Number on Board

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sidney

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/forums/images/graemlins/blush.gifFeel I should know the answer, but brain is perhaps not in gear tonight. Boat sleeps 6, could convert sofa and sleep 8, but how many people can I have aboard for a day cruising. 38Ft if that is relevant. Am I legally restricted, or is it a case of what is sensible? /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif
 
I have a feeling that 12 is the "magic number", nothing to do with the number of berths, it would be the same in an open launch
 
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12 plus skipper + 1 crew

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Is the a paid skipper + crew? In my narrowboat hiring days the maximum allowed on board was always 12 regardless?

Useful to know as it affects a proposed family day out in the summer which would need me to have a legitimate 14 on board. If I and my wife can constitute skipper and crew the proposal works.
 
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12 plus skipper + 1 crew

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Is the a paid skipper + crew? In my narrowboat hiring days the maximum allowed on board was always 12 regardless?



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Ah! Now! There's the rub. I really do not know, frankly it isn't something that I have ever thought about.
From a common sense point of view I would say that 12 in total is more than enough on ANY private boat one sees. (Super Yachts with paid crew excluded)
 
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From a common sense point of view I would say that 12 in total is more than enough on ANY private boat one sees.
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Works for me and means that I don't have to have to fret about having both sister's children on board at the same time:-)
 
As I suspected there's a 'catch all' clause there which would be used in the event of matters going to Admiralty Court. So, whilst Skipper + 1 crew and 12 passengers is ok on the face of it. Should there be an incident because a vessel is say overloaded or for any reason. The prosecution would use:-

"Limitations of the vessel: consider whether your boat is up to the proposed trip and that you have sufficient safety equipment and stores with you"
 
I think Byron's comment sums it up. No more than 12, but be sure you can justify what you think is safe for your boat and the trip.

I don't know where the skipper plus one comes from. In my view if you normally crew your boat with that arrangement then fine, but on a larger boat, if you normally have skipper plus 2 then that is probably fine too. I think the key is that the crew should be experienced to whatever degree so that they can safely act as crew. There was an incident where a sailing school boat ended up in a hell of a mess and it got to that state as following the inititial incident and poor weather there were insufficient knowledgeable crew onboard. Just the teacher skipper and a bunch of complete novices. A little different to an afternoons trip on the Thames of course.

Of interest, I am currently on a 30000 tonne ship but can only carry 12 passengers as it is not classified as a passenger ship - though I have 78 crew.
 
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Of interest, I am currently on a 30000 tonne ship but can only carry 12 passengers as it is not classified as a passenger ship - though I have 78 crew.

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In my 'day' there were hundreds of Cargo-Liners plying the oceans all had facilities for 12 passengers. These vessels were used by experienced travellers and colonials who weren't in a hurry and liked the athmosphere on such craft. From memory they generally were about 12,000 tons and cruised at circa 12 knots on routes from the UK to the far east, India, Malaya and other former colonies.
 
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Of interest, I am currently on a 30000 tonne ship but can only carry 12 passengers as it is not classified as a passenger ship - though I have 78 crew.

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In my 'day' there were hundreds of Cargo-Liners plying the oceans all had facilities for 12 passengers. These vessels were used by experienced travellers and colonials who weren't in a hurry and liked the athmosphere on such craft. From memory they generally were about 12,000 tons and cruised at circa 12 knots on routes from the UK to the far east, India, Malaya and other former colonies.

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12 or fewer passengers = no requirement for a doctor on board sticks in the mind from somewhere. You can still get trips on these cargo ships, ads in the back of the RNLI magazine.
 
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