Sailing Skippers and the Practice of Seamanship
As a sailing or power boat skipper, every decision you make: dockside, at anchor, the day before you cast off, the day you decide whether to cast off, and each minute that you are underway, must be made based on how that specific decision will affect your sailing crew or partner.
Voyage to the Caribbean
October 2010. We were in Newport, Rhode Island, for the start of a rally of yachts about to depart for the Caribbean. However, there was a huge problem. Mother nature had decided not to cooperate. One after another, a vicious line of gales marched across the northern US from west to east. If any weather window opened, it was going to be a narrow one indeed.
Day after day, sailing skippers began to lose volunteer crew as delays forced some to leave for home to return to jobs and obligations. Our skipper was fortunate because our crew had no such obligations. He waited until the weather window was wide to favor us once we departed. We were the last boat to leave about 2 1/2 weeks after the initial planned departure date.
Our sailing crew had a delightful trip, no gale force winds, and a fast, comfortable passage aboard the 43 foot Outbound ‘Rubicon'. Our crew made the 1500+ mile passage from Newport, Rhode Island to St. Maarten in the Caribbean in just over 9 days.
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Your Sailing Crew will Follow Your Footsteps
Many decisions are made in an instant. Others require a bit of reflection. Without a doubt, the most difficult will be those that do not follow the crowd, or those which follow a path less traveled.
We were quite fortunate to have an easygoing, highly experienced and likable skipper for the voyage described earlier. That's not always the case. Indeed, some of the best skippers are not necessarily the most popular.
The best skippers I've sailed with have one thing in common: they are respected and trusted. Get underway with a skipper and you trust him or her with your life. Sea miles are irrelevant. So is the fact that the skipper holds a college degree. Funny how often this ends up part of the resume.
What really matters is a well-rounded individual who has not forgotten the basics, one who practices the basics, even if it's just now and then. Physicians practice medicine. Lawyers practice law. Both professionals hold your life or livelihood in their hands. So does the skipper, whether he or she carries a license.
Which in my mind means that all skippers must practice both traditional and modern techniques in order to achieve a high level of competency. It's common sense. If you only read and do not practice, then it's just knowledge. If you read and practice and struggle through the learning curve to become proficient, then you become competent.
Think of how navigation is performed aboard many boats today. When's the last time you saw a skipper plot a position on a nautical chart, draw a course line from that position, label the course with the magnetic direction, and then plot at least one dead reckoning position (DR) ahead to check for dangers which might affect vessel safety? These are first-day student basics, often replaced by a black box run by invisible satellites.
No college degree required, but practice until you become comfortable with the absolute basics, is mandatory. Yea, it's a pain at first, so, do it anyway. I'll guarantee you, after a small amount of practice, it'll be as easy as tying a bowline. Remember how difficult that was when you first learned it? Nothing easy about tying a bowline to the brand newbie. So, you go through the struggle and then it clicks and you've got it! Almost magical, but you gotta ‘do the time'.
I believe the best skippers are always training their sailing crew or partner. They never yell or push. They are open-minded to suggestions, but firm once they decide. They are ‘forward thinkers' who communicate with their crew or partner long before an evolution begins. All hands know their tasks, for coming alongside a fuel dock, docking inside a slip, lowering or weighing anchor, or reefing or reducing sail.
They never, ever expect anyone to know their boat as well as they do. Skippers must identify the strengths of their crew and emphasize those strengths to accomplish the task at hand. Training creates competence and confidence
Have the crew received ‘hands-on' training in flooding, galley fire emergencies, MOB pickup and recovery, reefing, heaving-to, and anchoring (specific to your sailboat?).Your sailing crew will rise to the challenge, even in a crisis, if they are trained and understand the basics.
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Use these sailing tips to help insure the safety and well-being of your sailing crew or partner. Sail safe this season and for many sailing seasons to come, wherever in the world you choose to sail or cruise!