The crew actions are a thing that I have been very eager to try since I've gotten my hands on SGN base set. However, my every attempt to play with advanced rules resulted in a little bit of frustration - I don't know if it's just me, and everyone is having fun with crew action chits, but it bogged down the game and downtime, resulting in considerably less amount of fun for everyone, and making the game more sluggish without any added value.

I've been thinking a lot how to remedy this, and make the crew play itself instead of choosing the chits every turn. I've noticed that it is so predictable, that it balances on the verge of pointlessness. The players fire every turn than can, reload if they fired, if they have a leak or fire they fight it, and if the mast goes down, they repair it. And when the crew is so decimated that it actually makes an impact, reduced number of hands results only in condemning the fate of the ship, making it only more impossible to win against all odds by some stroke of luck.

On the other hand, playing without crew actions voids the usage of other fun rules, like reducing/setting sail, special damage, and so on.
So after a dozen of games with some rules' elements, I came up with a comprehensive set of house rules, that allow playing the crew actions by themselves.
Here it is.

1) Broadsides and musket fire: firing works exactly like in basic rules - you can fire very other turn, and the guns reload themselves automatically. If you come in range, your marines take it upon themselves to sweep the enemy deck with musket fire :)

2) Sails: If a player has a desire to change the amount of sails, he announces that while playing the maneuver card, by placing the sail change chit on maneuver card. It remains on the ship's base until the following turn, when he is allowed to use different arrow. On one hand, it is pretty much instantaneous like it doesn't impact the game flow, and on the other, you have to plan it in advance, and other players will see that you change sail - like they would in reality observe sailors working up the masts and so on.

3) Special Damage:
a) Sailors: a brown chit goes to the crew damage track as normal.
b) Broken masts: a broken mast chit is placed in special damage box. The player is required to change his following two maneuvers for broken mast movement cards. After playing the second one, the mast is repaired, and the special damage chit is removed. Player can proceed with playing normal maneuvers. (as it would take two turns to normally repair the broken mast). The second mast cannot be repaired, and stays for the remainder of the game. The third mast damage makes the ship strike its colors. (as in standard rules).
c) Fire Damage: the fire damage token makes you place a fire damage chit on empty track. The fire is extinguished next turn, but the damage cannot be repaired.
d) Leak: a leak damage chit is placed on empty damage box on the beginning of next turn. It stays there for the remainder, and is pumped out automatically next turn (but it makes a ship more vulnerable, less effective per broadside, and potentially dangerous if it has only one hull box left). If a players draws two leak damage ****s, two boxes are filled, and the chits are removed in subsequent turns, one after another.
e) Rudder damage and sail damage: corresponding special damage chits are placed on ships log, and have exactly the same effect as in standard rules. I don't see how a rudder or shattered sails could be replaced in the midst of battle, so no need for repair here.

4) Boarding action: If two ships are in base touch, both players declare boarding or repelling (as per normal rules). If both of them don't want boarding, it wont happen, simple as that.

5) Grog: It is a once-per-game action anyways, so no trouble in just declaring it at the begging of turn if possible.

These are some serious changes, but I played with them already, and they seem to streamline the game, simplify things, making it more dynamic and quick, without too much hassle about placing all the crew chits. Searching for the right ones, and the worst thing, keeping up with pumps and repairs, what happens in which turn, that gave me headaches. What do you think guys?