Continuing a Legacy: How Captain Billy Self Kept His Family’s Sailing Business Afloat

As the sun sets over Lake Ray Hubbard in Rockwall, Texas, a stunning wooden catamaran glides across the water. Aboard, several dozen passengers enjoy the evening breeze and the unique experience of sailing on a handcrafted vessel. 

At the helm is Captain Billy Self, whose journey to the captain’s chair came through family legacy, personal tragedy, and the determination to keep a dream alive.

A Family’s Maritime Heritage

The Self family’s relationship with sailing runs deep.

“My entire life has been around small and medium-sized sailboats,” Billy explains. “The family always raced sailboats here in North Texas. My grandfather grew up in Fort Worth at Fort Worth Boat Club, racing sailboats. That’s where my father learned to sail in the ’50s and ’60s.”

Throughout his youth, Billy’s family raced sailboats across Texas and around the country. His first job as a teenager was teaching sailing to kids during summer breaks — five summers in a row — eventually earning certification as a sailing instructor.

After college, Billy took over the family’s manufacturing and warehousing business, allowing his father, Scott, to pursue his passion project: building a catamaran to take people on cruises at their local lake.

Building a Dream: The Catamaran

When Scott Self decided to retire from the family business, he didn’t just want to buy a boat; he wanted to build something extraordinary. After consulting with a world-famous multihull designer, Scott chose to build a 40-foot by 25-foot catamaran made of Spanish cedar rather than using cheaper and easier fiberglass.

The timing aligned perfectly with the construction of a new Hilton Hotel on the shores of Lake Ray Hubbard, creating the ideal customer base for a sailing business. Some were skeptical about such an investment of time and money, especially when the Hilton wasn’t even finished, but Scott persevered. 

“They went, ‘Well, surely you’re just working on that nights and weekends,’” Billy recalls. “No. He had four employees working full time for two years to build this boat. And in that time is when he went and got his Master captain’s license.”

Scott invited Billy to pursue his captain’s license then as well, but Billy didn’t feel he had the time amidst family and business commitments. Scott finished the catamaran and launched his business on the newly named “Sea Wolf,” a name that incorporated the first two letters (“se”) and last two letters (“lf”) of the family name. 

The business grew. “Every couple years, my dad would say, ‘Billy, you should get your captain’s license. I think it’d be really good,’” Billy recalls. “But I never did.”

A Legacy at Risk

After over a dozen years of successful lake cruises, tragedy struck the Selfs.

One of the first signs something was wrong came during a routine docking maneuver of Scott’s. “When he spun the boat, his starboard quarter hit the dock pretty hard, and that was very unlike him,” Billy remembers. “We were confused. He usually puts that thing on a dime, no matter the wind.”

The family soon received Scott’s diagnosis: brain cancer. He deteriorated quickly, passing away within months. Besides the loss’s emotional toll, the family suddenly faced a difficult decision about the future of the Sea Wolf and the business Scott had built.

They didn’t want to lose any part of Scott’s legacy. “And so I said, ‘Well, let’s keep it, and I’ll run the business,’” Billy recalls. He realized he needed to earn his captain’s license right away.

Charting a Course With Mariners Learning System

Billy knew his father had earned his Master captain’s license through Mariners Learning System, as had an uncle and a family friend.

“I didn’t look at any other programs, to be honest with you, because I knew three other people that had used Mariners Learning System,” Billy says. He found his dad’s packet, pulled out the materials, and went straight to the website. 

After signing up, Billy made a plan. “I told my wife, ‘I’m going to study every single night... I’m just going to put my head down,’” he recalls. “Every night, I would sign in at nine o’clock: kids are in bed, I’m going to knock this out for 90 minutes.”

As someone with dyslexia and self-described poor test taking, Billy worried about passing the final exam for his license. However, he found the course structure and the variety of learning formats helpful.

“I needed the multi-ways to learn,” he explains. He took advantage of every learning resource available — videos, diagrams, text — to ensure he mastered the material before taking each module quiz.

“I did appreciate that it doesn’t let you go to the next module until you’ve passed that quiz,” he says. “That’s actually pretty helpful. It keeps you in line.”

Nervous about the final exam, Billy spent extra time in the modules. “I don’t know how long it takes the average person, but I would work harder than the average person, because I needed to make sure that I took the test well,” he says.

And that’s what he did.

Keeping the Dream Afloat

Thanks to his determination and detailed attention to his Mariners Learning System course, Billy obtained his Master captain’s license.

He and the family asked his dad’s crew member, Amy Lee, to stay on after she completed her captain’s license, which she was already pursuing through Mariners. Billy and Amy would share sailing duties while he ran the business.

Today, the business — Sail With Scott — continues to thrive. From May to October each year, the Sea Wolf takes thousands of passengers on cruises from the Hilton Hotel dock.

“We average about 1500–1600 passengers per month,” Billy says. “The absolute most popular is the sunset cruise at seven o’clock.”

The business operates 10 cruises a week, with Amy Lee captaining most voyages and Billy stepping in when needed. It’s become a cherished continuation of Scott’s legacy and a beloved community fixture.

Confidence and Credibility in the Community

For Billy, earning his captain’s license through Mariners provided more than just legal qualification; it provided credibility and confidence for his father’s business.

“I love having my Master captain’s license for giving the confidence to my customers that they can call me Captain Billy, and that’s a real title,” he explains. “It means quite a bit for the family, our reputation as a business, and that customers can feel good knowing they’re going on a legal cruise with safety as top priority, and then showing them a really lovely time in the lake.”

Besides customer confidence, Billy also emphasizes the credibility a US Coast Guard-issued captain’s license gives the company with the community, the North Texas authorities, and the insurance company. “April at our insurance company — I want to keep her happy,” he jokes.

Advice for Future Captains

For anyone wanting to earn their captain’s license, Billy has some practical advice based on his experience:

“Buy the packet immediately, and set a block of time every night or every other night that you are definitively going to work on the modules,” he recommends. “When you chip away at this course in a consistent manner, it’s very doable.”

He emphasizes the importance of sticking to a regular schedule. “It can seem overwhelming if you log in only once every two weeks, and it will take you much longer than you want to complete it,” he says.

Instead, Billy suggests setting a fairly aggressive schedule, but one that fits your lifestyle and schedule. Then, because you’re signing into the system frequently, you break the course up into manageable pieces.

“It’s not overwhelming,” he says. “And before you know it, you’re ready to take the proctored exam.”

Continuing the Family Legacy

In the beginning, the captain’s license coursework and exam intimidated Billy. It had been a long time since college, and he had his dyslexia to contend with. But the multifaceted learning methods in his Mariners course — plus his determination to carry on in his father’s footsteps — overcame those fears. 

For Billy Self, obtaining his captain’s license wasn’t just about professional certification. It was about honoring his father’s legacy, preserving a family tradition, and ensuring that the remarkable catamaran his father built continues to share the joy of sailing with lake visitors for years to come.