The dynamics of crew and owner can have more nuance than wind and sails.

I recently sailed in the 2005 Marblehead to Halifax Race: it was a race that was both fulfilling and disappointing. I have been lucky enough to crew with the best, and sail with great boat owners such as Eric Swensen, Dominic Porco, Gary Corwin, Randy Pittman, and Sy Kaback, back in the day when my weekends were my own and I sailed up to 40 weekends a year. Now that I have three children, my weekends are full, and I cannot just go sailing unless I want a mutiny at home.

I desperately want to stay in the game and sail a few races a year, and if possible race a classic distance race. When my children get out of Optimists I’d like to introduce them to my passion for distance racing. Unfortunately, it is very hard to find a boat that both needs my talents and is willing to let me slide on the commitment issue. So I raced to Halifax on a boat that I had never raced on before. I would like to tell a tale, without naming names, in an attempt to show some of the things that could have been smoothed over. In my opinion, if more emphasis had been placed on sailing philosophy and less on sailing credentials, the ride could have been better.

An old pal from the Toscana crew called me and asked me if I could help out with the 2005 Halifax Race. The 360 nautical mile course runs slightly north of due east when leaving Marblehead waters and sails past Cape Ann before crossing the Gulf of Maine, through the strong currents of the Bay of Fundy, Then it’s on to the shoreline of Nova Scotia and the finish in the Halifax Harbor. I was interested in crewing on this boat because the crew commitment was to only do the Block Isle Race. My oldest had a junior sailing function and I could not make the Block race. To my surprise the owner was willing to take me regardless! This was too good to be true, and my head swelled. "I guess my reputation is good enough that I can get a ride regardless," I thought. Wow--a chance to sail with an old friend and not make a crew commitment for more racing. The old friend got two other crew members from Toscana and I was even more enthused. I did not remember either sailor, but I knew if they sailed with Eric Swensen they were my kind of sailors.

Please allow me to explain. Eric treated crew like family and respected their abilities. If you fit in and loved the sport Eric would find a place for you on his team! He was a giant among men and he brought out the best in those he shared time with. The watches would compete for most distance, most talent, and most fun. There was always a bet for most distance between the watches. We always lost a bottle of Goslings to his watch. Suffice it to say I was headed to Marblehead to play pick up ball on a boat I did not know, with an owner I did not know, with the comfort that 40% of the crew had the sailing culture I trusted and enjoyed. Then there was an unexpected vacancy a month prior to the race and my younger brother was interested. The old pal and I twisted his arm and now we had a full watch of five. We were so excited about the chance to sail together that we did not do our homework. Unbelievably, we did not check out the owner, the provisioning, the previous crew moral, and most importantly we did ask about the racing philosophy of the owner/boat.

It takes more than one pair of hands to keep a boat moving at optimum speed and morale plays a big part.

I met the owner and I saw his boat, which was immaculate. "This owner really takes care of his boat," I thought. I even spent some time with him a few weeks before the race helping replace the gooseneck fitting. He was nice, friendly and very handy. I was even more excited about the race.

The boat had some engine trouble on the delivery to Marblehead, which consumed everyone on Saturday before the race. We could not go down below because it was an oily mess. While the engine was being fixed, we did some taping and rig prep for the race. Soon it was time for the cocktail party and all was lost in the camaraderie and the long lost friends.

Sunday came, we had breakfast and headed for the boat. The gear was stowed, or should I say placed on bunks. I looked around and an alarm bell in my head went off--the boat was chock full of crap that was never going to make us fast. The more I looked the more I was shocked that the owner believed he was rated with a ton or more worth of cruising gear and tools. We were apparently going to race with a spare for everything; from halyards to the entire roller furling jib system. The owner felt it was unacceptable to go offshore with out all of this gear. I guess if the race turned out to be a drifter we could rebuild the transmission! In an effort to be positive I focused on the gang and decided to make the best of it!

