Using a Delivery Skipper / Crew - Tips & Advice (and Horror Stories!)

[atoll]

here is a good one i was asked to deliver across the biscay a few weeks ago!

apart from the 1" of barnacles on the hulls,rotten decks and rusty worn pintles,seagull engine from ww11, no life raft.................crossing one of the busyiest shipping lanes,and notorious biscay late season would have been a doddle

[gjordan]

In referance to Sanders problems with drunks(even if tied to the dock), My rules for the crew and myself were no drugs ,alcohol, or tabaco at any time during a delivery. I only had one argument with a crewmember that wanted to smoke cigars on a trip. He left them at the checkout stand when we were stocking up. My other rule was that I didnt do deliveries with owners, owners nephews or friends or any crew I didnt choose on board. I had heard too many horror stories about that. I did make one exception with a new owner of a Mason 43 from San Diego to San Francisco. It turned out great, but he learned a big lesson about cold and fatigue going up the Calif Coast in Feb._____Grant.

[Travelnik]

Originally Posted by atoll

here is a good one i was asked to deliver across the biscay a few weeks ago!

apart from the 1" of barnacles on the hulls,rotten decks and rusty worn pintles,seagull engine from ww11, no life raft.................crossing one of the busyiest shipping lanes,and notorious biscay late season would have been a doddle

It has a bucket! All that other stuff is inconsequential!

[atoll]

Originally Posted by dsmastern

It has a bucket! All that other stuff is inconsequential!

even the bucket was crap! ever tried sitting on one of those flexible net buckets

[Travelnik]

Originally Posted by atoll

even the bucket was crap! ever tried sitting on one of those flexible net buckets

It's OK, from the looks of it, you could have crapped on the decks and it wouldn't hurt anything!

[gjordan]

For all of you potential delivery skippers, the Oceans endosment on your Masters will help a great deal with insurance companies. For owners, be sure to ask about the endorsment if the delivery is anything more than a coastal trip or your insurance might not cover you. Usually(but not always) I had to send a copy of my Masters and a resume to the owners insurance company before a delivery. That being said, I must say that the Oceans exam was the stupidest exam that the Coast Guard required of me. I had many thousands of miles behind me using celestial, and the exam had little or nothing to do with every day celestial navigation. The fire fighting course and the radar course were good practical stuff, but the celestial exam must have been written by an astrophysicist that had never stepped foot on the deck of a small boat.____Just my opiunion._____Grant.

[Captain Jeffry]

GJordan,
You are correct. I always send my sailing c/v along to the owner for their insurance company to approve. As I said somewhere before, a license is not what is needed to deliver a boat. It's the insurance company granting the owner coverage for passage bassed on your c/v and references. I know several old timers who never had licenses and yet were insureable with lloyds of London or any other insurance compmnay based solely on their experience. Some of you may know who I am talking about. Great names and several hundreds of thousands of miles racing and delivering boats around the world. One of these days I will get around to my Yachtmaster... So far haven't been denied passage.
Cheers, Jeffry

[Captain Jeffry]

Well, Atoll.. did you get it done? I don't have anything that rivals those pictures but I have come across a few vessels in extreme need of serious maintenance by several professionals! I try to fly ahead of my crew to inspect and I have walked away from a few deliveries based on that, but have generally found that most people are willing to listen to what is needed for their boat to have success in getting from point A to point B. Boating is wonderful! Cheers, Jeffry

[gjordan]

I actually carried insurance for my delivery co. for a few years thru Loyds of London, But it got so pricy that I gave up on that. Just remember that if you screw up, the insurance co. will come after you first._____Grant.

[gjordan]

Captain Jeffry, why would you go after your Yachtmasters when (unless I misunderstood previous posts on CF) it requires less sea days and an easier exam(except it does require a practical exam) than the Coast Guard license that you allready have? I was surprised by how few sea days the Europeon licenses required compared to the US licenses. There was a long thread on this a while back, and it pointed out all of the differances.____Grant.

[Captain Jeffry]

Hey Grant, It was my understanding that the Yachtmaster license is more widely accepted world wide than the USCG Master license. Perhaps I need to further investigate..
Also, are you saying that if a licensed Captain is added to the owner's insurance policy, and there is a problem, they will come after the Captain? It was my understanding that would only occur if there was negligence involved by the Captain. As in not checking the Columbia River clearance level before heading under the KBM Interstate Bridge in Portland on Channel 13...lol

[atoll]

Originally Posted by Captain Jeffry

Well, Atoll.. did you get it done? I don't have anything that rivals those pictures but I have come across a few vessels in extreme need of serious maintenance by several professionals! I try to fly ahead of my crew to inspect and I have walked away from a few deliveries based on that, but have generally found that most people are willing to listen to what is needed for their boat to have success in getting from point A to point B. Boating is wonderful! Cheers, Jeffry

i reccomended,and offered to arrange to get the work done,and gave him a quote as the boat is located only 2 miles from my wharf/yard.

i think he was under the impression that all the boat needed was a quick scrape,then push off so he could do the work on the cheap in france once it got there!

[Paul Annapolis]

My experience in doing dozens of deliveries is that most of the time, things go well. Sure, you get a few breakdowns or delays due to weather, but generally speaking, we arrive within the expected time frame and the boat is fine. A few times, things really go wrong and in every case this can be traced back to the owner being cheap, rushed or ignorant and not taking advice from the delivery captain. All the rest is commentary and details, so let me repeat--in every case this can be traced back to the owner being cheap, rushed or ignorant and not taking advice from the delivery captain. The opposite or vice verse is also generally true. Things turn out well when the owner understand he has to spend some money, is not in a hurry and listens to the professional he has hired. When the first and/or only communication from the prospective owner is "What does it cost?"....run away..fast! Or try to be helpful, answer questions but beware...it's a sure quick flashing buoy! Danger or junction ahead! Thank you.

[Paul Annapolis]

I'll bet that the only thing the owner wanted to know was "What will it cost?"....perhaps followed by "I got a quote from a guy I met in the bar for only $30 Euros a day....can you do better?.....

[atoll]

i charge £150 a day,which if you take into account your days at sea are 24 hours!
it works out at £6.25 an hour.......which is the same as the minimum wage here in the uk!