Does your crew respect your boat?

Bear in mind, if you are skipper, the crew is effectively giving his or her time to work for you.

Plus you get to scare the crap out of them flying a hull whenever you want!

I mostly sail with friends and family and in almost every case they are pretty much clueless when it comes to sailing. Therefore, we get along well.

If the person breaks something because they don't know any better I may yell at them but ultimately I'm responsible for thier actions and safety. Also it's a boat and parts are highly stressed, can't blame anyone but yourself if a shroud fails.

If they drag your boat up on the rocks and don't realize that is a bad thing could you charge them for the bottom job? Not really. If they pull to forestay pin and drop the mast because they were stupid... you may be able to treat them to some physical violence but I don't think you can charge them for the mast repair. If they are just @ssholes and treat your boat like a it was thier dorm room, you are probably justified stranding them on a desert island. I think that most of the time the best you can do is just not invite them to sail with you again or use your boat. The one exception would be if someone took a knife to your sails or tramp or otherwise did some damage on purpose. In that case you might need to take them to small claims court to get anything out of them.

Oh and crew always has to provide cold beer. I think it's a law or something! Or at least it should be.

Edited by Wolfman on Jul 14, 2011 - 03:26 PM.

I sail mainly with family and good friends (the kind I would help hide a body if needed). None of them would intentionally damage the boat. If they mess something up it is my fault not theirs. If something breaks I repair or buy a replacement if not repairable. If the repair is time consuming or labor intensive I have asked my various crew members for help (fiberglass work) but I purchased everything for the repair and bought beer/food.

I think the bigger question is what happens when crew gets hurt? Are they gonna sue you (or your insurance) or just carry on with life with the attitude that accidents happen.

Hopefully you are sailing with people you trust. Sh!t happens, especially on stressed rigs. Most of the time when things break it is because it is old. How many of us a sailing brand new boats? Also, is it worth it losing a friend over a ripped sail?

And that is why I love living in Canada. Very difficult to sue your friend if you consent to a risky activity or hurt yourself due to your own stupidity. If you act like an idiot the law treats you like an idiot. 🙂

Its not that i really want them to pay for it, just realize that when it does break, it aint cheap.

People that mainly sail with me are my brother and my best bud.( which is probably why i'm so critical about the whole respect shiz thing)

Your brother and your bff!? Kick em off the stern if they act up!

I am pretty careful who I invite on my 5.7. That being said, they are volunteers. If they break something, well, it's a hobby, & 100% of my hobby is my resposibility.
At the end of the day, as long as nobody got hurt, it's fine. I can have sails sewn, buy new bungee cord, fix a ding in a hull, bones & muscle are harder to fix. And lastly, lets be honest, most of us don't sail really expensive boats, it aint The Thomas Crowne Affair. Our boats represent from $300-$3000, not really a lot of cash in the big scheme of things.
If my regular crew crashed my 5.7 into the breakwall, I'd sell the parts for a good portion of what I paid for it, & go look for another Cat. Hell, I'm doing that now, & my 5.7 is clean!

Edited by Edchris177 on Jul 14, 2011 - 08:22 PM.

< college student...my pocket is a bit more sensitive than some of you guys 😛

also, as a college student, if i get sued, i dont really have much for anyone to take 😆

If you would make them pay for breaking something then don't invite them. Like Tami says they are your crew. But if it becomes law then can I charge my son for the 20 rigs dings he has dropped in the sand?

golfdad75 wrote: If you would make them pay for breaking something then don't invite them. Like Tami says they are your crew. But if it becomes law then can I charge my son for the 20 rigs dings he has dropped in the sand?

no on the ring dings, only for shackles and the expensive quick bail shackles 😆

And the rig you'd drop if you used quick-connect shackles on standing rigging....

Edchris177 wrote: IOur boats represent from $300-$3000, not really a lot of cash in the big scheme of things.

speak for yourself, man...

Heh, heh, heh. Most of us are the dumpster divers and scroungers of sailing. 🙂

My next cat is going to be a RebelCat!! 🙂

Edited by Wolfman on Jul 15, 2011 - 08:08 AM.

I think the bigger question is what happens when crew gets hurt? Are they gonna sue you (or your insurance) or just carry on with life with the attitude that accidents happen.

