Inviting crew on board

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A friend is planning an extended cruise, and is inviting some other friends along as crew. He wants the crew to be well provided and yet doesn't want them to become unsettled with over-pampering. Surely the form is to at least fund their food and flights to and from the vessel at start and end of the trip, and to make sure there are ample supplies of suntan lotion, with the occassional cocktail as well?
 
Whose side are you on? If I were expecting crew I would want them to bring ample spirits as well as their own safety gear and entertainment, limited to one bag per couple. Oh yes, and to treat the owners to a meal out twice per week.
The suckers still come.
 
Trickey one this, depends very much on the trip, if say Antibes to Barcelona in August then slightly different proposition than Milford Haven to Coruna in December.

Also I think a factor is whether delivery style romp 24 hrs or gentle bimble stopping at ports drinking gin.

Also I guess to some extent disposable cash should be a factor, someone skint does not want to feel uncomfortable with size of lunch bills and some one flush does not want to be taken for a ride.

In short, as well you know, each trip should be approached on its own and dealt with carefully whilst as its boating a maximum amount of extravagance!
 
Given that the person owning the boat has a fairly substantial capital outlay and a large annual revenue outlay, I think guests, who are getting a free holiday, should at least pay for their share of stuff and buy the odd meal or two.
 
My wife often invites large numbers of her friends aboard and tells them to bring something for the table. This they do with extreme zeal and we eat up the left overs the following week - great. They also take care of the washing up, do the Hoovering etc and always sort their own transport and travel out. I always suggest that Ocean Adventurer (named for it's model not it's cruising ground) is a knicker-free zone, well, if you can have no smoking areas! However, I'm sorry to say that the ladies seem to ignore that one, mutinous dogs! (or should that be bitches?)
 
We've had three or four cruises with German friends aboard and they, like most British boats I've cruised on, have a kitty for fuel, meals out and shopping. Where their system is superior is that the skipper is not expected (in fact, not allowed) to chip in neither is he (She) allowed near the galley. (But that's because they've heard about my cooking!)
 
Goodness me, I would imagine that is right out of order knowing my friend - he'd definitely pay for the fuel.

But if it was a genuine hol rather than a delivery trip fristance, i *suppose* that's a bit different.
 
[ QUOTE ]
Would it be unseemly to have the odd whip round for fuel??

[/ QUOTE ] When the subject is first raised (usually by one of the crew), I jump straight in at the deep end with: "I don't expect the crew to contribute to the maintenance costs and other fixed costs (e.g. insurance and permanent moorings). Are you happy for everything else - food, drink, fuel, and visitors mooring fees - to come out of the kitty?" With luck I will previously have steered the conversation round to the frightful cost of maintaining a boat, the idea being to make the crew feel they have got off lightly.

The skipper is counted as a equal consumer of the kitty items, ensuring that I have the same interest in keeping costs down as the crew. No doubt they think me a mean old codger. But fifteen quid a day isn't so bad, is it?

As a crew I was "taken for a ride" on a couple of occasions by an otherwise very genial skipper: he would announce that we were going to the supermarket to stock up on victuals and liquid rations and would be sharing the cost equally; he would then pile all kinds of luxuries onto the trolley (never mind, I thought, I'm only paying half); at the checkout he would pat his back pocket and say "Would you mind, Mark, I seem to have left my wallet behind". Once was forgivable, but I was thoroughly miffed when he sprung it on me again a year or two later.

As indicated above, the issue of transport to and from the boat depends on the purpose of the journey: some skippers would offer travelling expenses if the aim was simply to move the boat from A to B, but I would expect to pay my own if I was simply joining the crew for part of a cruise.
 
On my one trip as skipper, I supplied the boat, food, fuel and mooring fees, and also bought one dinner ashore.

I expected the crew to find their own way to and from the boat.

It was a delivery trip, so I needed them more than they needed me.

I've put the word out for this summers cruise, and no serious takers to date. (Actually, it's a mix of cruise and delivery I suppose).

Lagos, Spanish Coast to Barcelona, Balearics, Sardinia, Italy, (Amalfi Coast), Malta.

June 16 to late September.

Hoping to spend a few weeks near Barcelona, a couple of weeks Balearics, a week or so Italy.

I'll probably be putting a post in the Crew Wanted Forum sooner rather than later.

Cheers

Richard
 
I have been invited as crew on two different boats at roughly the same time this year and flights etc were only offered on one of them.
Perhaps the etiquette on Scottish registered boats is different?
 
Well, I believe the skipper gets to lie in bed the entire time in scotland but other than that it's pretty much the same? You may alsohave to walk home tho, hence the very famous "Northern Marches" and fairly empty roads.
 
This crew member pays her way, is always cheerful and hard working, and only insists on a personal bucket ...

S x
 
Ah, yes. The communal bucket. Convivial, egalitarian.... but not destined to be the fount of many friendships.

Just make darned sure the previous watch are house-trained.

[ QUOTE ]

"After you, Claude!" "No, after you, Rosalind....." "No, I couldn't, really." "Well, if you insist...."

[/ QUOTE ]

....Sorreee!

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