Good, professional relationships in yachting can mean the difference between overheated guests and an air conditioning worker doing repairs on a Sunday.

These relationship are created and fostered with a spectrum of people, from other captains to contractors, said captains at this month’s Triton From the Bridge luncheon. The group talked about who these contacts are and how captains nurture the connections.

“You need people in your phone that will help you for anything that’s a 9-1-1, and there are a lot of 9-1-1s in this business,” a captain said.

As always, individual comments are not attributed to any one person in particular so as to encourage frank and open discussion. The attending captains are identified in a photograph on page A8.

Captains are in charge, but they don’t work alone. They enlist help to keep the boat afloat, connections to keep the owner happy, and people to call along the way. They find these alliances in a variety of ways.

When there is trouble in the engine room, a captain said it just makes sense to ask his engineer who to call because that’s his area of expertise.

“You definitely ask crew for recommendations” this captain said. “Maybe they’re from the area or have worked there before.”

“Use someone who has worked on the boat before,” another captain said.

Another said he goes so far as to hire crew who have worked on the boat in the past.

“Use your local resources,” a third captain said. “Sometimes you need to ask the agent.”

All the captains agreed they trust each other’s knowledge and experience.

“Fellow captains are our best resource, absolutely,” a captain said. “They’re a vital relationship.”“Definitely we ask each other,” another said.

“I exchange e-mails with the other captains and I’ll call or e-mail to check-in and see how they’re doing,” said a third. “We become friends and go for drinks and dinners.”

“I also ask staff of other yachts,” said another captain. “My mate and my chief stew are great at having those relationships. They can find so-and-so down the way.”

You also have to rely on the marina manager and the concierge service, a captain said.“You have to know who’s clear to work, like longshoreman and insurance coverage,” he said.The benefits of quality liaisons cover every aspect of yacht needs, and once these contacts are made, it requires effort to maintain them.

A resounding consensus at the table agreed that paying for services in a timely manner is one way to ensure these bonds.

“Yeah, isn’t it nice when you take over a boat, you pull into a marina and they hand you last year’s bill from the last captain?” a captain said. “Sometimes things do fall through the cracks, but you have to pay your bills.”

“If they perform to your satisfaction and you pay them, they’ll be there for you,” another captain said.

“The most important relationship is with your accountant,” said a third.

The captains get creative when forging relationships with companies that are beneficial to work with.

“I bought a cheap wine and put our labels on it, so instead of 20 bucks, we’d hand them a bottle of wine with the boat’s name,” a captain said. “They really remember you,‘that’s the guy with the wine’.”

“We buy pizza for the workers,” another captain said.

Another captain said he sends an e-mail to the boss of the contractor or the project manager when he gets good service.

“I had a shipyard ask me for a letter,” a captain said. “I’ll tell other boats about good service to help the yard.”

“But the best thing is still to pay on time,” another captain said. “We pay in 60 days. If it’s over $15,000 then it has to go to the accountant. I don’t sit on my bills.”

“I try to use my credit card right away,” a third said. “You’re not leaving ‘til your paid.”

“You can’t leave; the U.S. Marshals can sticker your boat,” another captain said. “Remember the boat show last year, when that boat got shut down because it owed like $60,000 to the yard?”“It’s the no cash, no splash concept,” a captain said.

“And you have to understand your accountant’s issue; he just keep getting bills and bills,” another captain said, of the need for constant communication with the money manager.

Cold, hard cash works to build relationships, too, but sometimes it can be misconstrued. The commonly called B&C -- bonuses and considerations -- can jokingly be called bribery and corruption for the money that changes hands between boats and contractors or marinas. But the reality is that in many situations, tipping is expected.

“Sometime you tip up front,” a captain said. “We tip a lot: the dockmaster, the line guy...”

“They remember you if you tip, and they definitely remember you if you don’t,” another said.

“In Cannes, there is no barter, no bribe,” a captain said. “They can’t take anything, but when we have leftovers from a charter, I’ll walk in and put it down and walk out.”

While the recipient of services is typically the one to reward, it does work both ways between the yacht and the business. And occasionally benefits come back in unforeseen ways.

As an example, one of the captains said he left a boat and was later asked back to work. He returned because the job had been a positive experience.

“Everything worked sweet that year, the refit and all, everything was paid,” the captain said.The captain expected the same on his second stint with the yacht, but that relationship changed quickly when bills sat unpaid.

“The vendor was the one that said, ‘things have changed’.” he said. “I used to be able to use the captain’s card and the bills were paid. It was the vendor that asked me ‘are you sure you want to be with the boat?’ The vendors warned me.”

“A lot of it is a two-way street,” another captain said. “They want our business.”

One of the captains said a painter has a barbecue each weekend for the yachts in the yard.“And there are incentives, like happy hour at Rybovich,” a captain said of the shipyard near West Palm Beach.

There was a lot of reluctance from crew to go to a yard so far from Ft. Lauderdale, but it ended up being a good place for crew, he said. Another captain opts for Isle de Sol marina when the yacht is in St. Maarten.

“It’s that or lose crew,” he said.

One captain said it’s common for marinas will drop their rates to entice a yacht into staying longer.“Not in the Med,” another captain said. “In the Med, they don’t have to listen to me asking for it to be cheaper; first there’s a huge demand and second it’s municipal, government anyway.”

The captains said their efforts at building and maintaining relationships pay off with a smooth running boat, happy crew and owners, and reliable vendors. Everyone wins when there are healthy relationships between a yacht and the goods and services required to maintain it.

“You absolutely share the good,” he said. “You reward the good and tell the bad.”

About the Author

Dorie Cox

Associate Editor