On Wed, May 11, 2011 at 09:51:22PM +0300, LAL wrote: > Do any of you all have a "formal" or "informal" guest policy.
I have a few formal policies, and a lot of informal policies. > Specifically do any of you "limit" how young children can be on board, > and who is responsible for them, and when these youngsters must wear > life vests? My 5yo is expected to wear her PFD whenever she's on deck and the boat is under way. Visitors with small children are welcome to be more restrictive, but not less resrtictive (since I absolutely do not want to deal with "why is he allowed on deck without a PFD, and I'm not..." My 16yo step-daughter hasn't been on the boat while it's underway since she was about 14, and the same rule applied to her then. _I_ won't insist on her wearing a PFD on deck any more (she's a better sailor than most of the adults who aren't covered by that rule), but the policy of lettin parents be more restrictive still holds.. > Do any of you have a informal limit as to how long a guest can stay on > board? It really depends on the guest and the circumstances. At the dock, I can't really see anyone staying much longer than a weekend (really, we're on a 30 footer, and after a whole weekend, they're usually begging for an opportunity to be somewhere with more room again), but I'm certainly not averse to having a guest crew for a 2+ week cruise if they're so inclined.. > How does one politely tell guests that there are severe and rigid > limitations as to what can go down the toilet, how much water one can > use in the shower, turn the tap off when brushing teeth, and when to > help and when not to help around the boat. Well I've solved the tap and shower issue by not having a pressure water system. As a bonus, I don't have to maintain or power a pressure water system either. The only problem I've ever had with anyone wasting fresh water is when my 5yo (not yet 5 then) decided that the foot pump that runs the sink is a fun toy (on the upside though, I never had to fight with her to get her to wash her hands--also interesting is that even when ashore, she still strongly prefers to wash her hands in the coldest water available). > Do any of you state that small children (under the age of, let's say 5 > or 6) must be accompanied by their parents? (Grandparents, aunts, > other relatives do not qualify.) To be honest, even with the increased exposure to the young folks from having one of my own, I've never encountered a small child whose parents were ok with him/her being over on the boat without being accompanied. I suspect that I might have to figure things out a bit more as my own spawn gets older and wants to have friends over more often. I think I'll probably be ok with her friends being over unaccompanied though, since I expect her to exhibit some pretty strong peer pressure around acting safely and appropriately on the boat. > And, do any of you all have a "guest who brings their pet with them" > policy? No, but I wish I did. I have some friends who routinely bring their large puppy without much warning, and I find her difficult to deal with even within the comparatively large spaces in their apartment. > Again, informal, formal, understand between consenting adults, wish I > had that discussion, have not had that discussion but wish I had, etc > etc etc.. Another point that I feel it necessary to point out (particularly with teens and 20-somethings around) is that controlled substances are absolutely not allowed on the boat (and I clarify that "controlled substances" includes anything that is controlled in any jurisdiction to which the boat could be reasonably expectd to travel; not just the jurisdiction that the boat will be in during the visit. This is an important distinction in Canada, where we can buy pseudoephedrine over the counter as a cold remedy, while it's restricted stateside as a methamphetamine precursor). I occasionally relax this rule with trusted friends, but I like having it in place because it's a lot easier to tell someone that if they do X, then I'll exempt them from the sudafed ban, than it is to tell someone that in order to bring sudafed aboard, they have to X. > I am thinking about these issues and my mind is drifting toward > draconian rules, especially with young children with their parents > only, as having a child get hurt on board would be ABSOLUTELY > DEVASTATING. Depends on how they get hurt. I occasionally opine that while I had stitches, sprains, and other hospital visits as a child, I never had a broken bone, and that reaching adulthood without ever having had all my classmates write on my cast, I felt kinda ripped off. Cheers, Kris -- Kris Coward http://unripe.melon.org/ GPG Fingerprint: 2BF3 957D 310A FEEC 4733 830E 21A4 05C7 1FEB 12B3 _______________________________________________ Liveaboard mailing list [email protected] To adjust your membership settings over the web http://liveaboardonline.com/mailman/listinfo/liveaboard To subscribe send an email to [email protected] To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected] The archives are at http://www.liveaboardonline.com/pipermail/liveaboard/ To search the archives http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected] The Mailman Users Guide can be found here http://www.gnu.org/software/mailman/mailman-member/index.html