Don't think a good friend wont sue you (or their insurance company) if push comes to shove. Say for instance they get hit in the head with the boom, suffer a head trauma, go to the hospital and incurr.... $10,000 (or easily more) in bills.

I used to invite cute girls out for rides often until i was told a story about a friend who had friends on his power boat. he told them all NOT to jump off the boat on the dock (as it was not in good repair)... guess what happened ... a girl jumped onto the dock and got hurt..... I can't recall the rest of the story but i think he did get sued, lost friends, etc etc.

I considered carrying a liability waiver in my car for people to sign if they crewed for me... but never did. Now i warn them, this is a sport with risk. I plan on getting very drunk and sail like an idiot. I may even take a nap while at the helm. You understand and accept this risk correct? - just kidding but it is a very litigious world we live/play in...

My feeling is if something breaks that is a wear item or something that is aged it is the owners responsibility. If your crew took your boat for a short cruise and jammed a daggerboard into the hull because they forgot to raise them when beaching, that might be another story. Especially if they were experienced enough to know better, which is the only person you should loan your boat to.

I have similar agreements with friends I go snowmobiling with. If you hit something and break something, you fix it. If something just breaks from lack of maintenance or just bad luck, the owner fixes it.

load it up with blonds, brunettes, redheads, and beer and forget about it :girl: :kiss: :bussi: :fallinginlove: :heart: :banana: :ie_fox: :biglove: :catchchicken:

NO ONE puts blonds(dirty), brunettes(tubesocks), and redheads(creeknannys) in more peril than CAPTAIN SIDEWAYS(formerly backassward and soon to be upside down)! he is king of freaking out the ladies!

If you don't have liability insurance on your boat, you are really gonna be in a world of hurt. It's not that expensive and is absolutely required for racing.

Wolfman wrote: Heh, heh, heh. Most of us are the dumpster divers and scroungers of sailing. 🙂

That's Me

I'm glad this came up. So far it's mostly my family on the boat with a nephew once and a guy with a mono in our sailing group on a 20 mile once.

Next weekend I will be at a family camp out with the boat and I will need to have a discussion with everyone before to let them know that if they or their children go on the boat they are accepting the possible risks involved and that I cannot be responsible for any injuries.

So far the most annoying thing crew has done to my boat is get sand all over the tramp. I hate that as my knees are always grinding over it all day.

Tami,

Do you have a ballpark figure for the cost of liability?

Thanks in advance :biggthumpup:

Insuarane on my 02 nacra f18 is $100.00 per year the same as it was on my 91 nacra 5.5sl. This is thru Alfa. Check with your auto insurance company. It's cheep.

Ron is right. We're insuring our Squares for around $200/year with State Farm, that's two boats...

liability on my '90 5.5 is about $200/year w/ progressive, but also gives me a $85/year discount on my car ins. through them...$115 net give or take.

give all newbees a two e-ticket ride max they just sit there have no idea whats going on .. do everything you say when you say it promptly the trick is keep them scarred out of there mind theres more then they buy a 20 pack and tell you how much they want there own cat hence the newly formed lake piru cat club were a 2 cat flotilla cocktail hour meets in the mast up yard aka the cat box and dont forget bylaw#1 20 pack or there abouts on ice!! as far as sue me goes stick to the code.. dead men tell no tales

walls619 wrote: give all newbees a two e-ticket ride max they just sit there have no idea whats going on .. do everything you say when you say it promptly the trick is keep them scarred out of there mind theres more then they buy a 20 pack and tell you how much they want there own cat hence the newly formed lake piru cat club were a 2 cat flotilla cocktail hour meets in the mast up yard aka the cat box and dont forget bylaw#1 20 pack or there abouts on ice!! as far as sue me goes stick to the code.. dead men tell no tales

Dude, punctuation, as in the use of it. Please, the period is between the comma and the question mark on your keyboard, none of which you use. You also might try to capitalize the first letter beginning a sentence.

Thank you! I though it was just me but I have been having a heck of a time translating. Walls we are a pile of old farts on here, you have to throw us a bone once in a while. 🙂 My phone doesn't even have a camera in it.