boating

[moocow]

I want to get a job that involves driving a powerboat.

Anyone got any ideas of jobs I could do and what the pay is like?

[cassimer]

Difficult one. A way to earn some money might be in ferrying boats around the world for the rich and lazy (quite easy to find companies which do this - look in the back of sailing magazones). However you need to be well qualified and an experienced sailor. It also doesnt pay all that well, as most people do it for the fun and because they just want to be on the water.
When you say driving a powerboat, do you have visions of speedboats? If this is the case you might well struggle. Abroad these sorts of jobs normally go to local men, who are paid very little for amusing the tourists. There are few opportunities in this country, but again you might find something in the adverts in magazines if you look.
I cannot stress enough that if you want to make any money at all you need qualifications and experience. And the pay is never all that great. Too many people want sailing jobs for the limited market.
As a final thought, maybe you could consider the RNLI. They honestly do get to speed about doing great work, offer a decent wage and good training. And I suppose some elements of the navy offer the same.
Good luck anyway!

[Ralph]

Sorry for jumping in so late.

Four things spring to mind:
1) The navy, as mentioned by cassimer. It's likely to be a while before you're unleashed on the hardware, but it is quite good hardware!
2) The RNLI, as mentioned by cassimer. The only problem here is that they are all volunteers except for the mechanic, who is more likely to be in the bilges than driving. Wrong end of the throttle cables I suspect. Also, it is going to be a long time before you can actually drive their stuff, but it is REALLY good stuff, better than the navy's!
3) You aren't going to like this: fisherman! Ask at you're local fishing port but you'd probably need to be self employed to get to drive. It is also one of the worlds most dangerous jobs.
4) Rescue boat driver at a sailing school. This may not actually be a bad idea! You'd be pottering more than tearing around and it might be fairly seasonal. Look at people like http://www.uksa.org/
5) They just keep coming! Driving the pilot boat at your local major port. You'd get to drive a mile or two offshore where you drive into a ship (in a controlled fashion of course) to collect or deliver a local pilot. I have no idea how you'd get into that but your local Vessel Traffic Services (VTS) people can help and are usually friendly.
6) Sometimes the local police can have a marine or waterway unit that have their own boat. That would be a good job, but you'd need to go in as a normal copper and apply for the post if/when it arose and I'm sure there'd be LOADS of competition for that job!

Whatever job you go for, you're going to do a course or two. Have a look at http://tinyurl.com/bsbf7