Crew Staying aboard

Don't forget legal issues...

You certainly won't be able to expect the captain to keep the knowledge of illegal drugs, guns, etc., as a confidence. The best you could hope for there would be for the captain to just quietly quit...

That's an accomlice to a crime. No question there. But a captain should know nothing about who is cheating on who or anything of a personal nature; not for lawyers and not for books. If it's not your business you don't see it. It's called prosoprognosia, facial blindness. An inability to recognize faces or remember names.

Exactly as long as it does not effect the Captain directly (such as drugs on board), the captain should see nothing and hear nothing. Basically, what happens on the boat, stays on the boat.

Tell that to the "48 Hours" Exec. Producer who was arrested for trying to extort from David Letterman.

Simply put, if you don't want anyone to know about it, don't do it in front of anyone.

Within reason, an Owner's professional/private business should remain private even if known to the captain.

That said, remember to treat your captain/crew well and you'll be able to count on that confidence.

Ah, Letterman fessed-up, as it was an old story, he's moved on and the twit got married. That'll cost him more that 2 $mill over the next few years.

Whatever happened to honor and integrity or am I just being hopelessly old fashioned?

Ed,

You're an Irishman, what do you think? Good up-bringing.

Yeah, I know what you mean. I could tell stories of owners and guests that the supermarket checkout rags would be too frightened to print.

We once had a charter where the guests were the writers of a soap opera. 3 months early, all the crew knew which actors were going to get canned and which nurses would get nailed. No one said(or cared) anything.

Keeping shtumm is second nature for crew, its our job after all.

Of course the crew's confidentiality is to be expected, but I'm a cynic who wouldn't trust a "jury of my peers" to come to the right conclusion much less trust someone to keep my dirty laundry a secret!

The point of all this is that you just won't know what kind of person you're dealing with UNTIL you've come to know that person.

Do you ask in the interview, "Are you discrete?" Do you expect an honest answer?

How about, "Do you smoke?" If I had a dollar for every crew member who listed themselves as non-smokers only to find them up the dock by the garbage every hour "taking a break" with a cigarette.

As far as I'm concerned, the owner's confidence is part of the job description but I'd never bet on someone's motivation if push came to shove.

I agree on the 'no smoker' bit; out of a crew of 22, there were 17 'no smokers' on the foredeck in a Force 8 looking for a light.

Motivation,when push comes to shove?

Reputation is a word oft banded around. It goes a long way, good or bad. Remember we are quite a small community.

I used to think that, but I've seen several drunk, incompetent, blackmailing, capt. crashes working for years. Could never quite figure that out. A line of BS seems to go far. Are the rich just more stupid than the rest of us?

Yeah, motivation, when push comes to shove.

3 weeks ago Kanye West and Amber Rose disembarked in Sag Harbor.

Purely from a hypothetical...who's to say what might have gone on out on the boat? What do you think pictures might have been worth to TMZ, the Enquirer, or some such trash?

Now, a juicy picture might be worth something. Then again, maybe only $10,000 or so. Maybe $100,000 if REALLY juicy.

What might $10,000 or $100,000 "motivate" a non- committed, unethical crew member to do?

How about your boss is a CEO and you overhear some inside information that might mean a hell of a lot more than $100,000? What then your motivation?

All just food for thought as I imagine those of us here having these talks actually have a sense of pride, responsibility, and self-esteem to have taken our profession seriously enough to have gotten this far.

But would you bet on the rest?

Guess I'm just fortunate (or maybe unfortunate) to be an old hippie who understands how little money is worth compared to respecting the guy I see in the mirror. As for the Holliweirds, very few impress me less.

Its like the old joke goes...

.....now that we've established you're a whore, we're just negotating a price.

Privacy

Boat will get smaller the more time you spend on it and you will need at least 2 crew, 3 if service level to be high and if cooking aboard for up to 6 guests?
Sorry to tell you, but a 74 will not afford you or crew TOTAL privacy even with dedicated crew area. They too have to eat etc. it is always a compromise!
Make sure you get a skipper you can trust and feel comfortable with. Discretion is high on most good skippers list of attributes and a good fun atmosphere counts for a lot when a group are living in a confined area.
Best advise is to suck it and see!!