Landlubbers on boats

[Landsend]

What happens when people break things on your boat. Suppose a guest breaks a $5 drink holder, of course you forgive them. Suppose they drop a $70 winch handle overboard? What do you do? Suppose they inadvertently bump the battery switch while your engine is running and it fries your alternator? What do you do then? Perhaps they loose your new anchor and 200' of line or your new Zodiac blows away in a storm because of them. What do you do?These are problems that we all face when we invite guests to go sailing...sometimes we ask them to help and sometimes these things just seem to happen around them. I'm curious how other sailors handle these problems. Are you the host responsible for the loss, or is the invited party. How many guest pay-up, so to speak, or how many do you never invite back or never see again? I'd like to hear some feed back and I'm sure we all have stories to tell.

 

[Eamon]

Buck stops .....

I guess my take is that you (owner/skipper) are ultimately responsible. I don’t allow people to do things on my boat that they are not capable of, and generally monitor any activity of 'new' guests. I have had a few incidents, nothing major - which I was left to fix. There is no way I would not check on any major job preformed by a newby, such as anchoring or dingy storage. I even sometimes recheck important things I do

 

[Fred Ficarra]

The skipper is responsible. Guests are not liable.

If they break things on purpose,,,, well then, they're not your friend. Don't invite them back and take them directly to shore.

 

[JC on Bainbridge]

Same here.

When we have guests aboard our boat, we explain the basics on most things they will be doing or using. After that, we will always keep a watchful eye on their tasks. It is our boat, and we are responsible for what happens on it. If you invited a friend over to your house, and they accidentally break something, what do you do? If you let your friend drive your car, but they don’t even know how to drive yet, what do you do? You assume responsibility. You were the one that let them drive the car in the first place.Yes, of course accidents will happen. But that is life. Now, if someone is on our boat and they get angry at something and decides to throw the winch handle overboard, then I would expect them to pay for it, and never invite them back again.

 

[Drew]

Bought Lunch

Had a "guest" knock a winch handle overboard with new boat in water less than a week. Perpetrator was an old sailor - who was mortified at what he'd done. But, he spent a lot of time with me and I learned a heck of a lot from him. So I just bought him lunch and went and bought a new winch handle - that floated!

 

[Rich]

Flip side

If you're a guest on a boat and you trip on a winch handle and break your cell phone (or a tooth!), are you going to send your host the bill?If you're helping haul up anchor and the last few feet of line splashes up staining mud on your expensive jacket, do you send them the drycleaning bill?If a powerboat wake knocks you overboard because nobody yelled "wake", do you ask them to replace the ruined stuff in your wallet?It cuts both ways, though not as often, so we should all let make sure we and our guests know what may happen.The hardest call for me would be what to do about a guest who turned out not to have medical insurance and then got hurt. (This would have been unthinkable a few years back, but not in the state of nature our ruling class has relegated us to today). I don't have an answer for that, but it would be a tough situation...

 

[mortyd]

landlubbers

let me provide two answers.fist, we bought new winch handles last year - they were practical sailor's pick and the least expensive ones they tested - plus they float.second, if you made the mistake of inviting people on board who are not couth enough to handle a situation where they did expensive damage, it's your mistake, unfortunately.

 

[Stu Jackson]

An Example

My friend was behind the wheel and we were putting on our auto-infloate life jackets. Somehow he stuck his arm in one side, but missed the other side and the life jacket ($189!) dropped overboard. It inflated immediately and the yellow was easy to see.The FIRST, very FIRST, thing my friend said was: "I'll pay for it!"I said, "Heck, let's go back and get it."We sailed back, hove to and picked it up and then sailed off. I had replacement cartridges aboard and backup life jackets, so we had a great day.It's hard to answer the question directly, but I think a lot of it has to do with the nature of the folks you ask aboard.If you break something at someone's house, I would figure you'd at least offer to pay for it.If you drop a winch handle overboard, the first thing to say is "I'll pay for or replace it."If you haven't told your guests to NEVER touch the battery switch, that's your own danged fault.There really are no rules. But it sure makes sense to "treat others the same way you yourself would like to be treated."Stu

 

[Steve O.]

choose your friends

I don't invite non-boaters aboard. They either get seasick or claustrophobic or they show up with 6 suitcases full of clothes they'll never wear and no foul weather gear.

