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View Poll Results: Have you ever jumped ship?
Yes I have. 9 28.13%
No, I have not. 16 50.00%
I would never jump ship. 7 21.88%
Voters: 32. You may not vote on this poll

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Old 03-02-2014, 01:31   #1
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POLL - Have you ever jumped ship?

To preserve anonymity this is a poll. Of course one is free to add their comments.

To jump ship means to willfully leave the vessel due to intolerable circumstances aboard the vessel. It is not to be confused with abandoning ship or willfully going over the side or man overboard.
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Old 03-02-2014, 01:38   #2
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Re: POLL - Have you ever jumped ship?

Pouring over a past log I came across the entry where I described jumping off a vessel. It was a most inopportune time for the boat but after 4 months I would no longer endure the ill behaviors of the skipper. I had also gotten a friend hired on as crew and after I left the skip really layed into my friend until he too left the boat. The behaviors of this capt made Capt Bligh look like an amateur. And I had told myself I would never jump ship.
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Old 03-02-2014, 02:10   #3
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Re: POLL - Have you ever jumped ship?

No I haven't, but I was ready to jump overboard off of Molokai several years back. And that was on a day charter! The skipper was beyond unbearable, never sailed with him again.

However, our American flag jumped ship last week as we were clearing out of Carriacou. I guess the Old Girl just couldn't take the 20-25 knot winds we have for the last month or so anymore, and preferred a watery grave . She even convinced her staff to go with her, we still can't figure out how he got loose!
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Old 03-02-2014, 05:19   #4
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Re: POLL - Have you ever jumped ship?

Jumping ship is not something that anyone should take lightly. It is highly dependant on the circumstances. If you feel your life is endanger, then walk. If you find yourself aboard with the proverbial Capt. Bligh, and you make land fall, then tell him you are leaving and walk, you needn't explain yourself, wouldn't do any good with that type anyway, they don't see it themselves. Unless you signed shipping articles, you are there of your own free will, and if your will no longer wants you there, then go. If you have accepted a position for hire, for a specific destination then you are obligated to continue unless it is a life threatening situation.
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Old 03-02-2014, 05:46   #5
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Re: POLL - Have you ever jumped ship?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Richard5 View Post
To preserve anonymity this is a poll. Of course one is free to add their comments.

To jump ship means to willfully leave the vessel due to intolerable circumstances aboard the vessel. It is not to be confused with abandoning ship or willfully going over the side or man overboard.
Anonymity? I could see who voted which way before I voted...
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Old 03-02-2014, 07:20   #6
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Re: POLL - Have you ever jumped ship?

Just a (not so) quick story about a very well deserved mass ship jumping....

Around 9PM one nice summer evening I was aboard my boat on its mooring near the mouth of Northeast Harbor, Maine and I heard a call on channel 16 to the coast guard from a vessel "outside the islands" claiming to have come from the northeast with no charts and wanting an escort in to shore. That seemed odd but the local Coast Guard station did indeed send a boat out to escort him in, all the way to the fuel dock that I used to keep my dinghy at and was located only a couple hundred yards from my mooring. The chartless vessel turned out to be a 100'+ motorsailer and once docked, the Coast Guard boarded him and supposedly wrote up several violations. The next morning the dock owner/manager wanted him gone because he was taking up the whole face of the dock, but the boats owner, a very old man, persuaded them to allow him to stay for a few days by promising to fill up all his empty tanks. This meant that all the locals had to maneuver the inside of the dock to get fuel. The woman who managed the fuel dock loaned the old guy his car "for a few hours" to go shopping and didn't get it back until late that night, well after she had intended to go home from work. It turns out that the old man made his millions by first marrying a wealthy woman and then using his connections to become an arms trader, and he claimed to be friends with Richard Nixon but we all wondered how much of what he said was true and how much was embellishment. His crew was Norwegian and any time he was at the dock accompanied by any of them he was always treating them like slaves and barking orders and making insulting remarks about how stupid they were. After a few days, the dockspace again became an issue and the boat was forced to leave to make space for others and the old man was mad about this so only bought a very small amount of fuel. They motored out of the harbor, less than 1/4 mile from the dock where they had just spent 2 or 3 days, and anchored right on top of a ledge that barely dries out twice a day at low tide. Because they did this just after high tide, and the boat probably drew almost as much as the 10' tide change, nobody had time to tell them that was a bad spot to anchor. Luckily, a local lobsterman happened by and noticed what was going on and pulled them off the ledge before any serious damage was done. Of course the old man didn't offer the lobsterman any reward for saving his boat from severe damage on the ledge. The next beautiful, sunny, Sunday morning I was sitting in the dockhouse reading the newspaper and chatting with the woman who managed the dock and her female summer hire college student who normally pumped the fuel, and we see the old man approaching the dock in his dinghy accompanied only by his little old wife this time. We wondered out loud if he would stop and "favor us" with a visit or head right up to where his rental car was parked. He did indeed decide to stop by for a visit and I'll never forget the image of this disgusting old reptile standing in the doorway with his 80ish year old wife standing behind him trying to look in over his shoulder as he told the 3 of us inside that when he visits Japan, the emperor always provides horses for him to ride. None of the 3 of us understood what that statement had to do with anything, so the dock manager, who by then was used to dealing with him, asked him what he meant by that. He repeated himself, this time making it clear that he was saying "whores" and not horses. Suddenly I felt a little ill and dirty and it wasn't such a beautiful day any more. I have NO idea why he felt the urge to tell the 3 of us (including two very nice women) this, especially standing right in front of his wife with her listening. The wife didn't react at all, just looked sad. All 3 of us inside didn't know what to say and he and his wife soon continued to walk on up the dock towards their car and that's the last I ever saw of them. But I heard a few weeks later that when they reached Newport, his WHOLE crew jumped ship the very moment they got paid.
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Old 03-02-2014, 07:40   #7
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Re: POLL - Have you ever jumped ship?

