TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums British Virgin Islands (Hired) Captains Meals

For those of you that have sailed with a hired captain only no chef ~ what was your experience with what the captain wanted to do if you were eating ashore? We have a few excurstions planned while there...exploring VG by car etc so he will be on his own. We will have food on the boat obviously but feel we should give him cash to eat out if he wants. How have others handled this? I am putting together an appox cost sheet for our friends and feel this should be included. Thanks

We only had a captain on our trip in 2001. We invited him to dinner and paid for his dinner. If in doubt, ask the charter company how to handle his dinner on those special nights.

At one time any places offered "captin eats free". Not sure if anyone still does that.

That was back when the "Professional Captain"was the one who steered the boat AND the customers to the restaurant. With the proliferation of "Credit Card Captains", it has somewhat disappeared as they also wanted the freebie. Difference being the professional captain would bring people many,many times a year, the cc captain once in a blue moon. Some still do it quietly, the professional captains know where these places are.

Give the captain heads up on itinerary of your plans and if desired you may invite him ("we are taking tour of VG on Thursday and you are invited if you would like to come or you if you have things you would rather do, we can meet you back at the boat sometime before 8am Friday" ... He may want to visit friends/ family. If eating ashore, suggest inviting at least one meal. If he is "on his own", no need to give him cash at this point, but gratuities customary at end of the trip.

I was a professional Captain here for many years and did not do too much 'hired bareboat' work.
However when I did the contract always clearly stated that the charterer was responsible for supplying my food and drink.
I fully expected to eat what they ate onboard and at least an offer to join them ashore. I also always offered to HELP cook or clean up.
Truthfully it was 'hit or miss' on the food part -- mostly fine but some fairly bizarre weeks too.
I never drank their alcoholic beverages or accepted drinks on shore -- except for way back in the 70's when the charter guests, crews and boats were very different - a very different era!
Overall it was a pretty hard job - I was the only one responsible 24/7 and everyone else was on full tilt vacation mode.

I did not mean to imply that charterer was not responsible for captain's meal. They could want a private dinner ashore (perhaps anniversary), without captain in tow. The captain would then eat on charterer dime, either on boat, or on land. The TMM site addresses this in FAQ, so charterer knows what is agreed to/expected.

I am sure over the years you saw quite a variety, from quit to rowdy, to friendly to jerks, some you would love to sail with many weeks and some you wish you could call in sick with... Maybe a blog of "A Day in the life of a charter boat captain"

We just got back from a charter where we had a hired skipper. The first night was spent on the boat - the captain preferred to sleep at her place so no problem there - same thing at the end of the charter. Anytime we ate on the boat, we of course provided food and drink to the skipper including any alcohol. We enjoy eating and drinking good food and drink, so i think the skipper enjoyed the meals and drinks we provided. She didn't drink much in the way of alcohol which is what I expected. When we were eating off the boat, she was always invited. She didn't usually join us as I think she liked having the down time without having to make conversation etc. I think it's pretty hit and miss for the skippers when there is no chef involved. Our skipper said that one group she skippered basically lived off Pringles for the week which got old pretty quick! We found it to be much less of an issue than we expected. I also don't think you need to offer cash when you are eating off the boat. They can either come with you, or eat anything out of the fridge/freezer - their choice.

We have hired a teaching Captain. Ours will be teaching Captain Jr, the Brother from another mother, and Chop Chop the ways of the sea. We will be inviting him to dinner out and also happily feeding and offering libations while on board. We have had great captains before, so hoping this one (last one) is the icing on our cake. It is a leap of faith to pay for a Captain, picked by your charter company, hoping you will have a great 7 nights in tight quarters. Here's to faith! <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/toast.gif" alt="" />


Jolene +7 on Jenica

I think the charter companies, for the most part, are able to select captains who are able to satisfy the needs of almost all people. The captain needs to read the group and accommodate as dictated by the group. Does not have to become life long friends. If the captain can't do that, the charterer feedback will soon dictate to the charter company to use other captains.

Two years ago, when I did my bareboat certification, the crew was responsible for treating the captain, we took turns. I recall that at a few places the captain ate free or there was a reasonably priced dinner option. Off the top of my head I think Pirates bite was one. Can't recall others.

Thanks everyone...your replies are very helpful. I was able to get his cell phone and called him to introduce myself, ran our float plan past him and asked if he had any food allergies etc as we are bringing down most of our meat for our meals...all pre cooked (pulled pork, taco meat, brats etc) to keep the cooking (mess!) simple and easy. Turns out a few things we have on the menu are items he is not able to eat so I am glad I called ....easy enough to pack some chicken/turkey options for him that work with what we are having that night.