A New Yacht Owner

A lot depends on how much your boat cruises, and your captain, how much you pay him and how much maintenance and deckhanding you intend and are capable of doing yourself. I assume that the captain is full time. If not you're way off base. 74' could really use a 2 person team. If the boat will spend most of it's time in one or two home ports and cruise occasionally I'd suggest hiring the marina's wash/wax service. That would save you the second person and probably leave your boat looking better. A captain is not a boat washer nor a housekeeper although straightening up would be normal. If you plan to do a lot of cruising then you definitely need a second crewman.

Sir,

It is ultimately your call. I run a 72' Marlow Explorer full time, that does stay at the dock quite a bit; however I still use subs. I have a company do the washing, varnish and bottom cleaning, but I do everything else. Mechanical, Electrical, A/C, waxing, etc.

It is all in what you want to spend and how. I think if you load the captain up with too much, he will have to cut corners if your expectations are too high. I have been with the current boat for 4 years, and it seems to work in my situation. As the boat ages, it will require more maintenance, which translates into less time into working on other projects. Good luck.

I agree with Pascal. But you have to remember that there are only so many days in a week. The boat sits in a salt water/air environment and by the time he gets done with wash and chamois, interior and engineroom detailing, it's time to start the process all over again.

As far as varnishing goes, I do it twice a year... in the fall and spring when the temps are more conducive to good varnishing principles.

Hopefully you are treating him fairly. The demand on a solo entity on a 70+ footer can lead to burn-out.

Frank,
Welcome to YF.
As a captain, I think you should be open to doing most any job on the yacht. But be careful; you hired a captain, not a cleaning service. Captains (and I know, I am one) want to captain a vessel, not take a job that sits them on the docks. They should help out around the yacht as much as they can. When I ran a 61 Sunseeker, I did it all except the heavy engine work. Clean, wax, strip teak, etc was all part of the job. I even provisioned and set out breakfast when the owner was onboard (they ate lunch/dinner off the boat). But they did like to cruise, even if it was up/down the ICW, so it gavea good balance to the job.
On another boat, even when the owner told me my only job was to run the vessel, I pitched in with the washing after a trip and such.
As captain, you are the manager of the vessel and all operations and tasks fall under you. Either do them, sub out, or look for a new ride.

Absolutely right, as captain you have to be able to do every body's job and are charged with seeing that those jobs get done, but we do best what we do best and the key is for the owner to find the captain that best suits his wants. Each captain brings their own talents, personalities and styles. Each is different. Just don't hire Rembrandt, pay him what he's worth, and then have him paint your fence white.

Hi,

Not a reality in 99 % of cases especially as the size of the boat increases.

Right. I should have said know everyone's job well enough to jump in and help where needed or to hire the right people & train them. Personally, I know how to varnish and know how it should look when done, but you don't want me varnishing. I don't have the patience to do it right. When you walk down the dock it's easy to see which job was done by the jack of all trades and which was done by the pro. When I was in Lauderdale there were several Bahamian fellows who really knew their stuff. Don't think I'd want them plotting a course or docking a boat though. When I moved back north there was a mechanic who had a boat servic. His crew did every job on a boat. The varnish work looked like it was done by a house painter, and no boat on which he did mechanical work ever seemed to run again. Just before he took off with everyone's winter storage money he pulled one boat off the dock without disconnecting the shore power, and towed a 46 with a 38 (to save time & money, instead of moving them seperately). When he ran the 38 aground the 46 became part of the 38. A good captain wants to save the boss money. He also wants to keep busy. But his job is to see that the vessel and its owner are properly taken care of. Have him do all jobs and he'll master none, which is fine if that's what the owner wants.