Club motto

Everybody is entitled to one 'cock up' we are human after all and do forget things. If people miss occasionally that's acceptable (as long as they are suitably contrite and it's not always the same people). Not being willing to give 5 minutes to help put the safety boat to bed is ridiculous. 

Originally posted by turnturtle Originally posted by 423zero TT, most don't even try to justify why they haven't turned up, most common is I forgot. sounds like your sailing sec needs a protocol to begin to communicate to individuals maybe a month and two weeks before their designated duty. It's a bit difficult to 'forget' if you've been reminded.  It at least puts the onus on the member to arrange a last minute swap.

This. We use dutyman which sends auto reminders, but the designated OOD also calls round to "remind" a week or two before. At this time of year there can be difficulties with non renewal of membership, so those down for a duty aren't members anymore.

Originally posted by 423zero TT, most don't even try to justify why they haven't turned up, most common is I forgot.

we have had similar problems at my old club for years with people not turning up for duties, so i proposed either a buy out fee or a "fine" as an incentive (fine could be monetary or warning against your membership) and was told that they didn't want to rock the apple cart and upset people, what about upsetting the people who do volunteer?  My solution was to move to a club that i haven't seen a single person drop out without notice!

Do you use Dutyman so that individuals confirm to accept the duty? That way, the OOD can see in advance who has not yet confirmed they are turning up and phone them to remind them. If they fail to turn up after confirming they will, that is a pretty miserable state of affairs.

I generally find most people actually quite enjoy their duties if/when they turn up, provided they aren't too frequent (couple of times a year). Those that sail regularly accept that it is just part of deal and those that are less frequent sailors can often be re-invigorated by an enforced trip to the club.

However, I fully understand TT's point. I have a work colleague who has sailed as a crewing guest at the local club a few times this year (not for me). He has now exceeded his quota and has been asked to join if he wants to carry on sailing. He has enjoyed the sailing, but it is something he would only do 5-6 more times this year and he is up to his eyes in student fees, saving for a house deposit, wedding planning etc. But equally, he is used to being footloose and fancy-free and doesn't want to tie himself to one hobby. He feels that joining a club, having to do duties, care for a boat etc would commit him to sailing, and the sailing club, more than he is willing to do. And so he will leave, and probably take up kliteboarding as it is more casual and not club based. To an extent, I think this is an age thing. When you are in your 20s and 30s there is a whole world to explore, and tieing yourself to an expensive and time consuming hobby seems very constraining. When you have settled down and had kids, your sense of community and society changes and it can feel very rewarding to undertake selfless acts to support others.