 

[Didereaux]

it just seems to me...

You know, it seems to me that every last jack of us at sometime had not a clue in the damned world as to what to do or not to do on a boat...and some damned fool or another had the decency and the patience to show us.Wannabe nautical tyrants,and penny-pinching, blazer wearing jackasses are the ones who don't belong on boats.jes' my opinion of course.

 

[Louis Holub]

LEAVE "TENSION" home when on the BOAT.

TOO many folks get a "TENSION SYNDROME" when SAILING...HEYYYYYYY......relax ! IF it AINT tied down....its likely to fall overboard anyway if not "HELD ON" .....even BY US EXPERIENCED FOLKS. Lost my favorite Cap, dropped my binoculars, knife slipped from my hand, etc. OH WELL....."As for the GUESTS" >> LOCK 'EM in the HEAD...then at least nothing FALLS OVERBOARD by THEM....HA.

 

[sailortonyb]

10 responses.. ALL Agree

So far you have 10 replies.....everyone pretty much sees it the same way.....case closed. When i take non-boaters aboard, i'm just happy that we all had fun and returned with the same number that we started with. Anything else is not important.

 

[Landsend]

Really...I donn't believe it

Maybe Tony that's why you don't own a boat!

 

[Ted]

Your boat, you deal with it . . .

Guest who are inexperienced sailor generally are just passengers, not crew. If they break anything, then you were the idiot who invited them along in the first place. So, just suck it up.

 

[Capt Ron;-)]

Oops!

Ted and especially Didereaux are on top here.the head is what normally gets it.Switches should be taped or covered if a potential problem, a Perko vapor-proff switch cannot be bumped into a wrong position, but the shore to ship main breaker can.

 

[Andy]

Per Capt Ron

Ahh, looks like we broke your boatNaa, you broke the bosses boat!As race crew or cruising crew you try to treat it like it was your own but if it breaks..it breaks.Obviously a delibrate attempt to break or toss equipment overboad is treason and punishable by keel hauling, plank walking, etc

 

[patrick]

Guests on a small boat

are always considered crew whether you like it or not, Ted. In the eyes of the law anyway, they are crew and that is what counts.The thing to worry about is not the boat and - or the things these folks break. It is not who will pay for the winch handle dropped overboard. It is when he falls down walking to McDonalds to get himself a burger and breaks his leg. If the fool knows anything about the Jones Act, you will be paying for his medical expenses, lodging, meals, lost wages, etc. until he is completely healed. Better check your insurance and see if you are covered....

 

[David Williams]

Guest

I wonder if any of Mr. No Name's guest ever want to go sailing again! Perhaps, one should quit whining and learn to single-hand.

 

[Landsend]

Great subject

Wife's sister comes to visit, don't particularly care for the husband as he's kind of a know-it-all jerk. She's OK. Wife insists we take them sailing. I reluctantly agree knowing the day will be a disaster one way or another. Motor from the dock out into the bay, raise the sails and enjoying my first rum and coke. OK so far, boat hasn't caught fire, toilet hasn't backed up...just enjoying the sunshine, a little Jimmy Buffet and the sound of the water on the hull. Wonderful, I drift away into euphoria. An hour passes, a little small talk, another rum and coke.Wife picks destination to anchor for lunch, I agree. Two tacks, another hour and lunch will be served on the hook, Kentucky Fried my favorite. Life doesn't get better than this.The two women are tanning topless on the foredeck and I'm writing in the log about the day so far.The next thing I remember my brother- in- law somehow snaps the fitting off the toilet seacock. The above is fictitious as we're the examples that started this forum. Because we chain our guests to the mast compression post and it works great.

 

[Paul J. Rusyniak]

THE GOLDEN RULE

I think Stu Jackson hit it right on the head!!!Pauls/v The Lord Nelson