Summer 2023
I am excited for summer 2023! There have been a lot of updates with Captain Young Travels. Where to start…I always like to tell stories. This is a story about how Captain Young Travels become a business. I am sure I have told this before but as we are coming into summer 2023, I think it is important to retell it. I always wanted to start a tour company, but I wasn’t sure it would work here in Iowa. My ideas started in summer of 2019.We only have 16 weeks of summer, but there has to be a way to do it. I did a lot of research on how to do this legally. While doing my research I found out you needed your USCG Captain License, a boat, and many other things.
As a true entrepreneur, I decided to start a business called “Party on the Lake”. In the Winter of 2019, I did all the training from the USCG, got my paperwork done to be a LLC, recruited employees, and bought a boat. By the time summer 2020 came we all know what happened with COVID, but I was able to open my business with a letter from Governor Kim Reynolds.
It also affected my business as I wasn’t able to start off the way I wanted to. At first, I could only rent my boat at Saylorville Lake for families to enjoy a day on the water. As a business owner, especially a new business owner, you never really know what to expect. Remember I said I bought a boat…This boat was, and still is today, an awesome boat but there is a lot of costs to the boat. These costs include maintenance, gas, storing, dock fees, labor, insurance, and list goes on when owning a boat.
I did “Party on the Lake” for 2 full seasons. At this time it was summer of 2021. We were busy with families and parties enjoying the boat. We had a lot of fun making memories on every journey. In August of 2021, I had an extra fun family on a tour. I already knew I wasn’t going to continue for summer 2022. It made me sad because I saw joy in people eyes and how they enjoyed all the fun they had. I was struggling to figure out how to best make my business successful. I mean, how do you have a boat touring business without a boat? What a funny concept, right? This was also my first adventure to be a snowbird in Florida. I was tired of Iowa winters, plus I needed a change of scenery during the winter season.
In January 2022 I was with my nephew at Fort Myers Beach watching a sun set. All of a sudden it became clear to me on how I can do a boat touring company in Iowa without a boat. Man did the idea’s start flowing. It gave me hope, as I am writing everything down on what “Party on the Lake “ will be. I realized this business is bigger than just being in central Iowa.
I changed the business name to “Captain Young Travels”. In the future we will be servicing other states, not just Iowa, but the Midwest. Eventually we will service Southern states as well with the hope to be nationwide. It will include several lakes, the ocean, and the Gulf of Mexico. I wanted to start in Iowa, to show an entrepreneur can start a national tour boat company. I am proud to be an Iowan! Captain Young travels will eventually be all over the United States keeping the water ways safe for everyone.
At the start of this article I was talking about my boat Bone Island. It was an awesome day when I purchased it. We have so many memories with that boat at so many parties, but I didn’t need it anymore. In the Summer of 2022 I tried to sell the boat. I didn’t try all that hard because I loved that boat. Here we are: Summer of 2023. I knew I really needed to try to sell it. I am glad to report it got sold, which was a big day for me.
The point of this blog is to show you that if you want a boat and are willing to take on all the responsibilities then get one. If you don’t think you will use it all that much, then there is really no reason to own one.
You can rent a boat from Saylorville Lake. If you are inexperienced, that’s when you hire us at Captain Young Travels. Let us keep you safe on the water! Plus, then you can enjoy relaxing with a beer in your hand. Even if you are an experienced boat operator, don’t take a risk drinking and driving because if DNR stops you it is not worth paying the fines. If you want to learn more about that read, my blog all about DNR rules.
What’s new with Captain Young this summer 2023? Well you can now book online! For your scheduling convenience, no more calling! I am available by phone if you have questions. If you do buy a new boat but don’t know all the rules on the water or are not too experienced in docking and anchoring well, I have created two levels of training, Captain Training or First Mate Training.
I have hired 4 new captains so it’s more than just myself, Captain Young doing it. You can request captains or request me personally, but I can’t promise you it will be me. I will try to accommodate all my followers. Now what lakes are we servicing? We service Saylorville Lake, Big Creek, Red Rock, Clear Lake and Okoboji Lake. In Clear Lake and Okoboji Lake, I Captain Young, will be the only one servicing those lakes. The time is now to start planning your day on the lake because the summer will be over before you know it!
