If you have spent time working in South Florida's private yachting industry, you already know: it is not a simple world to navigate.
Disputes happen. Wages go unpaid. Contracts get ignored. Crew members face harassment and hostile work environments, often with no clear path forward and no obvious person to call. Many workers stay quiet because they do not know their options, or because they are worried about what speaking up might cost them.
A researcher at a South Florida institution is working to understand this landscape. Not to expose anyone. Not to generate headlines. To understand, in a serious and rigorous way, how workers in this industry actually handle job-related conflicts, and what makes it easier or harder to seek resolution.
What the Research Is
This is an academic study focused on dispute resolution in South Florida's private yachting industry. The researcher is examining how workers navigate job-related conflicts, including wage disputes, wrongful termination, harassment, and hostile work environment situations. The goal is to build a clearer picture of what actually happens when something goes wrong on the water, and what resources, formal or informal, workers turn to.
The survey is anonymous. Your responses cannot be traced back to you. It takes 5 to 10 minutes to complete.
Who Should Take It
If you work or have worked in South Florida's private yachting industry, this survey is for you. That includes crew members, yachties, day-workers, dockwalkers, and independent contractors in the marine trades.
You do not need to have experienced a dispute to participate. Your perspective on the industry, even if things have gone smoothly for you, is valuable data.
How to Participate
Complete the anonymous survey at the link below. It takes 5 to 10 minutes and your responses are completely confidential.
It is short. It is anonymous. And it may contribute to research that actually changes how this industry thinks about worker protections and dispute resolution pathways.
Why Founding Blue Is Sharing This
Founding Blue exists to support and connect the people building South Florida's blue economy, and that means the full community, not just founders and executives. The workers who make this industry run, the crew, the day-workers, the tradespeople on the docks, are the backbone of everything that happens on the water here.
When research like this comes to our attention, sharing it is the right thing to do. This researcher is doing work that could lead to better outcomes for the people who often have the least leverage in a dispute. We want as many South Florida yachting workers as possible to know this survey exists.
If you know someone who works in this industry, please pass it along.
Founding Blue is a catalyst community connecting South Florida's technology and marine innovators, from idea to impact. Learn more at foundingblue.com