Hi Mike The other unknown a delivery captain faces is the boat itself. How much time do you take to familiarize yourself with a vessel and its sea-keeping abilities, and how do you determine if it meets whatever level of mechanical reliability you deem necessary for a particular journey? I assume you make different weather judgements based on different vessels. What happens when something breaks underway? After reaching safe haven, do you organize repairs and stay with the vessel, or do you leave her to the owner to re-assume direct responsibility wherever she happens to be found? Cheers, Garrett

At 01:55 AM 10/27/01, you wrote: >Hi Mike > >The other unknown a delivery captain faces is the boat itself. How much >time do you take to familiarize yourself with a vessel and its >sea-keeping abilities, and how do you determine if it meets whatever >level of mechanical reliability you deem necessary for a particular >journey? I assume you make different weather judgements based on >different vessels. > >What happens when something breaks underway? After reaching safe haven, >do you organize repairs and stay with the vessel, or do you leave her to >the owner to re-assume direct responsibility wherever she happens to be >found? > >Cheers, Garrett Garret, I did not intend to cover the problems of the boat or those of being a delivery captain. I was trying to present some material usable by anyone attempting a run on this coast or for that matter any similar coast. I rarely see the boat before I fly off to take it somewhere. But I find out a lot about it before I agree to the job. Most owners complain that they are the onces who got interviewed, instead of the other way around. I generally see the most recent survey, talk to the surveyor and I ask lots of questions. I pick the equipment I bring, tailored to the boat and it's weaknesses. I have had lots of breakdowns. I won't generally go where I don't have first rate communications. With a sat phone I can get fast expert information, which I have used to solve problems in a reliable way, such that I could get the boat underway again. There have been only a couple of times over 30+ years that I have had to leave the boat to the owner. In a sense I am a kind of hired gun. "This is a dirty job" and we need someone who knows how to get something to happen. To put this another way. If the job was easy, somebody who doesn't know what they are doing would be doing it. Does that mean I only get the dregs? NO, but it does mean that clients have me do jobs that they are concerned about and when I make the right noises about making real careful plans, they will often drop the job in my lap because they have confidence in the way in which it will be done. In effect that it is a clear description of my market niche. For instance, I often hear from clients that the other guys they were considering, claimed that the job "was no problem". Whereas I don't mince words. I lay out where the trouble spots are and what I intend to do about them. If this is what the client is comfortable with, then I will most likely get the job. To be blunt about it. It takes a certain amount of self confidence to tell a prospective client that something is difficult or dangerous, lay out the details of that difficulty and expect them to still want you to do the job. Tactics like this are very hard to bluff. But, it is my market and I know just how to lay it out. Once in a while this kind of candor will send a client into retreat, but you have to be prepared for not converting all inquiries into sales, as it were. Underlying this are the unspoken fears about the possibility of a failed delivery. A failed delivery, where the boat is tangled up, especially in some foreign country is of no use to anyone. Not the captain, the crew or the owner. I have never allowed a delivery to become an abject failure and a few times it has cost me dearly. But, I have my reputation to think of, so I never have allowed it to come to pass. But, I have had some real close calls. I figure this sort of thing is part of the game and I don't take it personally. It is better to have had a close call that cost money than one that cost lives or injuries. ANd I have never had that happen. As for the seakeeping ability of a boat. I try to estimate that up front, but in the final analysis, I usually find out the reality at sea. At which point I change plans to suit. Most of the boats I see are not up to being out in really rough conditions. I act accordingly. If there is any mistake that I notice being done by others, on a routine basis, it is pushing the boat and weather further than prudence would dictate. I consider it good public relations to make it obvious that if I have a tendency to take chances, which some would consider foolhardy, that when things are actually going to hell, I am always tied up someplace safe. I don't tailor my tactics to please the crowd, just the reality of the conditions. In that sense I am real cold blooded. If there is any thing which I can bring to the experience pool that others can learn from, I suspect it is just this. But, in order to do so, it is necessary to write it out or voice it. These writings which I have pumped out have just that intention. Someday my keyboard will be silent and the younger generation will have to cope with all these kinds of problems. When I write this stuff, I try real hard to make it as clear and plain as I can, that anyone who would like to read it might actually come away with some useful insight. I have made the comment in the past that you can't steal another man's tricks. You can never bring to bear the exact same kind of experience that he has, you can only adapt what you can learn from his tricks to use as your experience makes feasible. We advance, individually and collectively at the margin. Around the edge of our experience. Regards, Mike Capt. Mike Maurice Near Portland Oregon.