About the
captain who built this.
Not a startup. Not an agency. A captain who got tired of the phone and knows how to code.
Built by a captain who got tired of the phone.
I'm Levi. I run charters out of Alaska. Halibut, salmon, lingcod. I know the early-morning calls, the same five questions every day, the weather-cancel scramble, the phone going off while you're trying to land a fish.
I'm also a self-taught engineer. The first version of this AI first mate was for my own boat — because I was answering 'is the trip still on' from a customer at 5am while trying to fuel up. It worked. Other Homer captains saw it and asked how they could get one.
Now I'm building it out for the first 10 founding captains. You're not buying software from a Silicon Valley startup who's never been on a boat. You're buying it from a captain who built it for his own operation and wants to share it.
Built in Alaska · Available nationwide
Every good skipper runs with a solid hand on deck — someone who works the lines, answers the calls, and books the trips while you run the boat. That's Charterhand. Your extra hand, working the dock so you can work the water.
Common
questions.
Q.01Do I have to rip out FareHarbor / Peek / Xola?+
Your call. The bot works either way. Keep FareHarbor if you want — the bot pushes new bookings into it and your existing reports keep working. Or use the built-in booking system that comes with Charterhand: your own Stripe account, your own captain-branded page, and zero booking fees passed to your customers. Most captains end up switching within 60 days once they see what their customers were quietly paying in FareHarbor service fees.
Q.02Will customers know they're texting an AI?+
Yes, and that's the point. The bot introduces itself as your AI first mate — under YOUR shop's name, knowing YOUR fishery, YOUR dock, YOUR season. Customers don't feel deceived (which kills trust); they feel like they got an instant answer from someone who works for you. When it doesn't know something, it says so and pings you. Honest beats sneaky every time.
Q.03What about the weather days when I have to cancel last-minute?+
Bot reads the NOAA forecast for your area, knows your cancellation thresholds, and handles the weather-cancel conversations automatically: notifying customers, processing refunds or reschedules. You're not making 12 phone calls from the boat ramp at 5am anymore.
Q.04What does the half-refund actually mean?+
First 30 days of Captain Standard, if you can honestly say it's not saving you time on the phone, I refund $1,250 of the $499 setup + first months and we part ways friendly. No contract, no lawyers. I'd rather refund than have you tell other captains I burned you.
Q.05What if my wife/partner handles the bookings now?+
Even better. She gets the dashboard, can pause the bot any time, can take over any thread mid-conversation. Most spouses I've talked to love it within two weeks — they get their day back too. Now she's only on the phone when it actually matters.
Q.06Are you actually a captain or just selling captains tech?+
Both. I run charters and I built this because I got tired of answering the same five questions every day. The first version was for my own boat. If you can text me 'how's the bite been this week' at 6am from the dock and I can answer it from my own boat — that's the kind of person building your software.
Now you know me. Your turn.
Tell me about your boat, your season, what eats your phone time. Free 30-min call — you do most of the talking.
- Step 01You reach outForm, text, or phone — takes a minute.
- Step 02I reply in 24hUsually same day. Real captain, not a queue.
- Step 0330-min callShow you the SMS thread. You decide.