With the excitement of the start I did not eat lunch, and as far as I know neither did the crew. After a successful start and a trying first few hours, it was time for a meal. I asked if I could help make dinner and I was told "no"’ by the owner. He then said he was not ready to cook it. I asked again in an hour and got more of the same. Out came the Girl Scout cookies I had brought. Our meal was finally served at 9:00 PM and it was the best meal I had ever eaten. I went into the galley later to scrounge for a snack and was asked what I was doing. The boat owner was acting like I should stay away from his food and his galley. He was drinking ice tea and the crew was only offered water. Our beverages of choice were water or coffee. How was I going to get my sugar rush from that? The crew began to joke that we were on a diet for the race.

The watch captains wanted access to the nav computer, but were told "Sorry, it has a password and I can not find a post it to put it on" said the owner. I told him "If he got hurt we were lost!" and it seemed like he did not care. It took 24 hours of fighting before he gave up the passwords. Halifax was looking good and everyone wanted to get there as fast as possible in this Winnebago with old sails and rationed food.

For some reason the boat’s gel batteries were very difficult to fully charge. We had many watches where the engine was run for the whole watch to try and charge the batteries. We asked if we could go longer periods between charges and we were again told "No!" There was no discussion, the owner’s decision to run the engine to charge the batteries was final. It had become apparent that we were the unpaid help and nothing more. We were eating bread and water, our requests were being denied and, all along the owner was very short with his son who was part of the crew. Another warning sign we should have picked up on: the one crew member that did not make the race was his other son. His excuse was something about a sinus infection. Among our crew, he became know as the smartest person on the face of the Earth for bailing. Our first breakfast was a slice of pound cake or "Breakfast Bread" as the owner called it. At this point, I wanted to eat like I had a tapeworm. Our second watch captain took more of a politically correct approach, telling the owner’s son, "I feel like I am craving sugar, from burning all these calories…it is too bad we don’t have some soft drinks or juice on board!" On the second day I asked for a sandwich at lunch and was then told that we were low on cold cuts. I could not believe it, how could we be low when I skipped lunch on day one? With some repeated hints for more food, the owners’ son finally gave me another sandwich, making like he did me a favor.

Knowing crew preferences for food and drink can help stem the mutiny.

We finished, but even then the owner had other rules we could not overcome like no sails on deck, even at the dock. This meant that after we finished the race and had a few cocktails, there was not enough room for the entire crew to get some rack time. The five of us headed to the casino where we knew we would be served drinks at 5:00 AM, and began to laugh about our bizarre captain/owner. The boat finished quickly regardless of the lack of rations, the extra weight, and the old sails. I attribute this to a great crew that was highly motivated to get off the boat as fast as possible.

One of the crew said, "Where have all the good owners gone?" We had a moment of silence for Sy Kaback and Eric Swenson, both great sailors we had recently lost. Then I thought this owner took a big chance with a pick up crew, and we never thought we were taking a big chance with a pick up owner. The bizarre ride was as much our fault as his because we did not do our homework. I wrote this little account with the hope that others do not get caught like we did. If you are getting on a boat you do not know, ask questions about the boat’s culture, expectations, the meal plan, and most of all what is expected of you by the boat owner and his crew. A good ride should leave everyone feeling like they accomplished something worthwhile, and hopefully they enjoyed themselves in the process.

For the boat owners out there ask similar questions: what are your expectations as a crew member? What do you like to eat and drink? What kind of boats do you like to sail on the most? Ask about traditions, for example every boat I have ever raced on holds crew dinners before and after the race. On this ride we never ate as a crew on shore. Please don’t allow your sails to take up bunks, especially when the race is over! Remember this is an expensive sport, and just because you pay the bills does not give you the right to treat the crew poorly.

I sincerely hope this captain/owner does not serve bread and water to others and lose more crew. If you feed the crew poorly, and limit their input, giving them a common enemy, it is amazing how well they will bond against you! I believe I could call upon them to go at it again, any time anywhere, if we knew more about the boat and its racing culture. Finally, I would like to thank the Boston Yacht Club and the Royal Nova Scotia Yacht Squadron for a race well run. To Big E, Uncle Jeff, my brother, Mr. Flat A, Australian Dave, Firefighter Jack, and Dirty Dave thank you for doing battle! I had a great time getting to know you all better. You are the best pick up crew I ever sailed with, and I would stack you up against any of the great crews I have sailed with.