Crew, or guest?

Litotes said:
On the whole I rather like jokes that are funny. I'm afraid these particular examples of scintillating wit don't really cut it............. :)
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:rolleyes:
If you cant take a joke, you shouldnt have joined up.
 
john_morris_uk said:
Thinking about some of the responses, I wonder what the legal position is? If you are not running a charter boat, I have a strong suspicion that a court would see everyone on your boat as 'crew'.
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That may well be true, but I'm struggling to imagine the situation where that would be an issue. If the skipper's still aboard, then (s)he has the ultimate responsibility for what's done. If he goes overboard, I suppose there may be a situation in which "guests" find themselves forced to take on an active role as crew but (a) I think we'd all try to make sure our guests had at least an outline idea what to do in that situation and (b) where that situation has arisen I seem to remember MAIB reports where the status of those left aboard as inexperienced has been recognised but not criticised (wasn't there a (fatal?) incident along those lines in the Solent a couple of years ago?).

Cheers
Patrick
 
LePacha said:
For me they are "ballasts".
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Self-tacking ballast. Although on one boat I sailed on, the owner occasionally invited guests for some not-so-serious races, and we always had two (regular) crew members designated to "tack the guests" (so not fully self-tacking). I kid you not.

On a more serious note - depending on who I am sailing with, some will be co-skippers, some will be crew, some will be "students" and some will be guests. It depends on their ability and interest.
 
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How often do people have crew / guests on their boats then? I wonder if that may have some affect on attitudes. For us its a very occasional event - less than once a year - which is perhaps why we view them as guests. I can see that if, at the other end of the spectrum, you never went out without others aboard to help, you would come to regard them as crew, with their own responsibilities.

Cheers
Patrick
 
YachtAllegro said:
How often do people have crew / guests on their boats then? I wonder if that may have some affect on attitudes. For us its a very occasional event - less than once a year - which is perhaps why we view them as guests. I can see that if, at the other end of the spectrum, you never went out without others aboard to help, you would come to regard them as crew, with their own responsibilities.

Cheers
Patrick
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Unlike most forumites, the boat is our home 24/7 for 9-10 months a year. Just like living in a house, there are people you are pleased to find on your doorstep and some you tolerate for short periods. Because SWMBO likes someone doesn't mean I have to and vice versa.

Guests (whether crew or passengers) fit into the same categories. Some are invited and visits looked forward to, others invite themselves and it's sometimes very hard to find a good enough excuse to say no without hurting feelings too much.
 
john_morris_uk said:
Thinking about some of the responses, I wonder what the legal position is? If you are not running a charter boat, I have a strong suspicion that a court would see everyone on your boat as 'crew'. I don't see how they would make a distinction between those who some might classify as 'useless crew who are encouraged to sit still and not get in the way' and 'crew who are useful and productive people on board.'
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With my black humour hat on!

Perhaps we need to issue tee-shirts, crew, guest and skipper so that MAIB have one less task to perform.
 
We have four categories of visitors, not including children.

People invited for a day or longer, who may be;
a) experienced, in which case they will share some sailing tasks and take partial responsibility
b) inexperienced or non-sailors, when it is my responsibility to make sure they are safe and happy

Experienced sailors asked to help with a leg of a cruise. They will share responsibilty when involved or on watch.

Professional crew (happened only once when we delivered our boat to a boat-show). As above, but also treated as guests.

We only once had someone who was a liability. They had once enjoyed sailing but moaned about everything for a week. We kept our thoughts to ourselves and are still friends with them.
 
My boat is set up for singlehanding - no headsail sheets to wind, effective autopilot linked to GPS etc. Basically the only routine jobs on board are hoisting the main and keeping lookout. People who are there to crew are expected to stand their watches but guests, i.e. non-boaty people may be invited to steer if they feel like it, otherwise it's a case of enjoying the view.
 
GrahamM376 said:
Because SWMBO likes someone doesn't mean I have to and vice versa.

others invite themselves and it's sometimes very hard to find a good enough excuse to say no without hurting feelings too much.
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I presume you don't really treat guests in either category in the way implied by your first post, though?

We tend only to invite guests to the house or the boat whom we both like. But if that's not the case (which is rare) we still both make the effort to be friendly and welcoming. Otherwise none of us has much fun.

And as for the self inviters - again - I can't believe you really make them as unwelcome as you seem to imply. That sounds a lot more hurtful than simply telling them "no".

Ah well. Each to their own.
 
Litotes said:
I presume you don't really treat guests in either category in the way implied by your first post, though?

We tend only to invite guests to the house or the boat whom we both like. But if that's not the case (which is rare) we still both make the effort to be friendly and welcoming. Otherwise none of us has much fun.

And as for the self inviters - again - I can't believe you really make them as unwelcome as you seem to imply. That sounds a lot more hurtful than simply telling them "no".

Ah well. Each to their own.
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As long as you say it with a smile, anything goes.
 
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