Boating Etiquette
Matt sent this out to let all his friends know what he expects on his boat.
1. A Guest’s Guide to Boating Etiquette Buy the Fuel: Boats burn a lot of fuel. A guest should offer to pay for the fuel bill. The boat owner is already covering the cost of wear and tear, moorage, monthly payments, marine insurance, licensing, yearly luxury taxes, and a long list of other fees. Buying fuel is little enough to ask of a guest who has come along for the ride.
2. Bring Lunch: The skipper gets to the boat early, sets things up and runs the boat. The least a guest can do is offer to feed him or her.
3. Help the Skipper: Guests generally want to help, but they often improvise too much. Stand by and let the skipper give instructions.
4. Don’t Force It: How many hasps, hinges and catches are yanked and mutilated by boating guests annually? Too many. If it doesn’t come open easily - ask.
5. Stay Out of the Skippers Way: A boat is a small space. The person running it often has a lot on his or her mind, such as weather, waves, and where are the fish (or, where are we? for that matter.
6. Don’t Touch That Dial: Electronics are the captain’s turf. Don’t fiddle with the dials, punch buttons or try to make things beep. If guests want to learn about the boat’s electronics they should ask questions, or better yet read a manual while running out to the fishing grounds.
7. Remember, Docking is Serious Business: Why is it that whenever I approach the docks of my destination, everyone aboard starts fidgeting, taking off jackets and gathering up personal belongings? This is distracting, and it starts the weight shifting all over. It makes docking difficult at best. As a guest, either man you designated position while docking or sit still.
8. Clean-up is Serious Business: Salt destroys metal, and a good skipper wants to keep a clean boat. Washing the boat is not on par with washing the car: It’s preventative maintenance. Guests should offer to help at the end of the day. Guests should realize the the chores must be done quickly and efficiently. All that stands between the skipper and “Miller time” is clean-up.
9. Help Out: with the invisible work like waxing in the spring, winterizing in the fall, bottom painting and countless other jobs required to keep a boat in shape.
10. Please Reciprocate: I’m sure the people you take out fishing are knowledgable in other areas. When the skipper shares his expertise at the helm with a guest, a guest should share his or her expertise in another area with the skipper.
Martin sent this relpy to clarify things
1. Oh Captain, My Captain…. DON’T GET AHEAD OF YOURSELF: The skipper should find fish. Driving around in circles for hours on end is boring & wastes the gas that the passengers are supposed to be paying for. We ( the passengers ) came out to catch something, not sit & listen to the captain drone on & on about how the last fishing adventure was so great.
2. The captain should be able to back up his own trailer. It seems that the title of captain / skipper should apply to water AND land. If you can’t back your own rig into the water then you have no business calling yourself “captain”. This also applies to operating a car….. we have all seen you drive.
3. The captain should get to the boat early & have everything set up??? Yeah, right…. The passengers are not hired hands & don’t get paid to lug around “Captain Ahab’s” gear. Pushing, pulling, loading, & all other manual chores should be done by the captain. HEY, WE PAID FOR GAS RIGHT… I don’t remember The Proffessor & Mr. Howell out scrubbing decks while The Skipper sat down to have a smoke.
4. The captain has a job & a wife…. he can pack his own lunch. The day the skipper decides to buy a boat w/ a head on it, then the passengers might think about picking up the tab @ Carl’s Jr.
5. The skipper should learn to dock his boat. Running into the dock @ 5 knots is not pleasant for the passengers & boat itself. The need for speed is fine on the open water but not while parking. Refer to # 3 = we ( passengers ) aren’t going to bail out the ship if it starts to sink & WILL NOT “chip in” to help fix it…. Your the knuclehead that drove the boat into somehting.