Rob_Webb
Active member
The earlier thread about 'Buying Ability' got me thinking about a moral conundrum that many of us might face regarding the welfare of our crew.
I have been sailing for about 25 years and would consider myself 'experienced' in the conventional sense (lot's of channel crossings, good doses of heavy weather passages, various 'learning experiences', raced the Fastnet etc).
In this sense, I would happily sail my boat single-handed. If the worst did happen and I fell overboard and couldn't recover myself, I would be resigned to a watery grave. My only parting concern would be that my (now empty) boat didn't cause harm to anyone else. I am master of my own destiny, I accept the risks but my number has come up today. Game over.
But if I was sailing with inexperienced crew aboard, my departure over the side would potentially lead to harm to them if they were unable to cope with the conditions at the time. Forgetting my own position, I would now be stricken with guilt and concern over the prospects for my friends/love ones left aboard if conditions were against them. The analogy of a small passenger aircraft losing it's only pilot to illness springs to mind.
Now, I might be painting a darker picture here than necessary and I would hope that I have taught my crew enough to be able to limp back to shelter, or at least get on the radio and ask for help if required.
But being honest, how many of us REALLY consider the consequences of the skipper disappearing permanently over the side. Because if you conclude that your crew are too inexperienced to handle the resulting situation, a strange moral dilemma emerges:
Namely, that you might consider it SAFE to set sail on a particular voyage singlehanded, but UNSAFE to take extra crew with you! This feels counter-intuitive, because surely more crew = more safety? But, for the reasons of crew welfare outlined above, the opposite might actually be true!
Now, on a warm, calm, sunny day I am not going to dwell on this when setting out from Studland Bay back to the Needles under engine, with my crew sunbathing on deck. But, and here is the rub, when conditions start to blow up a bit, at what point do I decide that it is now unsafe for me to do the same trip with the same crew on board? In other words, how do I objectively identify the point at which this becomes a go/no-go decision.
Mmmmmmmm.
Rob.
I have been sailing for about 25 years and would consider myself 'experienced' in the conventional sense (lot's of channel crossings, good doses of heavy weather passages, various 'learning experiences', raced the Fastnet etc).
In this sense, I would happily sail my boat single-handed. If the worst did happen and I fell overboard and couldn't recover myself, I would be resigned to a watery grave. My only parting concern would be that my (now empty) boat didn't cause harm to anyone else. I am master of my own destiny, I accept the risks but my number has come up today. Game over.
But if I was sailing with inexperienced crew aboard, my departure over the side would potentially lead to harm to them if they were unable to cope with the conditions at the time. Forgetting my own position, I would now be stricken with guilt and concern over the prospects for my friends/love ones left aboard if conditions were against them. The analogy of a small passenger aircraft losing it's only pilot to illness springs to mind.
Now, I might be painting a darker picture here than necessary and I would hope that I have taught my crew enough to be able to limp back to shelter, or at least get on the radio and ask for help if required.
But being honest, how many of us REALLY consider the consequences of the skipper disappearing permanently over the side. Because if you conclude that your crew are too inexperienced to handle the resulting situation, a strange moral dilemma emerges:
Namely, that you might consider it SAFE to set sail on a particular voyage singlehanded, but UNSAFE to take extra crew with you! This feels counter-intuitive, because surely more crew = more safety? But, for the reasons of crew welfare outlined above, the opposite might actually be true!
Now, on a warm, calm, sunny day I am not going to dwell on this when setting out from Studland Bay back to the Needles under engine, with my crew sunbathing on deck. But, and here is the rub, when conditions start to blow up a bit, at what point do I decide that it is now unsafe for me to do the same trip with the same crew on board? In other words, how do I objectively identify the point at which this becomes a go/no-go decision.
Mmmmmmmm.
Rob.
