September 6, 2011
Although longevity on yachts is desired and a goal, at some point in their careers, most captains join a new boat. With the myriad things to grasp in those first few days and weeks, we gathered captains this month to talk about how they do it -- and the lessons they learned the hard way about how not to do it.
But first thing’s first.
“The first thing I do is check the insurance policy to make sure it covers the captain in case of a collision or anything,” one captain said. “You also want to see what the manning regulations are, and if they’re not good, I’m going back to the owner to change them.”
As always, individual comments are not attributed to any one person in particular so as to encourage frank and open discussion. The attending captains are identified in a photograph above.
“I check the insurance, too,” said another captain, who went on to describe a scenario where a crew member was injured on the boat who then tried to sue the captain. “After that, I started checking the boat’s insurance policy so see what the liability coverage is for the captain. I don’t carry my own liability insurance.”
“I don’t carry liability insurance either,” a third captain said. “I’m covered on the boat’s policy or I don’t work for them.”
“All the boats I’ve worked on have had issues with insurance policies,” another captain said. “Sometimes, they don’t even address the coverage for boats in Florida during hurricane season.”
Not all captains are so insurance savvy.
“I just spent three days with the owners, asking them what they want to use the boat for, what they can expect in operational costs, what equipment and toys they wanted,” one captain said. “I never worried about insurance. We talked about policy negotiations, bonuses and salary increases. After hearing what these guys say, I will definitely check the insurance policies.”
This wasn’t supposed to be a roundtable discussion about insurance, but these captains discussed it at length, and several times thoughout the lunch. But we wanted to know more, like what does a captain new to a yacht do with existing crew?
“You clean house,” one captain said.
Really?
“If there are crew aboard who have been with the owner for a while, it’s ugly,” another captain said. “You don’t have a chain of command. They go straight to the owner anytime something happens that they don’t like.
“But you have to be amenable,” this captain continued. “You have to show the owner that’s not the best situation [to have crew go directly to him].”
“You can go though a boat pretty fast,” the first captain said. “After about 48 hours, it gets really uncomfortable and you just want them to go. In three to four months, you get rid of everyone anyway. … I keep thinking it’s going to be better this time, ….” He shook his head no.
“I take my core group with me,” another captain said. "It’s critical to have a good fit with new crew, so I bring my crew and then see who fits with us the best and keep them.”
The captains discussed the practice of letting everyone go, then hiring some or all of them back as day workers, seeing how they work, and extending it from a day to a week, to a trial period of three months, and then long-term if the crew fits with the new captain and his management style.
As with crew, captains also must quickly assess the yacht’s relationships with vendors. We wanted to know if they clean house here, too, bringing in their trusted vendors, or if they stick with the ones the yachts has used in the past.
“It’s in the owner’s interest to keep everything running smoothly,” one captain said. “Of course, I’d like my own vendors, but if it’s working out, I’ll keep the ones who know the boat.”
“It’s the same as with crew; you give them a day,” another captain said. “If you look at the system and it’s been maintained, keep them. If not, they go.”
“It also depends on how involved the owner is,” said a third. “I got bit with the boat’s guys. The owner had relationships I didn’t know about. It pays off to stay with the boat’s vendors.”
“My boss had the boat 19 years,” another captain said. “I got burned when I recommended a new guy.”
So once aboard and the boss is about to come aboard for that first trip with his new captain, how do captains prepare? Their first instincts were to go over the top.
“Just blow them away,” one captain said. “Exceed all their expectations. Treat it like a high-end charter.”
“Even if he says he wants to be casual,” another captain said.
But a few captains advised against that.
“Pay attention to what they ask for,” one captain said. “You create your own monster by doing too much.”
“Never do anything you don’t always want to do,” said another, who explained how he learned that lesson.
“We got the bikes ready every day, even though they never used them. Every day they’d be on the docks. The one day we didn’t do it, he’s asking ‘where are the bikes?’”
In general, though, these captains said they aim to please, and to learn from the owner what they can do to make yachting fun. Starting a new job has its fun moments, too.
“it’s always fun to go through everything, the logs, the manuals,” a captain said. “It’s amazing what you’ll find.”
“I start by setting up accounts,” another said. “You should make sure very quickly that you have funds. You don’t want a reputation for not paying on time.”
Several captains said they sort out the funding process and budget levels in the interview, but not all captains do that. (Click here to read this month’s survey on this topic.)
And once again, dealings with insurance companies were discussed in relation to destinations and where the yacht is allowed to travel, and where the captain is allowed to take the yacht.
“Joining a new boat has a lot to do with the math on a boat,” a captain said. “A one-to-five-million-dollar boat is different from a proper boat where the owner has a lot of money. In the lower end, you’re fighting for your life to run a 100-foot boat that’s not worth anything, relatively. Running a $5 million-$10 million boat is much easier [as far as insurance companies are concerned].”
If you make your living working as a yacht captain, e-mail us for an invitation to our monthly Bridge luncheon.
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