CHAPTER 12
to deal with navigation. Avoid evocative smells such as diesel, and keep to windward of your messmate’s lunch if it comes back to haunt him. A whiff of that is the worst of all. Whatever happens, you must take liquid, because dehydration is the real enemy. Eat if you can, but make it simple. Maintain a supply of dry water biscuits on board. They don’t taste great, but they might keep someone going until he can fancy your curries again.
Meals on time
On a long passage, it’s impossible to overstress the importance of meals being served up regularly and on time. Appetising food coming on the dot does wonders for making a crew feel secure. Oddly enough, hungry people are just as likely to feel seasick as well-fed ones and they will be less able to cope if they start actually vomiting. Food is critical on shorter passages as well, and here seasickness is more often a factor because potential cooks are less likely to fancy their chances at a spell in the galley. Pre-planning is helpful, with hot drinks in flasks, sandwiches ready cut, and maybe a pre-cooked, one-pot dish clamped in the pressure cooker on the stove which can be served in mugs with a spoon to help it on its way. Cooking on board can be the most daunting of tasks. If you’re only half up to the job, think through everything you intend to do before you go below or get out of your bunk. That way you won’t waste time with your head stuck in a smelly locker searching for something you could have managed without. Stick to single-pan meals wherever possible. There’s no need to be ambitious. A hungry watch on deck will be delighted if they get a can of stew with a can of spuds and another of peas chucked in with it. A quick twist of the pepper pot, a hunk of bread, and they’ll be happy mariners. If you feel rough afterwards, just dump the washing up in the sink or a bucket and deal with it when you arrive. And if there’s any food left over, save it and serve it in an omelette for breakfast. No waste, and by that time most people will be a lot better, especially if it’s day three of the trip.
Watch systems Short daytime passages
By far the majority of trips in small craft are accomplished in daylight. Assuming everyone has had a reasonable sleep the night before, there is no obvious demand for a watch system, even on a passage of twelve hours or more. However, this doesn’t mean that the skipper should spend
every available second on deck. Tiredness can creep up unnoticed and he or she needs to be on top form as the destination approaches. More mistakes occur entering and leaving harbour than ever befall at sea, so it’s important to husband one’s resources and take a turn in the bunk at some stage. Read a good book if you can’t sleep, but whatever you do, take your mind away from the stresses of skippering the boat. If you’re worried about feeling sick, just dive below and get your head down, after making sure the watch on deck know their duties and will call you in good time.
Single-night passages
For all practical purposes, any passage that takes place over a single night can be thought of as having a 24-hour duration. Staying up all night is a gruelling option for most of us. Our body clocks will be firmly set to shorebased rhythms, so if we don’t get any rest we’ll be struggling to stay awake by around 0200. Short-handed The typical small-boat scenario is for two watch-keepers, often with the mate less experienced than the skipper. Some people like to set up a full 24-hour watch system under these circumstances, but many prefer to take things a little more casually. The critical time is the dark hours. During the daylight, things can usually be managed on an informal basis according to need and conscience, but it makes sense to introduce some form of regulation to cope with the sleepy period. Most folks can manage to stay interested in life on their own for three hours in good weather. As the going cuts up, two is often enough. With a couple of watchkeepers, a three-on, three- off system running for the twelve hours between dinner and breakfast works very well. Even if you have to shorten the spells to two hours you’ll still find yourself adequately rested, though you may feel as though you never really got to sleep at all.
Three or more watchkeepers Three watch-keepers makes luxury out of a single night at sea. Stick with one person on deck at a time and go for two-hour watches. That makes it ‘two-on, four-off’ cycled twice. The night’s over before it’s hardly begun. If there are more than three crew it’s unlikely that on a typical yacht or power cruiser they all will be equally experienced, so beginners can be doubled up with old hands. The shellback will enjoy having a watch-mate to help pass the time, while the apprentice will learn what ships’ lights look like in the best possible way — real life alongside somebody who knows.
MANUAL OF SEAMANSHIP | 125
Crew care and watchkeeping
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