Why would you let his attitude ruin your day? So did you direct him to the local cat house?
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Old 03-02-2014, 09:27   #8
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Re: POLL - Have you ever jumped ship?

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Why would you let his attitude ruin your day? So did you direct him to the local cat house?
And now we know why you are asking the question.

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Old 03-02-2014, 09:30   #9
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Re: POLL - Have you ever jumped ship?

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Why would you let his attitude ruin your day? So did you direct him to the local cat house?
After all he had done and then said, I found him to be one of the most repulsive, self centered, and hateful people I've ever met, and to the point of this thread, just the sort of owner who was very well deserving of having his crew abandoning him. But the shadow he cast on all he came in contact with is long gone, so !
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Old 03-02-2014, 10:23   #10
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Re: POLL - Have you ever jumped ship?

I am sure that it was justified, to jump ship. The decision shouldn't be made lightly. As far as the cat house goes, inquiring minds want to know. I don't let people like that spoil my day, indeed, I might have peed on his feet.
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Old 03-02-2014, 11:33   #11
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Re: POLL - Have you ever jumped ship?

You have to keep in mind that you are in a confined area where you are essentially a captive audience. I also call it jumping ship when you are on a day sail and can hardly wait to be back at the dock. I have been in that situation twice. The first, the person/friend was a defeatist. Everything was doom and gloom. It's almost like he went out of his way to sabotage the trip. The second (also a friend) was just a hot head. When he was nervous, he would start to panic and then yell.
Today I really check out people thoroughly. With couples, if I ever see a guy yelling or being sarcastic with his wife, I always pass as crew.
In turn, I have also had crew/guest that I doubt I would take out again. One that comes to mind was a woman who brought her toddler and decided it was ok to let the little girl crawl around the deck. I asked her politely to attend to the child. She said, "Oh...she's alright". I replied, "I'm sure she is but you're not. Get your kid and hold onto her"!
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Old 03-02-2014, 12:33   #12
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Re: POLL - Have you ever jumped ship?

Had a charter like that one time, small boat, two passengers, girl friend/boy friend. The guy was rude to his girl friend, and I almost brought them back to the dock, but she persuaded me to continue. Should have taken them back to the dock. Never again.
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Old 03-02-2014, 13:13   #13
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Re: POLL - Have you ever jumped ship?

Like many who crew and/or captain deliveries I'm guessing I'm not alone in walking off a boat at the first opportunity when the captain is drinking, incompetent, or otherwise a threat to the vessel or crew. It happens far more often than it should…
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Old 04-02-2014, 05:48   #14
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Re: POLL - Have you ever jumped ship?

Quote:
Originally Posted by jtsailjt View Post
...the boats owner, a very old man, persuaded them to allow him to stay for a few days by promising to fill up all his empty tanks.
...the old man was mad about this so only bought a very small amount of fuel.
I hope the dock master learned a lesson. He should have insisted that the old goat buy the gas immediately, with the promise that he could stay for a couple of days if he did, rather than letting him sit there with the promise to buy later on.
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Old 04-02-2014, 08:54   #15
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Re: POLL - Have you ever jumped ship?

Them old dried up rich guys, get that way by driving a hard bargain. I hear you denverOn. I would have said "Of course you can tie up for a couple days, right after you fill all of your tanks." My luck, he would be almost full and only take a few gallons.
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