I am a 200 ton licensed master with over 30 years experience in the marine industry. Starting at the age of 6, on an old Monterey double-ender fishing boat that my dad (a retired airline pilot) bought to run between San Pedro and Catalina, I learned to dead recon navigate. Subsequently, my dad went to Holland and imported Striker sportfish to resell on the West Coast and Hawaii. I spent most of my youth on sportfishing boats for fun fishing and tournament.

My family later transplanted to Friday Harbor in the San Juan Islands of Washington State and we lived on a small island in the harbor. My siblings and I (I am the eldest of 4) went to school every day in a Boston Whaler. Weekends would be spent fishing and camping out on adjacent islands. Summer work would find me pulling salmon gillnet and commercial trolls in Washington and Alaska. I also fished longline for black cod off of Oregon and Washington. My family still reside in the San Juan Islands.

At 17, I enlisted in the US Coast Guard where I served onboard the Columbia River Lightship, went to Motorlifeboat School at the Columbia River Bar, attended the Coast Guard's premier Class A engineering school in Yorktown Virginia and served the rest of my time as engineer on Coast Guard Cutters from 180 to 378 feet in length in Hawaii, Alaska and the Gulf Mexico.

After honorably leaving the Coast Guard, in 1980 my yachting career started as a sailing instructor in Seattle doing 5 day cruise and learn programs in the Pacific Northwest. This was followed by sailing instruction in Mexico and Martinique for Club Med. After returning to the US, I was a charter boat captain in Annapolis, Md. and coached offshore sailing for the US Naval Academy. I also did seasonal charters in the Bahamas and Caribbean.

I have been based in South Florida since 1988. During this time, I have captained power vessels from 40 feet up to 130 feet in length and have 20 years experience cruising throughout the Bahamas and Caribbean. My professional capabilities have taken all over the globe, as indicated below.

I have outstanding customer service skills and take great pride in the appearance of the vessels I work. If there is one common compliment given me by yacht owners, it is my attention to detail. I truly love my job. My boat handling skills are second to none.

I am skilled in all facets of preventative maintenance, have a refrigeration-a/c background, watermaker operation and maintenance, most all electronic navigation systems including PC based systems, carpentry and varnish. My knowledge is demonstrative of the decades of service I have enjoyed.

I have captained sailing sloops, cutters, ketches and schooners to 73 feet in length. I have operated Abeking Rasmussen, Amel, Baltic, Beneteau, C & C, Camper and Nickelson, Caliber, Carroll Marine, Catalina, Cherubini, CSY, Dufour, Dynamique, Endeavour, Ericson, Farr, Formosa, GibSea, Gulfstar, Hinkley, Hunter, Irwin, Islander, J Boat, Jeanneau, Lagoon, Little Harbor, Nelson Maarek, Morgan, Pearson, Prout, Nautor, Sabre, Shannon, Sunward, Swan, Ta Chaio, Tayana, Westsail and Vagabond.

In the power catagory, I have operated Albin, Azimut, Baia, Bayliner, Bertram, Breaux Bros., Broward, Burger, Californian, Choey Lee, Chris Craft, Defever, Diaship, Gulfstar, Grand Alaskan, Grand Banks, Hargrave, Hatteras, Horizon, Johnson, Knight and Carver, Lazzara, Luhrs, Maiori, Mochi Craft, Monte Fino, Neptune, Ocean, Ocean Alexander, President, Rayburn, San Lorenzo, Sea Ray, Silverton, Sonship, Striker, Sunseeker, Swifships, Symbol, Tarrab, Technema, Technomarine, Tollycraft, Versilcraft, Viking and West Bay. I have operated conventional drive, Arneson Surface and jet drive boats. I have also worked on a jet turbine powered vessel.

My sportfishing background includes running various Bertram, Hatteras, Luhrs, Ocean, Striker and Viking boats. One of my more memorable positions, involved shipping a 54 Bertram from Savannah to Hong Kong where I splashed the boat from the ship and ran it on it's own bottom thru the Philippines, across to Palau, Ngulu and Ulithi Atolls and on to the vessel's base on Guam. I was instrumental in starting up the charter business for the vessel's owner on Guam performing sportfish/dive charters for Japanese tourists. I was also involved in starting an IGFA chapter on Guam.

Waters worked include the Adriatic, Alaska, Atlantic, Bahamas, Caribbean, Cuba, Far East, Great Lakes, Gulf of Mexico, Hawaii, Inland Rivers, Latin America, Mediterranean, Mexico, Micronesia, New England, Pacific Northwest, San Juan Islands, South Pacific, Tenn-Tom Waterway.

I have transited between Florida and New England over 160 times, 11 passages thru the Panama Canal taking boats between Florida and California, 28 trips to the Great Lakes and have run most inland rivers. I am also an airline transport rated pilot with experience in most piston single and twin propeller as well as Citation, Gulfstream, Hawker, and Learjet.

I am available for a full time or provisional position. A detailed dossier, including letters of commendation, references and license copies will be forwarded at your request.

Best regards, John Wampler Master Mariner 954-646-7656

"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit."
-Aristotle