From Boardroom to Boat Deck: How Lane Martin Charted a New Course With Mariners Learning System

In the world of career transitions, few changes are more inspiring than the switch from desk job to lifelong passion.

After decades as a financial advisor, Lane Martin knew it was time to chart a new course — this time on the water. What started as a teenage adventure evolved into a lifelong passion for sailing, eventually leading Lane to pursue his captain’s license through Mariners Learning System.

Here’s how that journey unfolded.

Laying the Foundation: A Summer Adventure

Lane was bitten by the sailing bug between 10^th and 11^th grade when a friend invited him to spend the summer at his family’s house in Casco Bay, Maine.

The boys spent their nights in a literal treehouse where forest met beach. One of Lane’s fondest memories is waking up to mystifying music drifting quietly out of the fog from what he later learned was a lobster boat checking traps.

“Pretty much every day, we’d get up, eat breakfast, then pack a lunch and go off in this day sailer and sail around Casco Bay,” he recalls. They explored dozens of islands, some populated, others remote and lined with the remains of old World War II defenses. “A lot of the nights, the teenage kids would get together and have bonfires,” he adds.

It was an idyllic summer for two teenage boys. Plus, it gave Lane a taste of what it was like to be on the water. “I got exposed to sailing around in a little sailboat,” he says. “I didn’t really learn to sail, but I got the idea of it.”

Building Experience

When Lane returned home to Maryland, he noticed a neighbor’s neglected sailboat and offered to help repair it. The neighbor then took him sailing on Chesapeake Bay, where Lane enjoyed some practical but informal instruction. 

Later, while attending the University of Maryland, Lane found he’d need physical education credits to graduate. Never much for sports, he jumped at the chance to enroll in Red Cross-certified sailing classes instead. After two semesters of hands-on practice and formal instruction, Lane had advanced enough that his professor asked him to become the course’s teaching assistant. 

The setting fueled Lane’s love of sailing. “I knew I liked the sailing and the boating and getting out on the water,” he says, “but it was also an amazing mini vacation twice a week, just to get off campus and get outside and do something fun. And that was learning to sail.”

Lane continued to build confidence and competence over the years, renting boats with friends and joining various sailing groups as he moved around the country. His sailing club in Marina Del Rey exposed him to larger vessels, further instruction, and regular trips to Catalina Island. A chance connection in Texas sent him toward frequent regattas with the Austin Yacht Club. Vacations with friends and family led to regular bareboat charters in the Caribbean.

Lane especially loved taking his kids and their friends to the islands. “Everybody loved it,” he reminisces. “Anyone who went said it was the best vacation they’d ever been on and wanted to go back.” Plus, the increasingly ambitious trips as he ventured farther into open water advanced his learning and stoked a desire to one day get his captain’s license.

The Perfect Storm

“They say a perfect storm is when three things come together,” Lane explains. After decades of recreational sailing as his passion and hobby, three events conspired to motivate Lane toward boating as a profession.

The first factor was Lane’s job. “I’d had a career as an investment advisor,” he says, “and I just didn’t want to do it anymore. I was old enough to retire, but I didn’t know what I wanted to do instead.”

The second factor was the COVID-19 pandemic, during which the third factor occurred — his adult children’s request for a charter trip to the Florida Keys. Lane agreed, and on the trip, he discovered an interesting opportunity: “The charter base was having terrible problems [...] because of COVID. They said, ‘We’re desperate for captains.’”

The base manager’s words echoed in his mind long after the trip: “You get your captain’s license, and we’ll put you to work.” 

Though he lived in Maryland, Lane contacted the company’s headquarters in Miami. “It planted the idea in my head that I should retire from the financial world, get my captain’s license, and just see what happens,” he shares.

Why Mariners Learning System?

Lane began looking for a captain’s license program. “I don’t really buy anything without checking it out,” he says. “It just came down to Mariners, and it was kind of obvious.”

Lane points out that for so many purchases, you have to simply trust that you’ll get what’s promised. But he appreciated Mariners’ long history and relationship with the Coast Guard and liked the flexibility of learning and testing at home and the responsive support.

“There were a few times I called the school and had a question, and it was easy to just immediately get somebody on the phone who could answer,” he shares. 

Having completed multiple professional certifications in his financial career, Lane was happy to find that Mariners Learning System delivered on its promise to prepare you for your exam.

“I had 11 different securities licenses as an investment advisor and had a lot more trouble getting through those,” he says. “I’d sit down to take the test, and it’s like, this must be the wrong test. This doesn’t even sound familiar.”

Mariners was a completely different experience: “The questions on the exam are exactly what they prepare you to need to know.”

Life With a License

With his Master’s license and Sailing and Towing endorsements complete, Lane started his next chapter.

Initially, he followed charter companies’ advice: “The first few times I offered to just ride along for free because the charter base manager suggested that.” After becoming a trusted captain in charter circles, Lane landed in yacht delivery. “Typically I’m gone four or five days [...] and I’m moving almost exclusively sailboats.” 

Now based in Miami Beach, Lane is exploring opportunities closer to home. “My thought is [...] to see if I could shift to getting enough captaining work right here in Miami, to where I don’t need to go anywhere. I come home every night.”

Since he’s relatively new to his area, Lane has been attending boat shows and networking locally, hoping to connect with owners who need steady, dependable captains. He’s enjoying the new connections he’s making and is optimistic about his new endeavor.

For Anyone Considering a Captain’s License

When asked about his advice for anyone considering getting their captain’s license, Lane’s response is straightforward: “I just can’t think of reasons not to do it.”

He adds that the process is accessible and, with online learning, fits into most people’s schedules: “It’s not expensive. It’s not ultimately that time-consuming. I would say, jump in.”

Lane’s one regret is not completing the process more quickly. “I wasn’t very good at putting other things in my life on hold to really zero in on moving through the coursework and getting it done quickly,” he recalls. “Once it was over, I looked back and I thought, ‘It just wasn’t that hard.’”

If you decide to enroll in a Mariners course, Lane recommends dedicating a set number of hours per week to the material: “You can take a year if you want, but you don’t need to. I’d say three months would be speedy but comfortable.”

Chart Your Own Course

Lane offers a final word of encouragement for anyone considering a captain’s license: “If you’re even thinking about it, it’s probably the right thing for you.”

If you’re contemplating trading boardrooms for boat decks, it’s never too late to pursue what moves you. Take a look at the course options Mariners Learning System offers and consider whether one of these might be your next step!