Liveaboard Couples and Guests

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by zeehag

... parties are ok---i donot care how many arrive--as long as they bring their own--food, booze, etc....and take the trash with them...lol.....

Many cruisers also bring their own drinking glass to sundowners (coacktail parties) aboard someone else's boat home.

Of course, in the Islands, most parties are held on the beach - usually between 4:00 & 7:00 PM (bedtime = sundown + 'x').

[BlueSovereign]

Whilst my yacht sleeps 7, I could not see myself having (unless I had a charter) that many individuals sleeping on board, inspite of having 2 heads/showers. Even then I would prefer to limit it to just 4 guests.

I find the cock-pit adequate to hold ~8 to 10) for a party, and definitely no more than 8 makes a comfortable salon party.

Have acquired several excellent ideas from this thread ... "good on you mates"!

[imagine2frolic]

On Imagine it's Mrs. i2f, and I most of the time. We do have guests, and only take 2 per berth of which there are only 2 berths for guest. Our master's berth is the center of the boat, and closest to the cockpit. I can see all 4 sides of Imagine while in our berth. The guest berths you can't see squat unless you pop your head out of the hatch. I do not give up my berth no matter how tall a guest is.

I have been on charters where people are sleeping on the salon floor. Even after all the berths are full, and the salon table being used as a berth. I like my guest to have privacy, and I do appreciate my own privacy. 6 is the max number, 4 is best, and that includes us 2......i2f

[john540]

We're not a liveaboard couple yet, but I have some observations. I think that how well you know the guests, and how much time you've spent in close quarters makes a big difference. We spent four days last summer in the Sacramento River Delta with ten people on a boat that sleeps 8 (supposedly). Granted, six of the people were between the ages of 2 and 12, so they're a little smaller, but we did have one sleeping on the salon floor. I was worried at the outset that the boat would be too small for the number of people, but at the end of four days, we all felt like it was way too soon to be ending. I really think we could have spent two weeks there without it being too cramped.

Some of the factors that made it work were that the boat was pretty much for eating and sleeping, and we were swimming, fishing, and recreating off the boat the rest of the time. Also we had slept over at their house, they had slept at ours, and we had all been camping together often. If they weren't such good friends, it may have been more difficult. Another factor is that we aren't living aboard yet, so it was more like a sailing camping trip than having company to our home.

[Pelagic]

I don't do "guests", but friends and family are always welcome to visit and stay on board if practical......there is no rule...just common sense

[wingNwing]

On our boat, its drinks for 6, dinner for 4, sleeps 2. (33-footer)

Yes, we've had 8 (plus a dog!!) for a long July 4th weekend; and had another couple for a week, but the above is our favorite.

[Sea Otter]

Originally Posted by Pelagic

I don't do "guests", but friends and family are always welcome to visit and stay on board if practical......there is no rule...just common sense

Lots of fun reading here. We wonder about sharing costs on board with our guests. On quite q few occasions we have had a nightmare with especially relatives on board. They show up and takes a nice vacation on our boat with "the feet up", enjoying the free food and drinks. Very few have even asked us out in return for hosting them for a week or two.

Now we are not taking anybody on board without advising beforehand that we share the costs of living on the boat. Some people seems to be very surprised by that?!?!

What is the norm for cost sharing among most of you live aboards out there?

Another question is, if taking guests along a certain passage (which is a good help for watch keeping), do you feed and house these guests or do you have them share the costs?

I suppose this is also a question of which culture you come from. I mean there is a difference between the European culture and the American in that sense. Still it would be good to know how you folks are tackling this "problem".

[Bash]

Originally Posted by Sea Otter

Another question is, if taking guests along a certain passage (which is a good help for watch keeping), do you feed and house these guests or do you have them share the costs?

we don't take guests aboard for passages, we take crew. we cover all their expenses once they arrive at the boat, but do not pay for airfare to reach the boat.

what distinguishes "guests" from "crew," in my view, is that guests come aboard in Harbor A, and depart the boat in Harbor A. This departure may take place the same day, or a week later, and we may have covered any number of sailing miles before returning to our point of departure. Crew, alternately, join the boat in Harbor A, and depart in Harbor B.

Guests are never asked to stand watch, but crew are. Either way, we don't ask them to share expenses, much in the same way that we didn't charge guests when they visited our home back when we lived on dirt. There is a certain social expectation of reciprocation from guests, however, that they are in some way obliged by good manners to return our hospitality, either by way of a nice dinner out, or a visit to their cabin in the mountains, or in the form of a modest hospitality gift. (Or maybe not so modest, if you've been drinking all my single malt.)

It would never occur to us to articulate these obligations. As a general rule we're pleasantly surprised by the appreciation shown to us by our guests.