Crew in the Guest Quarters

Well, it depends on the owner. I worked on one 97' long range MY, where the I was in the crew stateroom, the stew in one guest stateroom (female) and the Captain in his own stateroom. Some owners prefer to leave the guest staterooms un-touched and I guess less wear and tear on them. But also, if there are proper crew staterooms why would you want to shuffle all of your stuff back and forth from crew to guest and back to crew when you actually have guests. Some owners that have a family, don't want other people sleeping on their mattresses. It really depends on the owner. I run one 75' MY that i utilize the master on long deliveries, and the crew each takes a stateroom (no guests on-board) and the owner is fine with that. Everyone's different. I worked on one custom 75' sportfish that nobody slept on, ever, including the owners and that's what they wanted.

Everybody is different. I worked for one owner that had a shoe fetish and everyone had to wear shoes on-board ALWAYS because he was afraid of foot fungus.

I think it is a nice thing to do to allow family members as long as it is done in reason. That's where the problem lies. Some people would take advantage of the situation I think. But, others would not. I guess as long as you put down ground rules and so forth and it's clear that it's ok to have certain family members on board, and not say 12 people at a time, it would work out. There are many owner's that will pay to fly a Captain's wife to the boat for a week when they're not using it and so forth. And, then there are certain owner's like the weirdo in that post you mentioned that fly off the handle if that happens. Usually if an owner takes care of his crew, they will go above and beyond to take care of the owner's needs including keeping the budget down or going above and beyond with proper care of the vessel. I saw one boat that came up from Venezuala and it had beds in the engine room and that is where the crew slept. I about died when I saw that and how that owner treated his crew.

Hi,

CaptJ- Here is something I agree with you on without any question

As I rarely sail in a crew position these days I am regularly in a guest cabin, this can be a good thing on a new boat as it gets everything working and you can report squeaks, rattles, smells and noises from other sections if you hear them to help with setting up the operational profile of the particular boat.

Since most of the boats I run have no or very inadequate crew quarters it's normal to be given a guest cabin. I would however prefer separate quarters. Although we often get very close to our employers we're not guests and the line can get blurry. Of course a delivery is a whole different story, especially a new boat. As for sleeping in the engineroom, it's a nice and warm (albeit a bit noisy) spot to bunk down.....when you're cleaning up oil spills. On a yacht? Triple pay! (Not that you'd even get me on board).
I've often had owners invite me to bring my wife along. In fact I've often been offered the boat for my personal use. Wouldn't do either. A) I don't run boats for fun. B) That blurry line.

It also makes a decent sleeping quarters when the cabins are full or the crew quarters are rediculous.
BTW, did the owner think it was funny? Somehow I have my doubts.

I'm with K1W1 on this one.

It's good to spend some time in the guest area, not just from an engineering point of view but also from a hospitality side.

Do the draws shoot out when you are under way? Does the chilled water jug fall over every time you open the door? Do you get trapped in the shower when the glass door gets stuck while under way(long story)?

The owner may have long suffering friends and family to find these things out but most charterers do not.

"I saw one boat that came up from Venezuala and it had beds in the engine room and that is where the crew slept. I about died when I saw that and how that owner treated his crew. "

I'm sure you are talking about a Viking- they had a toilet installed there also... in between the engines IIRC. I sleep where ever I want in the boat when we leave FL, and sometimes I move around. I keep all my "stuff" in the crew however. The boat has to look like no one lives on board. Who comes on board is my call, but I have to keep in mind what he wants/prefers. That means few people. The default mode is if in any doubt, then no. Every owner's wishes are different.

K1W1 and Fish have it exactly right. This is why every quarters should see some crew use while underway - even owners' quarters.

It's neither difficult nor costly to keep extra bedding aboard, even an extra mattress pad. The savings in time and aggravation by having repairs effected before the guests or owners step aboard far outweigh the potential negatives of someone sleeping in my bed.

Guest yeah, but people get finicky about their bed so I'd check with the boss before I used his. I'd be surprised if it was a problem, but he'd probably appreciate the courtesy.

I'm finicky about my bed too, but like I said, having an extra set of sheets and a mattress pad is neither expensive nor inconvenient for me compared to finding out that there are other more major annoyances in the stateroom (especially once underway and away from repair facilities or when trying to keep to a schedule).

I thought I had it bad in the aft of a 30 meter cause the owners built in a crew mess, with a single basin sink and 2 burner hot plate stove (top of shore power cords) and mini fridge. The sink drained into a grey water tank with filter, the filter always was plugged....But not a doubt beats the CRAP out of a Bulkhead Efficiency...