WHAT IS FAIR

[hatteras53]

I am starting to plan a route of travel from Annapolis to New York/Nova Scotia/Saint Johns/Azores/Gibraltar/Rome/Crete/Suez Canal/Oman/India/Malaysia/Indonesia/Manila to be done over 2 years with plenty of long port visits. Ideally, there will be 2 crew with me at all times for various legs of the journey. So, WHAT IS FAIR as to compensation. I have read all manner of comments. Some pay only for food and others pay for airfares too. Some do even more than this as well. Certainly I am not wealthy but want this to be a trip of a lifetime with others who would love to participate. FAIR is important to me. After all, these will be my fellow shipmates and all are equal. What say ye !

Michael

[Orion Jim]

Fair, like beauty, is in the eyes of the beholder. Keep your life insurance up to date if you insist on visiting Oman. The Red Sea, and immediate environs, is outright dangerous.

[mvweebles]

Of all the logistics and issues with a trip like this, you're worried about crew compensation?

Best advice I received is guests can pick the place to meet the boat, or they can pick the time to meet the boat. Cannot pick both (in other words, keep schedule commitments to zero). Whether you pay them, they pay you, or it's almost free for you both, keep it flexible.

A lot depends on circumstances. When I moved my boat 500 nms from SF Bay to Ensenada MX, I wanted my good friend aboard as crew. And there was a weather window I wanted to catch. Even though he his net worth is rock-solid, I felt compelled to pay for his return flight and taxito airport (though he upgraded to 1st class on his dime). Sometime next spring I'll be going through the Panama Canal. An equally good friend would like to join - will be on his dime, not mine.

[dougweibel]

Fair is a matter of your experience and theirs. I don't subscribe to the notion that "all are equal". If you are crossing an ocean, conditions are not benign, and you have someone without any experience in a 3 person watch rotation you either risk getting in to a bad situation or not getting much sleep. Fair also depends on point of embarking and debarking and your expectation of crew's duties. If it is easy for crew to get to and from the boat, or you are going somewhere people want to go, then there is little pressure for you to pay travel expenses. If you have a large crew with lots of time off shift and crew is doing nothing than standing watch that is a different situation than if you expect someone to be on watch half the time and cook and clean.

Depending on the above fair encompasses everything from crew paying all their own travel and their pro-rata share of food and fuel expenses to you paying all that. If your insurance requires you to have a professional captain, or you feel you want someone else taking that responsibility, for some portion of the trip then fair would also include you paying them for their time.

Finally, there is an element of supply and demand. For example if you have a last minute vacancy you want to fill and can't find anyone locally then you may have to pay travel to get someone to come on short notice.

[JPA Cate]

All are NOT equal. Two things I want to say right off the top:
1) There can be only one skipper on board--that's you, you have legal and moral responsibility for the welfare of vessel and crew...no matter in what way they may let you down.

2) People vary considerably in how long they can maintain a useful watch--and in how they cooperate with the skipper's instructions to put the mobile phone in airplane mode and not look at it. [Happened to a singlehanded friend of ours. Very bad. Also refused to tie a cleat hitch his way -- different ships, different long splices.] You gotta sleep sometime, and your welfare, and that of the vessel are in charge of whoever's on watch. Choose well your crew. You need people who can tolerate lack of visual stimulation, and who will follow instruction.

What is fair? Well, we would never charge a friend to take them sailing and we would gladly feed them. This said, for family members, we have paid their airfare when they couldn't easily afford it. If you have friends for the long legs, who are sailors already, they will be worth their weight in gold. If they are not sailors and you have to train them, good luck with that. What you have to deal with are strong minded people who have confidence in their own point of view, whether or not they'll do what you say is really up to them, and they are able to let you down. That said, I would say there are people out there for whom having to pay you for the experience might make them more cooperative--may or may not be the kinds of folks you are looking for.

Offer what YOU think is fair, not the consensus from a forum. Forums have many people with ideas different from yours. The responsibilities are all yours, so you decide in whatever manner seems best to YOU. If you let others make the decision for you, you may be unhappy with it in the long run. Me, I'd stay flexible. I would ask for help, both monetarily and with transport to the boat if I needed it. They are free to say no. But keep the negotiations up front, don't spring $$ charges on folks who can't help.



Ann

[GordMay]

There is [or should be] an important distinction, between being treated equitably, and being treated fairly, or equally.
Fair can be defined as impartial, just, or appropriate, in the circumstances. [Fairness]
Equal can be defined as, the same, or exactly alike. [Equality]
Equity can be defined as, the quality of being fair, and impartial. Equity is achieved, when everyone receives what they need, how, and when, they need it.