We had planned to take the boat south in lots of short hops. The only 2 night overnight was from Turks and Cacos to Puerto Rico. Having completed 2 one nighters – Ft. Pierce to Spanish Cay in the Abacos and Lynyard Cay to Nassau, we decide we should get help. Mike just had too much to take care of so having someone to share some of the responsibility and trip management was appropriate. Friends were already booked for the holidays. We got a name from an agency – available from Dec 28.
We made the trip as one offshore passage. Fortunately winds were manageable and sharing 3 watches with 4 people worked out for the six days from Palm Cay, Nassau to Jost Van Dyke.
The “professional” captain was a disappointment. His wife was great for someone with no experience and no preparation for the assignment.
full disclosure or lack thereof:
– hearing – needs hearing aid, but doesn’t wear them at sea. Can’t hear boat system alarms like autopilot disconnected or overloaded
– agility – limited. Need to grab on to support to transition from sitting to standing – Bimini, sink faucet, stove. Never left the cockpit. Claimed he could help forward with mooring but didn’t
situational awareness – coming into the fuel dock ahead of a very expensive cigarette boat. Mike touches dock to let him off, expecting him to walk the boat forward on the 40+ feet of empty dock to clear the boat behind. Nope. Just makes line fast around nearest pole. Meanwhile there is a massive fire drill at the stern as the guys on the power boat and Mike are trying frantically to avoid contact. Repeated request to walk the bow forward. No action. Eventually looks down the dock and gets the idea.
wife as crew – charged at full experienced crew rate
– great person, good company, willing to help out
– some sailing experience – Wed night races in Chesapeake
– no crew experience – never been offshore, never been on a boat from more than 24 hours, no idea about docking, mooring, living on a boat for days, unprepared for entire trip
– fails “Richard test” – not able to get on the boat from the dock without coaching. Tried to step from dock, up 2 ft and over the lifelines.
captain –
– “some owners want to be in charge” – aka ok to just do watches and sleep in between without discussion about roles and responsibilities
– sailing – only sail adjustment observed – rolled up jib when wind got light. No flashlight on deck at night to check sails.
klutz – handed the pump for transferring fuel from the jerry cans to the main tank. Grabs unit and starts untangling tubes and knocks the electrical connection apart.
seriously?
– massive luggage including huge rolliy bag which was placed in the salon in the space between the table and the galley. Impedes moving about salon and sitting at table. Never opened. Never asked if it was ok there although there was space to store it in their cabin.
– inventory of DVDs suitable for watching on a big screen TV at overnight stops. – brought soap for the dishwasher – machine, not wife
– weather updates several time a day – hour by hour out 72 hours – mostly inaccurate and not useful for planning purposes
– preferred route would have been powering / pounding into the wind all the way. Fortunately wife said she would rather be sailing when this decision was being made
general professionalism – little to none observed. No routine check of life support systems – battery, water, fuel
Yes, these are little things, but way too many taken together.
Cassandra Too 