Things that chafe me

The Boating Barrister is a monthly feature in WindCheck magazine by John K. Fulweiler, Esq. which offers legal tips and boating observations, always with a healthy dose of wit. Here’s an excerpt from his column in the May 2025 edition:

There are things that bother me and they should bother you, too. As my tide ebbs, the list grows longer. Here are some things (including some nautical knots) that chafe.

• Newfangled square fenders. Folks – arms outstretched, palms down, a la Biden – fenders are round so they’ll roll between your topsides and whatever obstacle you’re lying against. That square fenders are being foisted on the floating sector chafes me.

• Caribbean crew contracts. Corporate bigwigs owning Cayman Island-flagged yachts try and hire crew with onerous (malodorous?) contracts. Do you really think it’s fair to try and have the crew indemnify your corporate entity for a misadventure? Do you think applying British law to crew disputes is reasonable when your stinkpot spends two-thirds of the year in USA waters? From the hedge fund helmsman to the bellowing CEO, y’all are a joke and represent the worst making it that you chafe my soul. (Chill. Not all of you. The bad ones. Keep huffing, you know who you are.) – Full report