer the question from a first person perspective… either way, I know he has been sailing for the past 17ish years (since maybe 2008…. I met him in 2010 and he has been doing it for a couple of years maybe)…. He has upgraded sailboats once in that time and hasn’t starved to death or has to sell his boat to go work in an office somewhere…. So I’d say he’s doing okay.