StormJib said:
...if you possess a captains ticket in the US. You own what happens on the boat if you are anywhere on the boat. Even if you a just a guest hitching a ride and never near the helm.
All due respect, but this is a commonly-repeated myth that is simply not true. If you have a CG license, and you are operating under the authority of that license--that is, you were hired to be the "captain," or have any paying passengers on board the boat that you are operating--then, yes, absolutely, anything that happens is going to be on you. But just because you have a CG license, that does not mean that you cannot ever go on any boat without being liable for everything that happens.
If I go out on my buddies boat with him, just for a fun day of riding around, the fact that I have a CG license does not enter into it. If something happens while he is in command then he is at fault, not me.
In this particular case, it sounded to me like he was hired to be the captain. I could be wrong about that. If I am not wrong, if he was hired to be the captain then, yes, whatever happens, whoever is at the wheel, he is still responsible.
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