What would YOU do if the first mate on your charter was a Gilligan?

[Doc Harry]

What would YOU do if the first mate on your charter was a Gilligan?

I'd find Ginger and take her down to my cabin.

 

[Rich Keller]

Take him aside and speak up. Tell him what you liked about his performance and what he did to make the trip less enjoyable. Give him some pointers about making future trips better for divers and ways to act to score better tips. He'll either appreciate the advice, be upset by it, or not care. In any event you would have applied a little personal gumption that could help others not have to endure the same unhappiness and you might help to make things better for that guy and the operation. Truth sometimes hurts but always educates.

That is the way I would go but I also understand that most people like this will not listen as they are sure they already know it all. If the guy is new and he is willing to listen he may come away a better first mate.

 

[Ana]

If you saw the mate being a "Gilligan" the rest of the crew should be able to see it also. This includes the Captain and pretty much anyone in contact with him. This people have a nack for spreading themselves and affect many at once.

If it is me, I would be deaf to any of his war stories for sure. The part where you say he asked the customer to accommodate him instead of the other way around is where I would try to entertain myself. Not only with a heavy dose of sarcasm, I would also make a point to be in his way.

As far as educating him? Seriously? Sounds to me as useful as approaching a smoker and suggest quiting or an out of shape person and suggest exercising. These people know their situation, they may not consider it a problem, or for some reason know (or think) it can not be fixed or they may even be on their way to fix it. Which ever the case may be, behaving like captain obvious and pointing out to his face that he's pretty much useless will produce little if not zero results, while you could've used that time and effort to more productive activities.

Oh if I like that boat for whatever reason I will make a point to ask if he's still around before reserving my spot, and go on to another boat until is gone. There should be enough alternatives in south Florida until he moves on.

 

[The Chairman]

I'd find Ginger and take her down to my cabin.

May Anne works for a different boat and will be back from Jacksonville soon! Hurry home, honey!

 

[evart]

I'd find Ginger and take her down to my cabin.

You beat me to it-guess I will look for Maryanne.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

I'd be whistling the theme song all day and calling him "little buddy" ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[The Chairman]

Take him aside and speak up.

Ok, the captain is fairly new to this operation and he was fine. It was obvious from some of his instructions to Gilligan, that his patience was worn pretty thin. The Captain and a guide compensated a lot for this guy, and they shouldn't have had to!

Talking to the owner is a given in this case and actually something I believe in doing. I'll even be sending him a link to this discussion as well. As for Gilligan, he's too in love with himself to listen to any constructive criticism. He's convinced that its everyone else's problem and that he's just doing the best he can. I think that's the real problem: he's actually doing the best he can. It's time for him to find another career in between skiing seasons. BTW, after he fussed at the front counter person checking people in, I apologized to her for him. She just shook her head and said something like, "He's on a short leash." I get the idea that he is not long for that dive op. I've dove with them a lot... I plan on diving with them some more!

 

[The Chairman]

I'd be whistling the theme song all day and calling him "little buddy" ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

Dude... I did that. I really did. Except rather than whistling I kept singing "A three hour tour!" That was really fun when the weather started getting rough!

 

[LowVizWiz]

Your trip sounds strangely similar to my recent trip . I think the first mate couldn't help himself. I don't know how long he's been working but it's my experience that things like this often correct themselves. I've had many trips with the op and have never experienced a first mate with antics like these. I even apologized for him.

What I do is try to make up for his incompetence by helping him and others as much as the crew allows me to do so.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

Back when I spent a lot more time on boats, we used to call people like that Rodney ... 'cuz they didn't get no respect.

Personally, I'd enjoy diving with Gilligan sometime ... I love his photography ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)