Hydraulicjump
Well-known member
- Joined
- Feb 10, 2011
- Messages
- 646
- Fluid Motion Model
- C-30 CB
- Hull Identification Number
- FMLT2911F415
- Non-Fluid Motion Model
- Necky Looksha VII, Liquidlogic Remix, Jackson 4Fun
- Vessel Name
- La Barka (2015)
Tugnuts,
Here is an idea only in its infancy and probably flawed, but the beauty of this forum is that you can explore these kinds of things without…well…shame.
Our R-27 is in a world-class tourist location, on the waterfront in San Francisco at Pier 39/Fisherman’s Wharf and within easy cruising distance to the 500+ miles of channels in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta (and a month of slip fees is less than one night in a hotel these days!). Yet other tugs are in equally amazing places: Los Angeles, Portland, Puget Sound, Vancouver, Cape Cod, Chesapeake Bay, North and South Carolina, Florida Keys, Florida Gulf Coast, etc. We are spread out in a lot of different, wonderful locations (apologies to those I left out): places that most of us adventurous Tug owners would like to see someday. Except for the hardy few of us who are retired and/or have the willingness to tow long distances we don’t get to diversify our cruising and will probably never see these great places in a great boat like ours.
Here’s a thought. What if we developed a new category in the Tugnut site for boat swaps? That is, people who want to trade time on each other’s boat. Here’s how it might work. One of us posts up and says that he would love to spend a week in springtime on the Chesapeake Bay on an R-27 and would offer a week in San Francisco (dates flexible) on his R-27 in exchange. No money changes hands, no contracts, nothing but friends swapping boats to get the experience to cruise somewhere else. The only obligation is to leave the boat cleaner than you found it, pumped out and full of fuel with all fluids topped up. Each boat owner would have sage advice about cruising in their own territory and, of course, be as far away as a cell call if anything came up. There could even be complex boat swaps involving more than two parties to make this work.
I say all this because, frankly, the only person I would ever consider lending my boat to is someone who owns a boat like mine, knows the systems, knows the idiosyncrasies (especially when docking), can typically solve problems when they arise, and come from the same boat culture. I am willing to bet that we are all fussy about our boats. Thus I have never loaned mine to a friend, even the experienced captains.
According to my insurance, the boat is covered when I lend it to a friend.
This post is to just ask whether this is a good idea (and to flush out if it’s a bad idea), and whether there might be some people interested. I am in no hurry here, just stewing on what might—or might not—be a novel idea.
And Happy Holidays to you all!!!
Jeff
Here is an idea only in its infancy and probably flawed, but the beauty of this forum is that you can explore these kinds of things without…well…shame.
Our R-27 is in a world-class tourist location, on the waterfront in San Francisco at Pier 39/Fisherman’s Wharf and within easy cruising distance to the 500+ miles of channels in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta (and a month of slip fees is less than one night in a hotel these days!). Yet other tugs are in equally amazing places: Los Angeles, Portland, Puget Sound, Vancouver, Cape Cod, Chesapeake Bay, North and South Carolina, Florida Keys, Florida Gulf Coast, etc. We are spread out in a lot of different, wonderful locations (apologies to those I left out): places that most of us adventurous Tug owners would like to see someday. Except for the hardy few of us who are retired and/or have the willingness to tow long distances we don’t get to diversify our cruising and will probably never see these great places in a great boat like ours.
Here’s a thought. What if we developed a new category in the Tugnut site for boat swaps? That is, people who want to trade time on each other’s boat. Here’s how it might work. One of us posts up and says that he would love to spend a week in springtime on the Chesapeake Bay on an R-27 and would offer a week in San Francisco (dates flexible) on his R-27 in exchange. No money changes hands, no contracts, nothing but friends swapping boats to get the experience to cruise somewhere else. The only obligation is to leave the boat cleaner than you found it, pumped out and full of fuel with all fluids topped up. Each boat owner would have sage advice about cruising in their own territory and, of course, be as far away as a cell call if anything came up. There could even be complex boat swaps involving more than two parties to make this work.
I say all this because, frankly, the only person I would ever consider lending my boat to is someone who owns a boat like mine, knows the systems, knows the idiosyncrasies (especially when docking), can typically solve problems when they arise, and come from the same boat culture. I am willing to bet that we are all fussy about our boats. Thus I have never loaned mine to a friend, even the experienced captains.
According to my insurance, the boat is covered when I lend it to a friend.
This post is to just ask whether this is a good idea (and to flush out if it’s a bad idea), and whether there might be some people interested. I am in no hurry here, just stewing on what might—or might not—be a novel idea.
And Happy Holidays to you all!!!
Jeff
