It all sounds very similar to the millionaire yacht world. In fact, very likely a lot of the same people. Capricious is a good word to describe owners' behavior, many have absolutely no regard for the operational practicalities and just make demands which may have to be politely redirected. It can be tough to know where to draw the line and refuse on safety grounds. Especially if you refuse to do something that the owner's mate did last week in his mega yacht! It can be thoroughly demoralizing for a crew who have fought against weather and time to get he boat positioned and immaculately prepared, for the owner to change his mind and ask for it to be back where you started from! At least you guys have the advantage of a tight regulatory environment allowing you to say 'I would love to do that but it is not legal'.