The list of tales that could be told about all the voyages that went sour because of incompatibilities is too long to recite. Choosing crew whether as guests or paid/unpaid crew is fraught with potential problems. I could go into mind numbing detail about what such a list could comprise. But, the central problem is that there is no clear cut way to bring together the ultimately congenial ships company. It follows that there will be occasions where somebody has to be sent home. The trick is how to make this happen and to do it before things get out of hand, while peace can still be maintained. If you wait too long out of some misplaced notion that things will get better, you may have a situation where no one can get along. Better to act in time than too late. Today, it is generally only a matter of putting someone on a plane. Back in the good old days, it was not so simple. There is a lot of alcohol related problems in the cruising community. You will eliminate some of them by tightly controlling any alcohol aboard. Alcohol can be a problem with guests, crew, yard workers, management at companies you may be dealing with and all of this must be taken into account. It will pay you to check into the background of anyone you have to deal with in regards to the operation or maintenance of your vessel. Doing this is no fun, but on occasion absolutely necessary. It is a sad but unfortunate fact that all of these things are so. Mike Capt. Mike Maurice Tualatin(Portland), Oregon