Fix it or fire me...

Yesterday was interesting. I refused to take passengers out on the boat with all the unknowns the mechanic had introduced. The assistant manager asked if I'd train another captain (one with previous experience on the boat)... "absolutely." We took the boat out before the first run and had no failures. I offered to ride along on passenger runs as first-mate... "just in case." As expected, on the first passenger cruise, we had two ECU/engine failures. I guided the other captain through it, made notes on what failed and when. On the bright side, there was another experienced captain who could confirm what I have been dealing with this entire season. On the dark side, I have repeatedly been told "Xanterra doesn't care. Don't expect to get anything fixed."

That is very sad, if it is true. I intend to find out... now that the weekend is over, I hope to get through to the manager of Xanterra at Yellowstone. Maybe I'll invite him to bring his family out on the boat? In the meantime, I will run the boat again today... the passengers need the most experience person in dealing with this situation. When the mechanic messes with switching out ECU units indiscriminately, I will again refuse to take passengers out until a failure occurs... I don't fear running the boat; I have concerns about what the failure will take out and I don't want to be a test pilot with passengers onboard. I don't think the managers here understand the difference.

"Fix it or fire me." I let them know that I won't be quiet about this. They don't have the balls to fire me (and they'll also lose the Blonde as front counter/cashier) because one of the managers would have to take over some of the cruises. They won't INSIST that boats get fixed (yes, it's more than just the scenic cruise boat); if they get told "no" from someone at the next level above, they don't push it. I looked my manager in the eye and asked, "Would Xanterra put a bus full of people on these curvy roads with brakes that may or may not work?" (His wife is a bus driver here) He said, "You'd be surprised." I am appalled.

As you'd expect, this puts a damper on the enjoyment of our summer here. I have fun with the the passengers and the Lake Queen is truly a fine boat... it just needs to be PROPERLY repaired by someone who understands the electronics involved. In the meantime, I will go through a daily struggle with how to best deal with this situation.

Before I accepted this job, I was told that the mangers here will support the boat captains. Frankly, I have not found this to be the case. They seem to be the first line of denial. If they won't fight for what's right, I will... to a point.