A Rant . . . OK, a Moan

[fishwife]

I need a rant and a bitch, There are some people who should only be allowed on a boat if you intend to drown them en-route.
I'm on my way back to the UK after a visit to the Canary Isles but we're tucked up in the marina at Rabat in Morocco for a few days. Until a week or so ago we had a crew member who surely was sent by the devil. She came highly recommended by an acquaintance who asked if I could help her get more sea hours. Later I realized he'd been sleeping with her and probably wanted her out of the way. He's married.
Leaving Weymouth on a really calm day she vomited all over the instrument panel. I should have turned around then but you know, sea sickness can happen to anyone. A more considerate aim would have been appreciated though, as would help in cleaning it all up. A few hours later, when I thought she was in her bunk, the main engine just stopped. It took me 30 minutes or so to realize that everything was fine, no breakdown, she'd been in the engine room and playing with the fuel manifold and managed to turn off the tank we were using. I'm still none the wiser about what she was doing. Then two days out she started sleeping during her watch. Not dozed at the helm, she got on the settee and slept. After lots of apologies from her and claims of not being well, I started doing a watch with her plus my own. No more problems until we get to Gibraltar, where she disappeared for 24 hours or so, keeping us in port for an extra day.
A smooth trip down to Tenerife followed and I started to relax. A mistake.
We had wifi whilst we were there but she decided to go to a cybercafe and save her mail to a usb stick and then plug that into the boats navigation computer, when that didn't work she tried the back up. Neither had any email software but after she'd finished both had an aggressive virus. There's a big notice on both saying that nothing is to be connected to them Grrrrr. Thank god the satallite comms with it's laptop is in my cabin. She claimed not to understand why we have a couple of general use laptops already equipped with wifi. I didn't discover this until four days later when we were ready to move on to the next island. I may have spoken a little harshly.
Six hours reinstalling the software and charts plus a dongle problem solved and it's too late to move on easily that day and anyway, she'd disappeared ashore. At 00 dark the following morning, the fire alarm went off, there was a fire in her cabin. When I burst down the locked door she was so drunk she couldn't stand up and her bed was on fire. Smoking in bed. The fire out with a lot of smoke damage and her carted off to hospital with smoke inhalation problems, we weren't going anywhere for a few days.
It was ten days before she was fit to fly, then I bought her a plane ticket home, gave her money for a train ticket from the airport and extra for a cab home from the station.
In the mean time the rest of us were cleaning up the mess, it's amazing how much mess a dry powder extinguisher makes, especially when that's not enough and you use a foam one from the engine room. I may have to replace all the head liners in the forward cabins area to get rid of the smoke smell. In her cabin, whilst trying to salvage as much of her stuff as possible, we found a big block of cannabis resin that went over the side.
Two days after she went home, we moved on to Gran Canaria where we were met by the customs who spent 8 hours searching the boat. Thank god we found the cannabis I thought.
The following day I got an email from our erstwhile crew member asking if we'd enjoyed the visit she'd arranged. I'm sure we were watched the rest of the time we spent there. To make matters worse, when we pulled into Rabat the customs gave us another good going over and I wonder if the Spanish Customs passed on the information they had received.
I don't know if there are any lessons to be learnt, I'm probably still too angry to think it all out but writing it all down has helped a little.


P.

[psteele235]

You were far too generous in allowing her to continue after the extra day in Gib - that would have been the end of her for me.

[Drew13440]

Good heavens that is a nightmare. It sounds harsh, but I would search the belongings of unknown crew before international voyaging for exactly this reason. You could have lost your vessel and your freedom.

[S/V_Surya]

Are you saying she set you up for customs visit knowing she had left cannabis onboard?

[sabray]

Good lord what a piece of work. I think she was on my boat for a day sail once a few years back. She was remanded to the pilot house for most of the sail. closest Ive ever been to putting someone under house arrest.
If you can get your hands on an ozone machine and run it in the cabin while no one is an board that may get the smell out. You need to be very careful and ventilate really well after words. Maybe just get a professional to do it. Could be better then a new head liner

[fishwife]

Originally Posted by S/V_Surya

Are you saying she set you up for customs visit knowing she had left cannabis onboard?

Yes, it's plain from her email that is what she intended. She didn't know we had thrown it out. Spite for being sent home is the only motive I can think of. The customs had a drug dog but if there was any trace left, the fire smells probably overwhelmed it.

P.

[Bash]

the shame of this is that she'll soon sleep her way onto another boat, and we have no way to let each other know the names of crew who are unfit to stand watch.

[hummingway]

Unbelieveable! Send a bill to the aquaintance who recommended her ... for services rendered.

[fishwife]

I did consider naming her and if anyone is thinking of taking on crew from Bournemouth in the UK I'd be happy to talk to them via a private message.

P.

[mtnsapo]

man, she would have been out a lot quicker if she was with me....

[sailorboy1]

WOW! Thanks for sharing but you wasted this story on us. Write it up with a few more words and send it into the magnazines and become published.

[S/V_Surya]

There is a lesson or multiple lessons to be learned, but all you can do is hope her karma catches up to her. I think you did everything right.

[BubbleHeadMd]

All I can say is- stunning.

[Ocean Girl]

You were extremely lucky! Sleeping on watch, setting fire to the vessel, she sounds like a ship sinker, a "Mrs Magoo" blissfully reeking havoc wherever she goes. Count yourself lucky to be alive and out of jail. I would try and find a way to have your vessel searched by a drug dog just to make sure she didn't stash anything else, or at the very least thoroughly search your entire vessel. Jeepers, what was she doing in the engine room? Boy oh boy, you could of lost your vessel. Thank God you all are ok, sorry about the mess she has made. BTW you may want to post her behavior with name, picture, and brief facts. I know my captain and I would of appreciated a heads up before taking our psycho crew out into the Atlantic.
Erika

PS
Kick the arse of the yahoo that recommended her, and do not count him as friend.

[Jentine]

Wipe down the interior with hydrogen peroxide to remove the smoke smell. That is what the pros use.
We had a guest from hell, but yours was far worse.