Latitude 38 June 2010
Latitude 38 VOLUME 396 June 2010 WE GO WHERE THE WIND BLOWS JUNE 2010 VOLUME 396 GOT CREW? "We sailed south with the '97 Baja Ha-Ha fl eet and never looked back," explains Bill Fleetwood of the Monterey- true for sailors looking for a crew posi- — and also some friends' experience — based Gulfstar 50 Blue Banana. "Now, tion — while there are plenty of com- that new crew hasn't been reliable, and 13 years later, we are still sailing. We've petent, big-hearted skippers out there, that people expected a free ride, then circled 3/4 of the globe, seen 40 coun- you occasionally come across a despi- would jump ashore as soon as the boat tries and, like the Energizer Bunny, we cable Captain Bligh. was tied up to the dock." To Jeffrey's So, with the summer sail- way of thinking, "Crew should help put ing season upon us, and the fall the boat away, stowing lines and sails, cruising season right around the and helping with a quick hose-down." corner, we thought we’d share a We agree, but while such long-standing few crew-fi nding and ride-fi nding tips that we’ve gleaned over the years, as well as some insights For many skippers, the fact from Latitude readers. that a crew candidate has Promote Clear Expectations only limited experience is — Ideally, the process of taking on crew should be a win-win not a deal breaker. situation for everyone. That is, everyone should go away feeling positive about the experience, traditions may be engrained in many of rather than either the captain us, newbies sometimes need seemingly or crew feeling that they’ve been obvious elements of boating etiquette misled, taken advantage of, or spelled out for them — i.e.
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