There’s an emergency brewing at the marina, and it might affect how you use, and enjoy, your boat. I don’t mean rising slip fees or fuel prices: Both of those hit our wallets hard, but we expect that—boating is expensive. This is worse, a problem that can’t be solved simply by throwing money at it: It’s the aging population of qualified marine technicians who keep our boats and their increasingly complex systems running up to snuff. The techs with the skills and the tools are aging, and they’re not being replaced by youngsters taking up the trade at the same rate. Who will fix our boats in the future? And based on what marina and yard managers tell me, that future isn’t very far away.
Some people have an aptitude, and an affection, for the manual arts—and society needs these people. Why put them through four years of college to study for a job that doesn’t suit them and will make them miserable in their adult lives? Instead, we ought to encourage young folks with manual aptitude to learn a trade—whether it’s plumbing, carpentry, or mechanics, or electrical work, welding, whatever. Naturally, I think they should learn to be marine technicians: If someone likes boats, what’s better than earning a living working on them? You get to mess about in boats, and get paid for it.
Where to Start?
If you want to become a marine technician, how do you start? Yard owners and managers prefer to hire graduates of one of the vocational schools that train students for the marine trades. There are many such schools—just check the ABYC website. Chances are there’s one not far from where you live, especially if you live on the East Coast; schools are scarcer out West, for some reason.
Some marine-tech programs stand above the others. The ABYC has inspected and accredited 16 schools (as of September, 2025) through their Marine Trades Accreditation Program (MTAP). A few are private vocational schools, some are community colleges, and one is a public high school. These schools’ curriculums match the requirements and standards of the ABYC. MTAP-accredited school graduates get one year’s credit toward the ABYC requirement for Technician, which requires two years of work in the appropriate field. Students take their exams at the school, and become ABYC Advisors first; once they get another year of experience, they can become certified as Technicians. Certifications are important if you plan on a career as a marine tech.
The Landing School in Arundel, Maine, is an MTAP-accredited school whose graduates are in high demand from first-class boatyards all over the country. Founded in 1975, The Landing School trains not only marine technicians, but also yacht designers and boatbuilders in wood and composites. Each program runs for one academic year, from early September to mid-May. The Marine Systems program began in 2000, and has enrolled recent high school grads, retired military veterans, career changers, and folks preparing to sail off over the horizon. Graduates have ranged from 18 to 70 years old; the average age of the 2025-2026 class is 31. Four students are women.
The marine-tech course covers engines and other mechanicals, electrical systems, and plumbing, taught through lectures and hands-on work. “Every year we have an assortment of project boats for the students to work on,” said Landing School Senior Marine Systems Instructor Zachary Volpicelli. “This year we’re doing a full restoration of a 1970s 21-foot Mako. Full transom, new decks, repower, paint job, etc. We also have a 20-foot Shamrock that struck a rock, two Tripp Angler 22s that need some wiring and engine work, and an LS 26 sailboat built by the school in the early 2000s that needs a minor refit.” According to Volpicelli, the school has 100 percent placement for graduates, although not all of them are looking for jobs; some have other plans. Still, he noted, “A student who wants a job will leave with a job.”
There are other MTAP-accredited schools in New England. The International Yacht Restoration School (IYRS) of Technology and Trades in Newport, started out in 1993 as a yacht-restoration school, adding the Marine Systems program in 2006. IYRS developed its curriculum in partnership with ABYC, according to the IYRS website. Since then, the school has added programs in Composites Technology and Digital Modeling and Fabrication. Classes last for six months, with admissions in September and March.
High school students lucky enough to live in New Bedford, Dartmouth, or Fairhaven, Massachusetts, can apply to the Marine Technology program at the Greater New Bedford Regional Vocational Technical High School (GNBVT). It’s a four-year course providing a thorough education in all areas of marine maintenance and technology, and even some boathandling and business management.
Go West, Young Tech
Most of the marine tech schools listed on the ABYC website, both MTAP-accredited and not, are on the East Coast, but one school whose name came up often when I talked to industry folks was Skagit Valley College in Anacortes, Washington, in the heart of the Pacific Northwest’s boating country. The college’s Marine Maintenance Technology program focuses on marine mechanics and electrical systems, and offers a one-year certificate in either area, or an Associate of Applied Science degree for students who study both over two academic years. Students completing the course earn credentials with ABYC, NMEA, OSHA, and the EPA, and a Washington State license to drive a forklift. That program, however modern it may seem, began back in 1968.
“We typically matriculate about 30 new students each year, and graduate 20 to 30 each year with either a degree or certificate,” said Matt Mardesich, Co-Department Chair of Marine Maintenance Technology and an instructor in engines and mechanical systems. “Roughly half of our students are from Skagit County, while the rest come from across the region, out of state, and even from abroad. We’ve welcomed students from Canada, Japan, Korea, India, Russia, Ukraine, Mexico, and elsewhere.” Mardesich added that while some students enroll to learn to work on their own boats, others have little interest in boats at all—they want to work on campers, RVs, and other “off-grid” systems, which are similar in many ways to marine systems. “RV repair shops frequently reach out to us looking for trained workers,” he said.
What’s It Cost?
So what’s the bad news? How much dinero does it take to train as a marine technician? Costs vary widely, from basically nothing for a high-school program to very little at most community colleges to quite a bit at the private vocational schools. Most schools publish their tuition rates online, but you’ll have to decide what your living expenses will be; these schools rarely provide housing. IYRS, for example, lists the tuition for their 6-month Marine Systems Program at $23,100, plus another $6,465, give or take, in additional fees—or $29,565 total. That includes $1,500 for tools and books that the student will use after graduation. It also includes ABYC and NMEA certifications, and Yamaha certifications for their smaller outboards. Add whatever you think it’ll cost you to live in Newport, Rhode Island, for six months; Livingcost.org suggests about $3,150 per month for one person. Newport is a pretty expensive place, even in the winter. You might want to check the surrounding towns and commute.
The Landing School’s website lists tuition, fees, and tools at $32,020 for the current school year (2025-26), and estimates the student’s living expenses at $18,275, including housing, food, transportation, and personal expenses, for a total of $50,275. Skagit Valley College, on the other hand, has a complex tuition scheme, charging different amounts per credit for different level classes and for in-state and out-of-state students. The school estimates an average cost at $15,672 for the academic year; Washington residents are subsidized by the state and pay much less. Contact the college for exact numbers. Salary.com estimates the cost of living in Anacortes at $2,830 per month for a single person.
What’s It Pay?
You won’t get rich working as a marine technician, but if you have the knack and stick with it, and work for first-class yards, you’ll do OK. I spoke with yard managers and owners from northern Maine to the Gulf Coast, all of them short of qualified young technicians starting to move up the ladder. They all gave me roughly the same numbers: Starting salary for a marine technician with schooling is between $22 and $25 per hour, usually with an increase after a fairly short time. A degree or certificate from a well-regarded marine-tech program should get you 25 bucks an hour to start.
Schools predict higher earnings, between $28 and $32 per hour according to the folks at The Landing School, and $25 to $35 per hour from the Skagit Valley College crew; let’s say $30 per hour, on average. That doesn’t land you in Jeff Bezos country, but it beats pumping gas for minimum wage while your degree in French Renaissance Literature gets you nowhere. And you don’t have to sit at a computer screen growing an ass the size of a compact car; you have different challenges every day, so you don’t get bored; and you can move ahead quickly when you prove you can do the job. If you like boats and have the skills, it’s a pretty good gig.
If I were a few years younger, I’d be sending in my school applications today.
This article originally appeared in the December 2025 issue of Power & Motoryacht magazine.
