Auto Pilot Failure. What would you do

[monte]

OK Time2, I get that. And you are right that when you are paying more than a share of expenses the captains role should change to be more accommodating of crew preferences. I guess its a fine line in that case. Regarding references, what are the chances some of the crew would have written glowing references of their trip? Its probably not hard for any skipper to find a few happy crew to add to his CV/website etc, and bin the unhappy ones..
For me one of the most important roles of the skipper is to resolve crew conflicts and concerns amicably. This doesn't seem to have happened in your case, and sometimes its not possible which might have to result in disembarking crew earlier than anticipated.
It sounds like from your port stops it was mostly day sails down the Spanish and Portuguese coast, and with a decent amount of crew fixing a dodgy AP may not have been a priority, but should have been discussed between skipper and crew as to why so everyone is on the same page with the option of a refund for the remainder of the trip for anyone who is not comfortable with the ultimate captains decision.

[Time2Go]

Ann T.
You are correct
This was a great learning experience for me
and I have no regrets. It was one hell of an adventure.
You might remember giving me advice last year about some of my first
postings, Thanx, you were right on,
I bought myself a daysailor for the local lake (sail 2-3 days a week)
and am obtaining big boat experience crewing.
Great combination

Monte
Indeed on this cruise we started with the owner and five crew
plan was for 40 days with a swap out of 2 at 20 days
Crew # 1 left after 10 days (was to be on for all 40)
Crew # 2 left after 14 days (was to be on 20)
Crew # 3 left after 18 days (was to be on 20)
replaced 2 at the 20 day mark for the next 20 days
Both left after less than two weeks after some MAJOR blowups
There is no doubt in my mind that No One crewing for this owner
would ever have anything nice to say
That is for sure
I myself have never indentified the boat or owner
but was more interested in the proper way for an owner who takes
on crew to treat them and solve problems while at sea.

Thanks to all who responded
Time to move on and absorb the lessons learned

[Ex-Calif]

Originally Posted by monte

OK Time2, I get that. And you are right that when you are paying more than a share of expenses the captains role should change to be more accommodating of crew preferences. I guess its a fine line in that case. Regarding references, what are the chances some of the crew would have written glowing references of their trip? Its probably not hard for any skipper to find a few happy crew to add to his CV/website etc, and bin the unhappy ones..
For me one of the most important roles of the skipper is to resolve crew conflicts and concerns amicably. This doesn't seem to have happened in your case, and sometimes its not possible which might have to result in disembarking crew earlier than anticipated.
It sounds like from your port stops it was mostly day sails down the Spanish and Portuguese coast, and with a decent amount of crew fixing a dodgy AP may not have been a priority, but should have been discussed between skipper and crew as to why so everyone is on the same page with the option of a refund for the remainder of the trip for anyone who is not comfortable with the ultimate captains decision.

Don't take this personal but I have an alternate view.

You can't "ratio" authority based on who pays. The crew agreed beforehand to pay whatever they agreed to pay. The crew should know "stuff" happens and deal accordingly.

On the boat is not the place to have committee meetings, one might call that mutiny.

On shore after the sail is when you "take it to court."

The skipper has to be the skipper - always.

Some skippers are inclusive, great. Some are not, not so great. But it is the skippers authority on board.

[DeepFrz]

with the option of a refund for the remainder of the trip for anyone who is not comfortable with the ultimate captains decision.

Chris de Burgh - Don't Pay The Ferryman - YouTube

[dawn treader]

It happened to me, with both AP in the South Pacific.
We sailed duiring daylight steering manualy, and at night pulled down sails, turned of the motors.
The radar and GPS alarms helped us to have a real good sleep.

[Kenomac]

Is this the same boat and owner now currently seeking crew on CF for a 2015 Medeterranean adventure then onto the Caribbean for 2016?

[monte]

Ex Cali, what I was trying to say is, on one hand you have a delivery scenario where crew aren't paid and are sailing for the experience/ sea miles, in which case they may be asked to contribute to food costs or not and share the workload, where a reasonable cost might be $20/ day. On the other you have a charter situation where nothing is expected of the crew and the skipper and hostess take care of all meals, sailing duties and maintainance, while the guests relax in the sun, which would cost closer to $200/day, and usually require the guest to have 7 friends along to fill the cabins and weekly charter cost. Somewhere between those scenarios is what has been described here. Some $ toward costs, marinas, fuel, food, cruising kitty, as well as some help with the running of the yacht, sharing cooking duties etc, in exchange for experience, training etc. this can suit a crew member who is inexperienced or who might like to try the cruising lifestyle, or who would like to charter but doesn't have 7 friends to share the charter with or the experience to self skipper. So although not a delivery or full service charter, the needs and wants of the crew should be catered to to make sure all benifit from the experience