Crew, Captain and Owner Feedback

[dave6330]

Just one more thought before I turn in for the night. If there are those of you who cannot understand why a man would stand up for his friend, then I truly feel sad for you (and sorry for your friends).

I've spent going on 28 years in uniform, have gone to war twice for our country, hold a bronze star medal and three meritorious service medals and I think I know something about integrity, honor and loyalty.

Goodnight for now.

Respectfully,

Dave Allen

[elkscout]

Originally Posted by St Anna

...When I was a teenager, I crewed on many yachts/boats/ fishing trawlers. There can be lots of onboard dramas if people dont respect your personal space or if they think they know more than the skipper and dont have the ability to respectfully give advice...We all need to build up experience somehow.

St Anna, I respect your opinion, but I also say it is good for you the skippers during your upbringing didn't share your train of thought, as you alluded to in your last statement. I'm not suggesting you haven't done so, but it sounds like you've benefitted from others' trust, yet haven't recipicated. I see it as a way of "giving back to the community", so to speak. But again, perhaps you have in your own way.

Imagine2frolic, Verga has possibly more accurately committed "libel", since his comments are recorded on a website. Unless I'm mistaken, slander usually refers to spoken communication. I hope for his sake he is correct. Either way, the individual showed his ass.

Dave, THANK YOU, Sir for your service!

[elkscout]

Originally Posted by ramminjammin

a friend of mine was doing a cross the Atlantic boat delivery , they had to lock the owner into the forward berth
when he became unsafe and unreasonable

Ramminjammin, you really perked my interest. Sounds like there's a tale to be told there.
Possibly a case of mutiny, though for the safety of all?

[Paarrothead]

Well the two pictures look alike...seems to be the same person.

I live in Florida so I don't need to go to Palin country to find Maniac cops.

We are loaded to the gunwales with them here.

[Halberdier]

A few notes on my experiences with untrained/newbie crew.
- Always remember what is second nature to me is new to them and needs instructions and follow-up.
- Require follow-up to ensure tasks completed and completed successfully. especially important in stressful situations like docking in high winds.
- We had team meetings before events like docking, locking and anchoring, but found I needed more detail on the alternatives. For example, I detailed roles, sequence and lines need to dock in high winds, but should have added the work to run extra lines and we were secure.
- Important to meet crew beforehand and of having shakedown cruises. The longer the cruise the more important it is to ensure everyone is compatible.
- Follow your inner voice. If you have concerns about a crewmember, listen to them. Sometimes you need crew, but have a convern; you do not need crew that bad! Better now than later.
- Having to keep an eye on them all the times and worry about the results of their mistakes, adds greatly but often unnoticed to a captain's stress. For example watch out for their position on deck and dangers of a boom and jibbing when sailing downwind.
- Important to have systems and a place for everything. For example, the boathook is always ...... Follow-up to ensure everything is in it's place.
- The more systematic and consistent storage and labeling the better.
- Had good moral and support from involving everyone in decision making. Like is it time to call it quits and get in harbour? Have we sailed enough today?

[Yachts66]

I've been crew once captained all other times. To me, personality far out weighs experience. I can teach almost anyone to steer the boat, cleat a line, turn a winch handle, but I can't get along with some folks who are lazy, rude, crass, jack asses and sometimes just plain mean, ya' know?

As for smoking and drugs, I don't allow either and prospective crew is informed of such up front. I'm responsible for anyone who sails with me, and I take that responsibility seriously. Bring drugs on my boat and I'll throw them over board and maybe the owner with them! If you can't enjoy life without getting high on drugs, you and I probably wouldn't get along anyway. I'm quite content to just getting high on life and my adventures wandering the world. I'd be happy to teach you that, too!

Regards,

Thomas

[duffypl]

Last Spring I was able to get a crew position to help an owner move his sailboat from Florida to RI. The willingness of both the captain and the prospective crew member to communicate I believe is the key to success. After our initial introduction on this board we moved on to phone calls and later were fortunate to be able to meet for lunch. We were able to get comfortable with each other before a commitment was made. An important part of that discussion was clearly addressing expectations and responsibilities. Turned out to be a great experience. I hope to find many more.

[DubeJ]

Originally Posted by Paarrothead

Well the two pictures look alike...seems to be the same person.

I live in Florida so I don't need to go to Palin country to find Maniac cops.

We are loaded to the gunwales with them here.

Hahahahaha, I used to live in Tampa, so I know what you mean!
Yes, I want to hear more on this story of throwing the owner on the Atlantic crossing into the forward berth!

[Brasdor]

Originally Posted by Cruisingdad

I thought it might be helpful for those that have crewed, captained, or hired the same to give positive or negative feedback here. We have had some real winners ande losers and this might be a good place to discuss both.

I will make it a sticky. If your comments are negative, keep it above the waist, ok!

- CD

Always look at crew and boat carefully and trust your intuition.

[Dinger02]

interesting thread....haven't seen thing really negative yet. I'm looking to pick up a trip and have been wondering about what experiences others have had in doing so.