How to handle a stranger's request to come aboard for a look.

[msrcal36]

One of the great pleasures of cruising and sailing is meeting new friends and looking at other folk's boats. I love walking docks. Always looking for and getting new ideas. Sailing and especially cruising attracts many "engineer/creative" thinkers, so other's boats are often a treasure trove of new elegant ideas. Of course to benefit from this this it helps to be be open minded and at least slightly social.

[JPA Cate]

Most land based people (and even some boaties) look at boats as objects, or toys, and would be surprised at how unwelcome their eyes are at our port lights. I still remember telling Solomon Islalnders who were gathered around our boat at dawn, to not look in, it was our "sleeping house". Being outside the norm, people who live in boats are objects of curiosity. One time I invited some Fijian women out to the boat for a cuppa. It was a huge lesson in humility. They thought it was really fantastic, I had a toilet in the house, and a gas cooker! They had open fire hearths, and a flush-by-bucket central toilet for the village.

As to people who ask to see your boat unbidden, I think it is perfectly valid to say, yes, but not now. People with their own boats, in particular, will know sometimes the boat's all torn up due to some project--sometimes my sewing projects take up most of the saloon. In general, the rules for the cruising community are different from land based. Nobody gets hurt feelings if not invited aboard: we all know there are times it's not convenient. Everybody (almost) enjoys a little socializing.

Ann

[siamese]

I don't get the request very often, but I'm generally glad to give a tour. I'm proud of my boat, maintain it well, and have made a few modifications.

If I got a bad vibe about someone, I'd probably decline, but that's never happened.

I wouldn't do it at my house.

[hellosailor]

Could be perfectly honest, could be not. Go with your gut, if they're honestly just looking around, they shouldn't be offended. "Sorry, my spouse has the flu, you really don't want to come aboard today."

Or you could tell them the next tour starts at 2 o'clock, tickets are $10 in advance, $15 if bought after 1:45. [How to make money while cruising thread.(G)]

[Pearson Stu]

Thanks for sharing that wonderful story about the Catalina 30's! That's what it's all about, isn't it?

[Jim Cate]

We must have lead a sheltered life... in all our years of cruising, we've never had an adult just come up and bluntly ask to see inside our boat. We have had countless folks come by, in dinks or on foot, strike up a conversation and eventually be invited on board. As DH and others have said, this is an essential part of the cruising life style, and is one of the great joys for us... meeting new folks.... and we do the same thing, wandering about marinas or anchorages and chatting with people on board other boats.

I suspect the few here on CF who find that practice offensive or intrusive are not folks who have done much cruising... cruising in the sense of longer trips to strange (to them) places. It is an attitude more related to urban dwelling than to cruising. Their loss...

Jim

[Julian Alcorso]

Originally Posted by FlyTheCoop

We were in a bay with a number of other boats when along came a very nice couple in a tender saying they were thinking of buying a catamaran and was it possible to come on board for a look. No introductions or other other small talk. I politely refused and said we were having lunch right now but they were welcome to check back later.

On one hand it's a nice complement, on the other, an invasion of privacy.

Just interested in how other cruisers have handled the same request.

I would have welcomed them aboard and invited them to lunch. Life's too short to be a bitch!!

[captlloyd]

Originally Posted by clownfishsydney

Show them around, have done it lots of times.

The OP is asking for opinions on how to politely deny people a tour of their boat. They are not asking if it's a good idea. I don't believe it is being unpolite to want privacy on your own boat, especially with people you don't know . It is not being unfriendly. People come on this forum to get questions answered, not to be schooled about how they are wrong.

[Taichungman]

You need to keep careful about who you let on your boat.


I was tied up to a tree in a canal next to a public park in Port Arthur Texas back in the 80's. I had been out in the Gulf for the past 10 days, checking out my boat and myself. I was tired and sitting in the cockpit drinking a beer. This young lady wanders down from a picnic she was having with friends and begins asking me questions. After a few minutes she asks if she could come on board. Then she begins telling me about all her problems with her husband and family. Before I knew it she was wanting to give me a back massage. I finally told her, it was getting dark and time for me to shove off. I moved my boat down the canal out of sight, turned the lights off and drank some more beer. I told my wife about it later when I got back home; she said I was just dreaming.

[Juho]

I'm inclined to invite everyone interested in, but in the situation that you described, I'd blame myself, like saying that it's a mess down below, not suitable for guests to see (this is probably true anyway, and maybe a sincere answer ). I might also step on the dock and start looking and discussing about other boats instead.

[Pelagic]

It all depends on how many crabs I've had for lunch[emoji83]

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by Taichungman

You need to keep careful about who you let on your boat.
I was tied up to a tree in a canal next to a public park in Port Arthur Texas back in the 80's...

Can I presume that it was actually your boat that was tied to the tree?

[CatNewBee]

Some like it hot .

... just saying

[Lake-Effect]

Originally Posted by Taichungman

I was tied up to a tree in a canal next to a public park in Port Arthur Texas back in the 80's. I had been out in the Gulf for the past 10 days, checking out my boat and myself. I was tired and sitting in the cockpit drinking a beer. This young lady wanders down from a picnic she was having with friends and begins asking me questions. After a few minutes she asks if she could come on board. Then she begins telling me about all her problems with her husband and family. Before I knew it she was wanting to give me a back massage....

Hey, this is CF not Penthouse forum.

[Olddan1943]

I tell them, it is my home then ask, would they knock on a stranger's front door and ask to look around the inside of the house.
Sadly, these days one does not know if they are scouting for a possible thief or worse.
Yes, I have proudly shown boating non-boating people the interior of my boat. They all seem to come away with, "Great boat but small and minimum storage space. I remind them, the builder does make boats longer than 34ft.