My dad (the long-legged seaman as Sailor puts it, LOL) loved the last 25 years of his life after the war peacefully cruising through the Intercoastal 6 days a week from 8 to 5 working for Gold Coast Cruises Sightseeing. They had a fleet of 6 boats if I remember correctly including one double decker glass bottom boat. Those boats' hulls were converted PT boats, shallow draft, steady and safe. In those days all the captains had come out of the Navy or Merchant Marines with licenses in glass frames posted somewhere at the helm. As time went on I actually don't know what qualifications might have been needed. Each boat embarked with a captain and 2 crew members. There was no radar on these boats then, but I always remember dad being on the ship-to-shore a couple times a day just checking on any weather or a quick chat.
A little sample of the hulls...(I think it was most similar to the Higgins or Huckins)
We also had our own boat in the 50's, looked a LOT like this photo I found in a Bing search...
