[mcculley]

I am not "complaining". I recognize the reality of the situation. This is why I am selling the company and reallocating the capital.

I have been running the company for three years. Yes, my predecessor could have invested more earlier. All of the tugboat companies in our cohort could have invested more earlier. They could have raised prices so that they could attract more people. I agree that the industry and the government made bad choices in the past that lead to a shortage now.

The path from deckhand to licensed captain requires seatime. We have a fleet of four tugs. Even if we had been able to invest in the deckhands, where would we have put them? Each tug has a finite number of men it can carry, limited by physical space, supplies, and regulation.

I answered about pay rate elsewhere in the thread. I will try to add more details about the various labor categories.

[singleshot_]

Perhaps after you wind down the tugboat thing, you can open a consultancy to explain, based on simple anecdotes about your experience, why people’s dogma is often ridiculously wrong.

No, that will never work. But I bet you will be successful in some field where patience is a virtue.

[mcculley]

You have made me realize that my next career might benefit from looking for opportunities where the incumbents are oversimplifying their models.