Yacht Listings - No Crew Cabin Pics?

Some owners would prefer to have a competent crew that are happy with their work and working conditions, not ones filling time until the next job. The hired help deserve at least that much consideration (no matter what business one might be in).

Therefore, from my perspective, not constantly seeking new crew is absolutely a personal need for a savvy owner. This is one of those instances of penny wise and pound foolish - spend the time and pennies to save the pounds of constantly dealing with replacing and retraining dissatisfied employees.

Not at all. There are good and bad in every profession. The message is don't expect the seller's broker to do your work for you. Although I wouldn't expect them to hide material defects, don't expect them to show off the less desireable aspects. As Marmot wrote:

One would assume that most Yacht designers and naval architects design “crew accommodations” based on the acceptable industry standards.
So one can assume, the employees (crew) know the nature of their business and the pros and cons associated with it.
You don’t design a Yacht based on the Crews needs.

Acceptable standards in Europe or Taiwan for crew bunks are 5'9. How many US captains do you know that are 5'9 or shorter? 10-20%???? If you're building a yacht for the US market, it should have crew quarters built to the standards of the market it is going to be sold in.

I disagree with your view of Yacht Brokers. While there may have been a lot of swindeling yacht brokers in the 80's before internet and so forth, they are few and far between now. I work for a number of large brokerage houses and they all do their best to represent the owner and ALSO represent the boat to the buyer as properly as they can. They don't want a buyer to fly here and see the boat and be pissed off and spread bad word all over the internet. Also if they misrepresent the condition of the mechanicals it's going to cost the owner fuel and crew to run the boat for the survey and seatrial. Then the buyer is going to be pissed for paying for the seatrial and survey and the broker is going to lose the deal anyways. All of the brokers I work for, want to be honest and keep everyone happy in hopes of acquiring the buyer as a potential client. This is also a small world and they want to avoid negative publicity by any means.

I have never worked for Judy, but can vouch that all of the various brokers are like what she is saying. Of course there a few bad apples everywhere. And, they all return buyers deposits very quickly.

Being a small boat captain, I've had owners who supplied me with hotel rooms, full state rooms, and (2) who thought I'd live in the hole that the 62 Fairline or the 47 Sealine call crew quarters. I think that the basic calculation an owner should make is this: Now I wouldn't expect him to live to my humble lifestyle, but if he wouldn't be willing to spend 3 nights sleeping there he shouldn't expect a responsible, professional adult to live there.

LOL.
BTW, what I refer to as crew quarters, is actually the captain's quarters. I'm not talking about some 18 year old looking for adventure, but the adult who's hired to keep the owner and his vessel safe.

Understanding who someone represents doesn't say they are 'swindlers'. I've been involved in the purchase of several boats and have never heard a salesperson say ahead of time (without being asked) that the engine room is cramped and filthy, the woodwork is faded or that the "crew quarters" were only big enough for the grandkids. Nor would I expect to.

And neither are cars built for mechanics' ease of repair... but in both instances, consideration of who is going to be working on the machine can cause or save a lot of expense and headache in the future. It's only a great fool who would say to heck with the crew, their consideration is irrelevant. That's a self-defeating point of view in the long run... penny wise and pound foolish.

I feel very sorry for anyone who buys anything designed by a person who can remorselessly make the statement that crew is an afterthought at best.

(I've never been crew, only had crew.)

If you have crew, pay for them, do medical and dental for them, you tend to keep them for years.

I know of crew who have kept with the owner for over 40 years, they become family friends. One skipper was Best Man at the owners wedding, another was left the boat after the old lady died.

Unless you are a gangly 18 year old looking for a fun summer job, crew accommadation is your home for most of the year. It is serious.

When your last name morphs into the boat name, you know you are staying for a while. Why not make it comfortable?

Fish

Anyone can live anywhere for three nights- I don't think the crew- captain or no experience deckhand- should expect to have the same lifestyle as the owner; otherwise you'd BE an owner. If it's for the summer, an extended time period, that's different. As a captain who jumps from boat to boat, crew bunks are a place to sleep, shower and change, not live. I've had owners that sleep on the couch in the salon... that puts a kink the theory there.

Ah, but would they then put someone else there?

Just because theve found a spot to cram a toilet, sink/shower and 5'9" x 18" bunk with the ceiling a foot above your face doesn't mean there is actually enough room to do that. The crew also needs enough space to retreat to on a rainy day unless the owner wants him hanging with his guests in the salon.

