Westport 112 vs 125, more advice solicited

I've chartered in the Exumas with 6'9" and 7'10" draft boats. That's one of the skinnier, yet alluring spots to visit, but with a knowledgeable captain you can have a great time and traverse safely. We weren't able to get in super close, but were still able to find protected anchorages and enjoy all the typical Exumas stuff. I don't think the 130 would be a problem for you.

I've cruised the Bahamas extensively with an 8' draft, with no issues. 9' is doable, but does come with some limitations.

As far as the Westport brand, I can't say enough good things. Sure, they are production and cookie-cutter, but their quality is very good. And their customer support is beyond anything I've ever seen.

Just poach Olderboaters crew, he is always raving about them!!!!!

I don't know the key to finding great crew. I think the start is finding a great Captain, then once you sit down with him and tell him your expectations and activities, he can find the rest of the crew for you.

A customer of mine who is on his 18th yacht, recently chartered the 130' Westport Milk Money in the exumas for a week and had a terrific time. You might want to charter that and a 112' and see how you like the size differences and compare...….130' is the biggest I'd want for the Bahamas, as you can still get to docks with that size, anything bigger and you're stuck anchoring everywhere.

I think the key to finding a great crew is starting out with job definitions and employment plans as you would on any jobs and then building slowly, starting with captains. You can find through word of mouth. Circulate within the industry in Fort Lauderdale. Get in the Charter world and find those on charters who are after more permanent. Talk to the schools. Our crew all came to us from different directions. All through contacts and word of mouth, never formally recruited.

As to what Capt J describes on the chartering, we chartered a 112 and then several 130's, also a Burger, two Hatteras' and others. Also, some 85' Pacific Mariners. The 112 is an extremely popular boat but if you're close to it's limits then you're likely to trade up after buying it.

Now, our field of boats was limited because of our desire for a combination of speed and range.

When was the last time they launched a 130? I feel like nothing has been launched since 2014/15.

It's hard to place a value on their customer support but there's clearly a reason so many of their customers return. It just starts with how they run the company, with their build process. Meeting production schedules is a sign of control and is the first level of customer service. They leave no chance for error in the process and are really a model others could learn from. After the sale, it's an incredible combination of direct support from them and the relationships they have with their vendors. There is tremendous loyalty between them and their suppliers. Vendors who generally provide excellent service even step it up a level for Westport. Then there's the other extreme as one vendor that I often hear blasted as non-responsive responds quickly to Westport and one call to Westport gets you results.

As they don't publicize them, it's easy to feel that way. I believe 2018 would be the date but can't swear to it.

They just launched/delivered a new one before Christmas.

Since you do not own a boat, how are you going to find great crew? Crew is the hardest item for a boat owner. What might be great crew for one owner, terrible for another. Case in point, we have a strict no smoking policy. Hired one captain that said he did not smoke. Great references from personal friends. After a few weeks cruising, per the other crew and us, boat smelled slightly like smoke, maybe from the dock people? After a month we saw the Captain on the far away dock smoking. When he returned questioned him. Reply "I don't smoke ON the boat. As soon as home port fired.
We just retuned to Miami, from 4 1/2 months cruising the Med, 60 stops including anchoring and marina. 78 ft boat, towed 26 ft tender, four in crew. Once in a lifetime trip, only possible because of the special crew. Only down one day because of mechanical problem. We do our homework before we leave the dock. This crew has been with us for almost three years.

Finding a job, finding a crew....both take hard work. No magic, some luck but luck is a result of perseverance. I've always told those I knew who lost jobs or were looking for jobs that they had a job, a full time job, and it was job hunting and job preparation. Circulating. Speaking to people. Checking for ads. Doing practice interviews.

Same with crew. Some is being in the right place at the right time but it's letting those who might be of help know you're looking. We get calls out of nowhere from people we've dealt with as well as out crew is contacted by other crew or potential crew. A lot of observation. Recently we were in the Abacos and a stew spoke to our stews, begging for a word to be put in on her behalf. Guess one was, so to speak, a word she was looking and no way in the world one would want to hire her just based on what they'd observed.

The first step to hiring always is good, detailed, thorough job descriptions and requirements. Description is what the job consists of. Requirements is what you look for in a candidate. This is also the opportunity to put in writing your own idiosyncrasies. Lenny mentions what might be great crew for one owner could be terrible for another. This is the time to think of what might make that so. We are 100% non smoking, on or off the boat as if you smoke off it, you return with it in your clothes and hair and I'm extremely allergic to cigarette smoke. I'm sure the captain Lenny fired thought it was ridiculous. Well, smokers lose their sense of smell and aren't aware of the odor non-smokers smell. Oh, we have a no perfume, no cologne, no fragrance policy too. We have the strictest alcohol policy you'll find. We do eat and socialize with our crew. After all, we are housemates. Some crew members would hate that and greatly prefer formal settings where crew and guests don't intermingle. Our crew eats with us, same time, same table. But then my wife and I are at the helm probably 40% of the time we're underway. A lot of captains wouldn't like that or the fact we're both 500 Ton Masters. They'd prefer untrained passengers staying out of the pilothouse.

