BRAIN TRUSSED

There are a number of people I do not trust. A few of those fall into the following categories: People that sell cars, the sort of people who allow dogs to lick their faces and fat people who claim that they don’t really watch TV. I would simply choose not to do business with these types of people if I could. There is no particular reason for me not to trust them, I just don’t. It is a subjective thing.

In nearly every occasion I would prefer to get some sort of a reference before I would consider paying anybody to do anything. Apparently I am nothing more than normal, well except the phobia about the dog lovers and fat people perhaps. It seems that getting a reference is quite normal these days. As a yacht captain they were vital to me. The Industry expanded at such a rate that pretty much anybody with a white van could make a good living the marine service industry. Most, I am sure were excellent, but many were awful. And by awful I mean really, very, bloody awful. It would always start with turning up late and demanding a credit card just in case the boat was late to pay!

It would usually deteriorate until a few days before you had to sail to meet a charter or owners, they would tell you the parts that were needed to make the necessary repairs were unavailable. Fortunately one usually factored this sort of work standard in to the equation and so the sailing date you told the sub contractor was a little earlier than it was really intended to be. However, the owners would quite often push the date ahead in any case so any advantage you had gained through cunning could easily be lost.

The reason I make this point is not to condemn the sort of sub contractors that make repairing yachts about as fun as interviewing librarians for a particularly menial task, but to suggest how to support the good guys.
It is normal fare for a few yachties around the dinner table or at the bar to be complaining about the most recent disastrous sub contractor. It is much rarer to hear a captain or senior crewmember, unprompted, extolling the virtues of a particular company or technician.

So my suggestion is to compile a list of recommended sub contractors and service providers. Not a directory. They would only make the list if a captain, yacht or management company could provide a written reference for them.

Now before you say this idea is about as original as my idea for a story about a young wizard who goes to school on a magic train, I am not saying it is. I am simply suggesting a yachting Angie’s List. As for a name I would suggest Mike’s List of course.

When the economy starts to improve wouldn’t it be good ensure that the best sub contractors were recognized. It is not an act of kindness it is simply aimed at reducing those riding the gravy train in favour of those that can be relied upon.