I've also taken that alternative on boats with rediculous or no crew quarters and used the quarters or engineroom as a changing area. That's OK with me if it is with the owner. Heck, I've slept on a 1' x 4' hard bench for a week when doing commercial work, but nobody expected me to be clean, perky and pleasant afterwards.

One time I did a 14 day delivery with the owner's wife and son and had to sleep on the couch for 14 days straight. We were travelling 10-12hours each and every day. It was the worst delivery I ever did and will never ever do a delivery without proper crew quarters, ever. It also didn't help that the salon heat didn't work and it was about 60 degrees in there half of the trip. I'd rather be cramped then cold.

Yeah, that would be pushing it. 12 hours of cruising makes a 15 hour day. Let me guess...No tip at the end and tried to negotiate your rate?

No, they didn't negotiate my rate and did tip me a day's pay at the end. BUT, the son would be drunk everyday by about 2pm and that was more then enough aggrivation. Hearing the same jokes everyday in a row and other endless sentences that didn't really make sense got old real quick. They were nice people and the mother was very apologetic. LOLOLOL One of those trips that you'll never forget I guess, not to mention everything and anything that could go wrong did, and had to spend hrs in the engine room fixing things at the end of each day.....LOL.......Watching the son walk right off the transom (in the wrong direction) with both shorepower cords and splitter right into the water was funny enough. Not to mention it didn't have autopilot or strataglass on the bridge........but did have a lower station.....

Maybe it's a bit of sadism, but it's so nice to know we're not alone when we get those runs. Sorry for enjoying your pain . When I get those runs where I feel like I should almost pay the owner (nice boat, flat seas, blue sky, fun people) I remember the runs for which there was not enough money in the world.

I charge double when the owner, his family, or his representative is on board for a delivery, if I'll do it at all.

Personally I enjoy teaching, but you're not the first I've heard of refusing transports with owners and I've had a few trips where I wished I subscribed to the policy.

The trip I talked about earlier was probably one of the worst.

I have had some really good trips with owners. I work for really good owners and some are very helpful. I ran one through the Bahamas for 7 days where the owner rinsed and chamoised the whole boat. I've never charged double, I did charge an extra $100 day for me and $50 per day on a trip where the guy had 4 kids all under 8 years old. Usually I don't charge extra, but try to stay away from doing owner trips

On the other hand, I have had some trips where it was a heck of a lot more work. And, you don't have the downtime at the end of the day when you're tied up at the marina and done each day. You can't just relax and watch tv, someone's always bothering you to do something or in the salon or whatever.........

Yacht Sales
I've been in sales my whole life and nothing can kill a sale faster than a bad sales person...after all it's ALL about credibility. A good sales person is always honest yet can still overcome the buyers concerns by addressing them straight forward and with suggestions and ideas to resolve them. For me, any time a question is skirted around it brings up red flags and I question their credibility. Not having a picture of crew quarters or the engine room doesn’t bother me, but if there's no layout illustration I'm quick to pass on to the next listing. Even with the listings that have a layout illustration, I'm suprised by how seldom I even get a reply (my most common problem lately) to even basic questions or when the reply doesn't answer my question at all.

That said, I'm amazed at how many listing have poor pics or not enough pics or info to get a feel for the yacht.

Crew Quarters
With everyone I do business with whether they are a vendor, client or employee, I always seek long-term loyalty. I want my crew to stay with me for many years to come and I want their experience aboard (as well as my guests) to be the greatest adventure of their lives. Poorly thought out crew quarters wouldn't necessarily kill a sale for me, but a remodel would certainly need to be made.

Lately, I’ve been considering putting a daycare/nursery on a shadow yacht in order to keep my crew for a few more years. Well, for them and my future grand children.

Possibly, I could just save a lot of money by offering the crew free contraception solutions and just guarantee that all the crew quarters are sex-safe as Fishtigua suggested.

Where do I apply? Actually, that is the experience I've had for the past 5 years, and more times than not before that. Every once in a while though....actually the "nots" tend to be very short term positions.

No reply or an ambiguous answer should always be taken as "you won't like the answer so I'll just not answer and hope you don't notice". Then take your business elsewhere because that's a lie of omission and the person is not to be trusted. Caveat emptor.