Why We Would Never Charter Our Boat....

woodster · Sep 4, 2011

Mike Turner said:
Woodster and Main Sail - The Hinkley here is a 40' yawl. Story I heard is that the owner had some sort of disagreement with the yacht club over his slip, got angry and pulled the boat. It's been on the hard 6-8 months; has all the ports removed, I assume either for some sort of repair or painting of the deck/cabin sides. I'll see about getting a photo sometime next week after TS Lee finishes blowing through.

thanks mike ...that is one great looking boat....i think the mans name is Blackburn.....how has the weather been treating you this week end ....was down last weekend from Thurswday till Saterday evening..spent the whole time fixing my buddys boat ...he had a lighting strike some time the week before.and wiped out the vhf,refer,ob battery charger.echo charger and the 750 bilge pump and melted some wireing the the gen set...started out to be a on the water weekend but turned out to be an electrial repair week end .....

regards

woody

rpwillia · Sep 5, 2011

Is Lara State Registered?

Does not show up in the USCG database for documented vessels.
http://www.ndc.iwr.usace.army.mil//veslchar/veslcharsearch.htm

Fly_H23 · Sep 5, 2011

Maine Sail said:
This is pretty self explanatory. The owners of this LOVELY Hinckley, LARA entrusted their clients to charter their boat. This is what the poor owner got from the client they allowed to charter this boat..

They did not even know enough to understand basic Maine tides. That dock has about 10"-18" of water at low depending upon the tide.

As we approached the cove at Frenchboro Island, after a long hike, I thought it odd that a sail boat would be tied up to a "working dock" and ezpecially one that nearly flats out at low, but then I noticed it was a Hinckley and guessed they had some "clout" on this remote island and were only there temporarily?

Then something funny happened. I noticed the lack of the fully furled head sail, the poorly flaked main and the errant fender up near the bow hitting nothing. I mentioned to my wife "I am going to guess that's a charter, what a sweet boat to charter."....

A few hours later I looked up towards the head of the harbor:

I then went in for a closer look..

Please take a close look at the back stay. The darn thing is about 4-5 feet out of column and was bending the mast. A lesser boat may have suffered a failure but this was a Hinckley..

The next time I saw her she was back on a mooring.

It is sad that even an owner of a Hinckly can't qualify their own clients.

If anyone knows the owner of LARA please let them know about this as I would guess this is not what he signed up for when agreeing to charter their boat to these folks...

Are you sure it was being chartered at the time? I have also seen owners do bone-headed things with expensive boats all the time.

Cayennita · Sep 6, 2011

Had the best lobster rolls at a restaurant in that island. Most of the permanent residents are related with 2 family last names being the same. We picked up a mooring in the middle and had a wonderful two days there. We saw similar incidents in other harbors in Maine.
A j-24 was actually left hanging by it's cleats when they tied up tp the permanent dock during high tide.

RON20406 · Sep 7, 2011

Excellent photos illustrating the need for prudence and competence when sailing a vessel. There is no excuse for this situation whether it be a well found custom cruising vessel or a daysailer. I have been amazed in our travels how so few people can plot a course, take a fix, calculate tides for a given hour, understand set and drift and a DR position yet religiously worship at the altar of a GPS map chartplotter as their failsafe to navigation. And, this is exactly why you should never assume the captain of a passing boat is in any way competent based upon the quality of vessel he is sailing. Best, Ron

Tim R. · Sep 8, 2011

I spoke to some sailing friends of mine and they said that Lara is a charter vessel and this is not the first incident. They actually avoid her when they see her in an anchorage. Funny that the reputation follows the boat regardless of the skipper. Evidently the mgmt company only requires a pulse and a CC.

FastOlson · Sep 8, 2011

"pulse and respiration"

Tim R. said:
I spoke to some sailing friends of mine and they said that Lara is a charter vessel and this is not the first incident. They actually avoid her when they see her in an anchorage. Funny that the reputation follows the boat regardless of the skipper. Evidently the mgmt company only requires a pulse and a CC.

Pretty much the same basic info that fuels discussions within my local sailing social group. Some guys are willing to charter and risk having to repair ("Mcgyver") their way thru their distant-waters vacation.
Others, like me, are not willing to take out a boat that has been willfully chartered to a succession of idiot boat-bashers.
I DO want to sail the Carribbean some day, but remain leery of paying big bucks for a charter boat that was (mis) used by someone like the example cited here.
"Pulse" indeed!

OK, rant mode reset to idle....
L