Happy Boat 4, bad weeds never die. #YOLO

Imagine yourself in the middle of all of this, breathe, now read.

The Happy Boat 4 is an exclusive, strictly non-profit boat party put together by a couple of Cebu’s Couchsurfing Houses for The Sinulog 2018 weekend in Cebu, sunny ol’ Philippines. The party was revived due to persistent demand and honestly speaking, Cebu’s Couchsurfing scene is sadly on a coma. If we don’t do anything about it asap, it will die.

Last year, we have sold all 40 slots in a record of 72 hours, surely the support had overwhelmed us but that left a few disgruntled people who found our admission rules unnecessary and had us reported to Couchsurfing admin because they felt entitled to complain about a party they weren’t invited to. We thought that was weird. So...

That leaves us no choice but to put the original rules back in place. The Happy Boat will now be exclusively an invite only event. A fresh set of admission rules are put in place to restore balance to the force:

> As of this writing, almost half of the slots were already reserved for our returning friends and Couchsurfers our houses are hosting for the Sinulog weekend - These are people that we have previously hosted or met while travelling and can personally vouch for. That leaves about half of the slots for other people. Why just 40? Why not get another boat to accommodate everyone? Because the stress of managing multiple boats is not worth it.

> Couchsurfing profiles will be thoroughly reviewed. Those who do not have references or relative travel experience must at least complete their profiles so we can have something to read. Last year, just to give their admissions a boost, a couple of people wrote us an essay of why they deserved the slot more, even bribed us with favors and shit. Crazy.

> Admissions will be decided by a 5 person-council and questionable profiles is only favored on a vote of at least 3 YES’s out of 5.

> Once you qualify, you will be personally contacted by our boat captain through email or messenger. Congrats! You will then be given up to 48 hours to complete your payment of US$20 (Php 1,000.00), if you are unable to do so within the allotted time, your slot will be given to the next person in line. The stuff your payment covers will be explained on a separate post later on.

> Oh, like last year, we forced everyone to wear a costume and everyone showed up in a costume. Well done! This time, following our Mafia versus Cartel drama, boys will dress up as gangsters while the girls dress up as their Colombian wives. Think Narcos, Penelope and Depp in Blow or El Chapo. This is another test of how silly you can be in the name of fun. So dress dangerously!

There will be no shame...

The Happy Boat is an all day drinking party so expect the worst, or the worst people in their best behaviors. Expect the most offensive games ever known to man. Prepare to be yelled at, pushed over, ridiculed and bossed over. Filipinos will be racist, Europeans will be stone cold and Americans will, well, be Americans. 

The world is already a very serious place as it is so can we just have a day where being offended is not even a thing at all? Please?

THE HAPPY BOAT 4 RULES AND REGULATIONS

NONE.  YES. NO RULES.

You have gone through the eye of the needle so imposing rules on the boat party itself is already an overkill. Always keep in mind, however, that since the boat party has no rules, you temporarily waive all your rights as well so just try to get along. It will be rough but you will have the craziest, grandest, happiest time of your life. 

Slots open officially on January 2, 2018 - Unless you make us an offer we can’t resist. 😈

Events Link: https://www.couchsurfing.com/events/the-happy-boat-4
Event Date: Jan 20, 2018, 8:30AM - 5:30PM (PHT)

Good Luck and may the odds be in you favor! See you on The Happy Boat 4!