Today we’d like to introduce you to Martin Hazan.
Hi Martin, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
Martin is from Argentina where his passion for boating realized the idol of his father Miguel, an international powerboat racer. It was in one of his many races where he tragically lost his life, Martin aged 8 was watching with his family. As a young adult, Martin went out to work on the Queen Mary 2, completing no less than three world cruises and one hundred transatlantic crossings seeing everything from the Pyramids of Eygpt to the Great Wall of China.
He started in room service which fuelled him with lots of funny stories to tell and navigated around all of the departments working his way up. It was only natural that his obsession with boats would then bring him to the yachting capital of the world. His happy years in the sunshine state to date have been quite the whirlwind.
Whilst living on a little wooden boat he had his eye on a 50-foot Jefferson that was nicknamed the titanic by his fellow boat dwellers at the marina as it looked huge and completely run down. The story was that a widow had no idea what to do with the boat since her husband had passed and it had just been sitting there, as it always had as he was never able to fulfill his dream of making the boat run.
After some negotiation, Martin took ownership of M/Y Schatzy with the promise he would invite the old lady back for a cruise. After a year of hard work, Martin transformed the boat into a beautiful home for himself and his girlfriend, Lucia from England. Martin never stopped tinkering and other liveaboards in the area would always be asking him to build them a tiki bar, a new boat ramp, or troubleshoot things in their boat home.
It was during this time that Martin also completed his captain’s licenses and continued working and delivering boats, including one memorable trip from Fort Lauderdale to Maine, where he took it slowly and made stops along the way to teach the old man with a dream how to navigate his vessel. His thirst for constructing led him to convert his 14-foot uHaul box truck into a tiny home on wheels. Using his carpentry skills he created a wooden cabin living space complete with a shower, double bed, and a very impressive kitchen all run by solar power.
They sold their boat home to a family of five, who are now happily living aboard with their little dog in Sarasota and slept on their friend’s couch whilst slogging throughout the Florida summer to finish the ‘Mother Trucker’. When all the hard work was over they set off for an intended six months around the whole of the United States but the dreams came to an abrupt stop when they were rear-ended by a speeding driver named Chad on the I-85 in Georgia, just five days after hitting the road.
But as they say, every cloud has a silver lining and the couple decided to leave the states for well overdue visits to meet Lucia’s family in England for a chilly Christmas and then over to Canada to meet Martins’s first baby niece, Ayla. Returning to the states Martin landed a dream job running on a yacht for some extremely nice Canadian Owners who would only spend three months of the year using their vessel.
After soaking up his new living quarters docked behind a beautiful house with a yard and a pool for entertaining, Martin was quickly getting booked up with requests to Captain boats and soon became the most sought-after Captain in South Florida. He organically came to manage multiple vessels, and yacht owners turned to him for his never-ending knowledge, reliability, and professionalism.
Mechanically minded and systematic, Martin never falters to find a solution. That’s how his company Yacht MGMT has grown so fast since starting. Martins’s full-service Yacht management company provides owner training, deliveries, crew placement, and brokerage in South Florida.
Any advice for finding a mentor or networking in general?
From my workers to the wealthy businessmen that I work for, I take the lessons I can learn from them.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://sofloyachtmgmt.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sofloyachtmgmt/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sofloyachtmgmt
