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STERN THOUGHTS |
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By God, it ain't Free - By Chris
Schaefer
Leafing through some back issues of Asian Marine I stumbled
across a Stern Thoughts written by Bob Offer of Offer & Associates.
The essence of his piece was how the yachting industry, which
is essentially about enjoyment, has some quite ugly sides to
it.
During the recent Phuket King's Cup I got a chance to talk to
some of the other professional captains in the area and it once
again was brought to my attention how unprofessionally many
yachts are managed. The amount of money that some captains are
expected to put into boats that they can never afford to own
is often higher than the yearly budget for a medium sized family
cruising yacht on a circumnavigation.
I am not really aware of any other industry where it is common
practice to expect the managers (of an accounts department for
example) to front ten thousand dollars out of their private
money to service the boss's car and load the trunk with wine
and spirits for the weekend. Now somehow nobody thinks it is
wrong to ask the crew of a yacht to do exactly that. Usually,
in the end, captains and crew get paid and there are very strict
laws that protect their interests as long as they stay with
the vessel.
I also got to talk to some owners, and realise now how disillusioned
many of them are. One owner I spoke with owed the company I
frequently work for in Singapore S$300. The amount had already
been outstanding for almost a year. The faxes were mostly ignored
and at one point the owner gave us the captain's home phone
number in New Zealand saying that this was none of his business
anymore as the captain who had ordered the parts with us had
resigned.
As I confronted him during the lay-day of the regatta he told
me bluntly that he did not do business during his holidays and
that I could make an appointment with him in his Hong Kong office
any time. I did not think this was very funny.
There is a lot of goodwill in this industry. People work very
long hours to get boats ready - parts are shipped out on nothing
more than a promise over the phone. Often it is the captains
personal rapport with the equipment suppliers that makes this
possible. And unfortunately often this goodwill gets abused.
Where captains are owed money in the tens of thousands often
equipment suppliers are owed money in the hundreds of thousand-dollar
range - enough to buy the very cruising yacht!
As Bob Offer put it, "Lets all put a little more kindness into
out business". Owners - when you decide to delay funds to your
captains and their suppliers just think for a moment on how
that will make them feel! How can you expect to have a happy
crew aboard your yacht during your holidays if you don't pay
them? How can a captain enjoy his job if he has to go through
the stress of dealing with people come knocking on his door
asking for money that he doesn't even really owe? And who will
respond when you really are in a bind and you need that generator
part right now or your whole vacation will be ruined. Will somebody
that you hang up for weeks or even months happily help you out?
Who will want to deal with a boat that has a reputation for
not paying their bills.
There are so many sad stories out there - stories of mistrust
and barely controlled anger, stories of very unhappy boats.
It does not have to be that way. Everybody is aware that Asia
went through a crisis and that money was not flowing quite as
freely as it was before the crash. But this is not a new phenomenon.
This has been going on for as long as I have been involved in
this industry. The crisis just added another excuse to the picture
- just like the check is in the mail, which we all dread to
hear.
For this new century lets all try to put a little more kindness
into out business and operate a friendlier environment for all
involved in this industry - I am sure you will not regret it.
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