Crew Wanted: Army Officer wants sailboat delivered from Seattle to Honolulu ASAP

[CharlesFCook]

Originally Posted by Halien

I lived a horror story delivering a boat from Hawaii to Everett under similar circumstances...

I'll be happy to elaborate if anyone is interested, but I can tell you this much: the boat sank, and it took a lot of time, money and lawyers to sort out the aftermath. I'm lucky to be alive.

I would love to hear more !!

[CaptDHill]

ProfessionalCaptain.com

Our fees are not negotiable, because we stay busy at our current fees. We are professional, licensed, experienced with much more challenging passages than mainland US to Hawaii. We have multiple ocean crossings and lot of sailing in and around Hawaiian Islands.

The issue of accepting liability could be an issue if I nunderstand what you are saying. The vessel must be insured, and it must be insured specifically for that crossing. The underwriters require approval of "competent crew" which also generally includes the requirement to be licensed and appropriately experienced. I realize that you said the vessel would be insured, but there's a little more to it than that. There is no such insurance for a mariner that would provide coverage for the vessel. It is the vessel that must be insured and properly insured. For us to technically "accept liability", we would have to self insure. No one would underwrite that. That's not how the industry works. We do accept responsibility for our personal actions, but not liability for the vessel. Hope this makes sense. We have never had a rejected approval from any underwriter. In fact, our "approval" carries the lowest rates while we are master and first officer of the vessel. I can assist you with this insurance as well.

You are welcome to contact me via ProfessionalCaptain.com. You will find my personal number there and are welcome to contact me directly if I can assist further.

Best,
Darien Hill
darien@professionalcaptain.com

[Jim Cate]

Originally Posted by CaptDHill

ProfessionalCaptain.com

Our fees are not negotiable, because we stay busy at our current fees. We are professional, licensed, experienced with much more challenging passages than mainland US to Hawaii. We have multiple ocean crossings and lot of sailing in and around Hawaiian Islands.

The issue of accepting liability could be an issue if I nunderstand what you are saying. The vessel must be insured, and it must be insured specifically for that crossing. The underwriters require approval of "competent crew" which also generally includes the requirement to be licensed and appropriately experienced. I realize that you said the vessel would be insured, but there's a little more to it than that. There is no such insurance for a mariner that would provide coverage for the vessel. It is the vessel that must be insured and properly insured. For us to technically "accept liability", we would have to self insure. No one would underwrite that. That's not how the industry works. We do accept responsibility for our personal actions, but not liability for the vessel. Hope this makes sense. We have never had a rejected approval from any underwriter. In fact, our "approval" carries the lowest rates while we are master and first officer of the vessel. I can assist you with this insurance as well.

You are welcome to contact me via ProfessionalCaptain.com. You will find my personal number there and are welcome to contact me directly if I can assist further.

Best,
Darien Hill
darien@professionalcaptain.com

The above is what a professional sounds like! Somehow, I doubt if he meets all of the OP's criteria, though... like the work for free clause!

Thanks to Darien for the post.

Jim

[buzzstar]

I am unsure why all the mockery and whining. It could be a fun trip depending upon how things develop. I'd volunteer as crew, not captain, but my militant boss (aka wife) says, NO, and she outranks any Army officer I've come across. Depending upon the vessel, a crew of four might be better. Have we been trolled? I do not know.

[boatman61]

Having been bitten in the past and experienced skippering boats bought at the extreme of the owners budget so even refueling is a problem for them.. your post waved a multitude of flags.
I wish you luck with the delivery but.. you'll need to lower your expectations.. or increase the reward offered.

[Jim Cate]

It could be a fun trip depending upon how things develop.

Perhaps, Brian, perhaps...

Then there is the alternative case, where the weather goes crook and the hastily prepared boat has problems... not so much fun!

Ann and I did the reverse passage in October once, and it was the worst passage in all our years of sailing: 24 days, 16 days gale force or above. Not fun at all, and that was in a well prepared boat that we knew intimately.

It is a serious passage at any time, in the late fall more risky and in an untried boat... well, "it could be a fun trip, depending..."

If you think this is whining, OK!

Jim

[GTom]

I see two options here: "free crew", who uses the boat and delivers it to gain experience, instead of paying a charter company - here obviously no one can expect a highly trained (training costs lots of $$ and time!), experienced skippers AND of course no liability clauses can be made other than personal liability (i.e. littering the boat with beer cans, sinking it while drunken, etc). Although I haven't done this, I think it might work if the owner is on board and recruits some help who is eager to log thousands of miles.

The other way is fetching a professional, following industry standards and fees.

[buzzstar]

Originally Posted by Jim Cate

Perhaps, Brian, perhaps...

Then there is the alternative case, where the weather goes crook and the hastily prepared boat has problems... not so much fun!

Ann and I did the reverse passage in October once, and it was the worst passage in all our years of sailing: 24 days, 16 days gale force or above. Not fun at all, and that was in a well prepared boat that we knew intimately.

It is a serious passage at any time, in the late fall more risky and in an untried boat... well, "it could be a fun trip, depending..."

If you think this is whining, OK!

Jim

"Could be" is a conditional term. The details tend to provide a probable but not certain answer. I've done longer than anticipated and miserable passages, that definitely were not fun, but most voyages have been fun or OK, at least for the most part. I admit I tended to sail with competent, if not professional, sailors, and on seaworthy vessels. I do think there has been much whining, and am glad it is OK for me to think so. Smile, an economy class flight ain't so bad, at least from Honolulu to the west coast of the USA. I wonder if the captain needs to be a US citizen since it will be a US bottom? If so, any taker for that seat is more likely to be a bored older guy or a relatively inexperienced one trying to punch a ticket.