In business and boating, culture is important and every business, every boat does have it's own culture, own environment. I've heard businesses say they don't have a culture. Yes, they do, they just haven't put it in writing. Is it ok for deck hands and stews to have sex with each other on the boat? What about nudity and open sex for guests? Freedom of speech? No. You can't proselytize or spout political propaganda on the boat and any form of hate speech and you'd be immediately gone. What about behavior away from the boat? Well, domestic violence, hate crimes, sexual attacks, all would lose your job immediately. Yes, we seek a certain type of person. Our crew has good character and are quality human beings and if we're going to live with them and they live with each other on a boat, that's important. Behavior on the boat is. Managers in our companies or on our boat are not allowed to curse those under them or to yell at them other than when emergency. Can't do so to your supervisor either. Non disclosure is huge for us. No crew member will ever say who owns the boat or share any information on us, anywhere or anytime. Acts outside the work place represent us as whether you're working or not, you're a crew member of the boat and we will terminate for things said and for social media posts. In our business, you post a disparaging remark about your boss or co-worker on facebook and that's going to get disciplinary action. We strongly discourage the use of social media.

Then wage scales and benefits. Again a hiring practice, we want the top 10% of candidates so we must pay in the top 10% and provide superior benefits. That deadly phrase "over qualified" doesn't exist in our book. Our chief engineer and chief stew have both held those positions on boats two and three times the size of any of ours. However, they don't want to be in the megayacht world any more. Our managing captains came with 30+ years of experience and to us from a 200' yacht, but the owner's health forced him to no longer boat. Our total cost of crew, salary plus benefits and fringes of all sorts, are 30-50% above yacht industry standards. If we had 10 large charter yachts as a business for profit, we likely couldn't do that. But we have one small crew (relatively, compared to a 300' yacht) and we can afford to do that. I will say to everyone though if you are 10-20% above market in pay and benefits (and benefits are not just financial but workplace and lifestyle), ultimately it may save you a lot of money and stress. Lenny mentioned only one down day. What's the value of a down day to you? We do the same in retail and in manufacturing. Our $15 per hour sales clerk who has 4 weeks of vacation, full health benefits, 401K is far more productive than the average $10 per hour worker out there with minimum benefits. The best employees at other stores come apply for jobs with us. If by having top people on the floor, we sell 10% more, they pay for themselves many times. Turnover is not a reflection on your employees but is a reflection on you. Doesn't matter why people keep leaving, if they do, you have an issue. Businesses and Yacht owners don't seem to take the cost of turnover into consideration. The cost of training new employees is huge and the loss of productivity with inexperienced employees is also. In six years we've never lose a single crew member. We don't have to retrain constantly and we don't have the mistakes of new people to deal with. Difficult to measure on a boat but easy in retail. We have the highest sales per employee and lowest rate of loss to shoplifting and employee theft in the industry. Experience and loyalty.

What is most important to us in selection of crew? Our own personal happiness. Things that will make it pleasant for us. That includes safety, competency, and it includes compatibility. Our crew members interviewing new candidates speak openly about us and our uniqueness (kind word for out weirdness). We do final face to face interviews on all, basically chance for final rejection or them deciding they don't want to work for us. Can we enjoy being with each other so much? Doesn't matter how good someone is if their personality will make you miserable on your own boat. I talked recently to someone who hired a stew with 25 years great work record and couldn't stand her personally. I asked about the interview. Well, we didn't get a chance to do anything but phone. Why not? She was in Antibes. They don't have airline flights between Fort Lauderdale and Antibes? That would have been expensive and time consuming. Oh, and hiring someone you can't stand and probably can't stand you either, isn't? Lazy hiring always backfires.

Boats are motor vehicles and homes. Hiring crew is hiring skilled employees and choosing housemates. That makes it more challenging and worth a lot of extra effort.

The just launched the new "W". She is in Port Angeles now.

In my opinion, that's the point of owning a boat.

Well getting into and out of a tender just to get to land or take the dog for a walk sucks in my opinion when it's a necessity due to draft and not by choice.

"Well getting into and out of a tender just to get to land or take the dog for a walk sucks in my opinion when it's a necessity due to draft and not by choice."

Do not agree with the above. Sitting at anchor, with Zero speeds, is why I own a boat. We have a trained chef and my wife is a Paris trained executive chef. Going into town on our 25 ft towed tender, for food and shopping, is fun and easy. Sitting in a beautiful anchorage, great food, special Champagne, being served by our stew and chef, quiet with friends or family, is the ultimate luxury. Sure we enjoy docking in St Tropez and Ibiza, etc, but at anchor is better. Why have 4 or more in crew and be tied to a dock. Might as well buy a condo.