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Old 13-11-2011, 16:45   #1
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Crew Wants to Abandon Ship, but Skipper Doesn't . . .

In an ideal world crew would do what the bl##dy hell they were told to

But, as we live in a world where everyone thinks their opinions matter easy to imagine circumstances where crew "Decide" it's time to abandon ship / call for rescue.....

........assuming a plea for sanity goes unheeded and the only other option is to physically restrain the person(s), which may not be practical - short of making it permanent ........any opinions (or downsides) on saying "Ok - YOU get in the liferaft and f#ck off" ......then put in call for a rescue, give a location and then either sail on (if that is needed) or attempt to stand by the raft......

Obviously family involved is a different dynamic, but nonetheless principal still stands
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Old 13-11-2011, 16:59   #2
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Re: Crew wants to abandon ship, but Skipper doesn't?

The downside is that you no longer have a liferaft for yourself.........

This situation has happened on a number of occasions. How to avoid it? Not easily. Scared people will do very stupid thongs and aren't likely to listen to reason. The best you can do is from the start instill the fact that the boat is not a democracy. All decisions are made by the skipper. That's it...end of story..no ifs, no buts.
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Old 13-11-2011, 17:12   #3
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Re: Crew Wants to Abandon Ship, but Skipper Doesn't . . .

If they did not bring along their own raft, why should use yours??
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Old 13-11-2011, 17:14   #4
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Re: Crew wants to abandon ship, but Skipper doesn't?

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Originally Posted by bewitched View Post
The downside is that you no longer have a liferaft for yourself.........

This situation has happened on a number of occasions. How to avoid it? Not easily. Scared people will do very stupid thongs and aren't likely to listen to reason. The best you can do is from the start instill the fact that the boat is not a democracy. All decisions are made by the skipper. That's it...end of story..no ifs, no buts.
Easy to say but that does not work -if you have a completely terrified person onboard-they are not rational so there is a lot if ifs and buts and likely the beginning of a messy story- - I have experienced something like this -there was no real apparent reason for this person to be terrified but he was-- we were in the Abacos in a safe area in sight of many islands with 3 feet seas - he flipped out- and it took about 24 hours for him to come back completely to reality- no amount of talking got thru to him it was like he was in a trance and could not hear me and the others-
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Old 13-11-2011, 17:19   #5
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Re: Crew Wants to Abandon Ship, but Skipper Doesn't . . .

I knew there was reason to have better drugs on the boat!

Guess if they feel thier chances are better in the life raft (people know how I feel about this) and you feel yours are better on the real boat............well!
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Old 13-11-2011, 17:22   #6
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Re: Crew Wants to Abandon Ship, but Skipper Doesn't . . .

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Choosing crew members for an offshore sailing event is just as important as choosing the right liferaft.
http://marionbermuda.com/archive/2011/crewselection.pdf
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Old 13-11-2011, 17:42   #7
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Re: Crew wants to abandon ship, but Skipper doesn't?

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if you have a completely terrified person onboard-they are not rational
That's what I said wasn't it?

Another drawback of putting them in the liferaft is that as a skipper you owe your crew a duty of care as lawyers like to say. If you plop them in the liferaft when its not necessary, you can probably expect legal action from family if he or she dies.
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Old 13-11-2011, 17:46   #8
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Re: Crew Wants to Abandon Ship, but Skipper Doesn't . . .

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Obviously family involved is a different dynamic, but nonetheless principal still stands
Definitely. When the skipper of the whaling vessel Essex had to deal with his nephew in a skiff on their way to Chile, he ate him...

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Old 13-11-2011, 17:48   #9
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In practice if your crew want off there's little you cam do but request rescue. Acting like captain Blythe will achieve nothing. These people are not paid hands but ordinary people out to have fun.

In my experience the vast majority of situations where boats that are still afloat are abandoned are as a result of crew demanding to get off


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Old 13-11-2011, 17:55   #10
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Re: Crew Wants to Abandon Ship, but Skipper Doesn't . . .

Good thread, and could be a tough situation. Someone has to be in charge, and that's not the crew or any crew member. You can't cast him adrift with or without a call for his (her) rescue, and you can't operate the vessel to placate the person, but if the fearful one is causing problems, surely he/she can be restrained, maybe to a berth below (i.e., truly restrained) until the next landfall at which point the bloke (or sheila) is deposited on a wharf. Of course, the best solution is carefully selecting crew, but once at sea...
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Old 13-11-2011, 18:03   #11
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Re: Crew Wants to Abandon Ship, but Skipper Doesn't . . .

[QUOTE=David_Old_Jersey;817451]In an ideal world crew would do what the bl##dy hell they were told to

Sounds like something Captain Bligh would of said.

"Ok - YOU get in the liferaft and f#ck off"

If I remember my history correctly Bligh was the one who ended up in the 'Liferaft".
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Old 13-11-2011, 18:09   #12
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Re: Crew Wants to Abandon Ship, but Skipper Doesn't . . .

David, you just toss the uninflated life raft overboard, removing any options for the crybaby. Then keep your quad-D-cell Maglite at the ready in case the whiner needs a nap.
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Old 13-11-2011, 18:10   #13
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Re: Crew Wants to Abandon Ship, but Skipper Doesn't . . .

Well as they say there is no democracy on a boat. I think the situation you described was chronicled in the Perfect Storm book. Fellow in a Westsail? headed south with two women as crew (what was he thinking ). They got into the Nor Easter and the women wanted off. They called the Coast Guard who made them all get off the boat. Though I don't think the skipper wanted to. I think the boat landed on the New Jersey shore and was salvaged.
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Old 13-11-2011, 18:38   #14
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Re: Crew Wants to Abandon Ship, but Skipper Doesn't . . .

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Well as they say there is no democracy on a boat. I think the situation you described was chronicled in the Perfect Storm book. Fellow in a Westsail? headed south with two women as crew (what was he thinking ). They got into the Nor Easter and the women wanted off. They called the Coast Guard who made them all get off the boat. Though I don't think the skipper wanted to. I think the boat landed on the New Jersey shore and was salvaged.
The Westsail-32, Sartori, sailed herself onto a North Carolina beach with the ditch bag still on the deck (had caught on the lifelines during the "rescue"). She was dragged off the beach and immediately was sailed north. Sartori still sails to this day. I believe you can read the whole story here... http://woa.onefireplace.org/satoristorm
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Old 13-11-2011, 18:48   #15
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Re: Crew Wants to Abandon Ship, but Skipper Doesn't . . .

Unless you're planning on staying awake forever, eventually you'll need to nod off for plenty long enough for someone to launch the raft and hop in. If they're dead set for it, you might as well help them along (and maybe go in there yourself depending on the conditions) rather than lose the raft because they forgot to tether it or something of the sort.

You're responsible for the safety of everyone onboard to a point; you can't kidnap them. And if you know they have the option to split while you're sleeping (by launching the raft), you're running pretty low on options.

Obviously the best course of action is to run your boat in such a manner that people have enough respect for you that the idea of bailing on you is the last thing they'd want to do.
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