[Alex_V]

Originally Posted by CharlesFCook

I would love to hear more !!

Me also.

[Cherod]

Go on army man , pay the money , after all it's only taxpayers money anyway .

[Cavalier]

Originally Posted by GTom

.. delivers it to gain experience, instead of paying a charter company.

AND there'd be no possibility of making a hash of anchoring during the crossing! ;-)



More seriously, the insurance would still require competent and experienced crew, including an ocean-crossing or two somewhere in the mix. As was mentioned before, I can only see a professional delivery captain (paid) taking on the work of assessing seaworthiness and adequate preparations for such a trip (especially late season) and be willing to perform the post-passage training/familiarization with the owner.



Unfortunately, anyone willing, as a crew, to take on such a trip along with the stipulations and liabilities, simply as an 'experience' are more likely to be the type that the OP was specifically hoping to avoid.



Correct me if I'm wrong, but most people interested in sea-miles on an oceanic crossing are doing so to gain experience and learning in the company of significantly more experienced fellow crew mates and skipper.

Sent from mTalk

[GTom]

Originally Posted by Cavalier

Correct me if I'm wrong, but most people interested in sea-miles on an oceanic crossing are doing so to gain experience and learning in the company of significantly more experienced fellow crew mates and skipper.

That's an absolutely valid point! Added the insurance requirements, "budget crew" seems to be a dead end (unless the OP has the necessary experience+certifications AND willing to skipper the boat).

[Rorzech]

Captain Rob ( not a real captain) Here's my offer to you! You feed me , Fly me wherever necessary, Board me when ever necessary . I will sail your dream boat down the coast from Vancouver to Southern California then head west to Hawaii so we don't have to beat our way there. 7 summers sailing my own boat & 800 plus YouTube Videos.There's no better way to learn than watching everyone else's mistakes and goof up's. Retired HVAC tech .I can fix anything. Not scared of blue water or bad weather. If I get there in one piece, so will the boat. Single handed, or with crew, or lowest member of the crew, it doesn't matter to me.I'm just as good taking orders as giving them. Just get me home from Hawaii along with my duffle bag and we'll be square. Should take approx. 28 to 32 days depending on weather. No booze, drugs, or smoking material. This will be a nice shakedown cruise to warm me up for my single handed circumnavigation next year. Have taken courses on navigation and boatmanship, paper charts, have my own sat Inreach. Member of Canadian Power Squadron. VHF Land Marine Air licenses. & Ham VE3VBW. I'll tell you anything you want to know about your boat all day long on your nickel after I get there . The rest ,you'll have to watch, in the many videos I plan to make of the entire trip that will be uploaded to YouTube. Your boat must have an auto pilot or steering wind vane, AIS receiver & Radar, Paper Chart, along with an emergency inflatable life raft. All other electronics optional ,water maker optional. If interested message me.I'm flexable and friendly .This would be my first passage to Hawaii so I guess that counts me out. Cheers

[Halien]

A general description of what happened is on my blog at www.backbeatsailing.com, a few stories down on the front page. I'm neither a USCG licensed captain nor a lawyer, but these amateur deliveries for people and boats you do not know are a terrible idea. When something goes wrong in the middle of the ocean, and it's not really anyone's fault, your best bet for recovery is a Jones Act claim. Depending on the arrangements between owner and skipper, that may or may not be available. In my case the combination of an unlicensed delivery skipper (me), a few bad storms, and a reluctant insurance company made the whole episode painful for everyone.

My crew and I thought we were goners until the minute we landed on the deck of a container ship. The owner lost his boat. I had supplied all of the safety and emergency gear, which amounted to a five figure loss. Just don't try to cheap out with this "delivery cruise" idea. It may all go well, but if it doesn't the price you'll pay is pretty high. My situation was similar. A US Navy officer bought a boat in Hawaii and got transferred to Everett. He was paying daily moorage rates in Honolulu, and wanted it moved ASAP. I had committed to a delivery from Hawaii to B.C. in August, and the owner was waiting for a new mainsail, so we didn't leave until October, which we all knew was risky. A couple of weeks in, a normal storm combined with post-Hurricane Ana mess caused waves like I'd never seen. Ten meters and up, coming from everywhere at once, with winds gusting over fifty knots. The wave that permanently disabled our boat hit us so violently that it split open the hull/deck joint on the starboard side. It was like getting T-boned at an intersection by a city bus. The force knocked all of the starboard interior pieces off the inside of the hull. It blew out windows and filled the cabin knee-deep in seawater in seconds.

The morals of this story are:

1. Despite all of your efforts to mitigate risks, **** happens. When it does, you want it to happen with a licensed, experienced delivery skipper running the boat. You want real insurance from a marine specialist, and you want a proper delivery contract--in writing.

2. Don't mess with the North Pacific after the season closes. For commercial traffic, that's October 16th. The captain of our rescue ship, the Hyundai Grace, told us that Hyundai has special load limits and navigation requirements for ships entering the North Pacific Seasonal Zone in Winter. They don't screw around with. It's no joke. I'll never do it again. Ever. The weather up there is nothing like getting caught in a squall.

3. Never deliver a boat you don't know for an owner you don't know, unless that is your business.

Good luck, and hire a pro.

[robmo]

Have you considered buying a boat in Hawaii? Might be easier
Less stressful and less expensive. Beg out of the boat in Seattle, take your
Lumps and move on. Sailing the Chessie is child's play in comparison to the
North Pacific, get real!