What does it take to be the skipper?

[Guest]

I’m the cook – a very good one too. I am also the navigator. I have never been seasick and only found out relatively recently that it is unusual to make mushroom risotto above F7. I am the one who gets to go up the mast. I trim the sails, decide where to anchor and it is my fault when I fail to grab a mooring buoy from 30ft away. I am the one who reads the pilot books, all the instruction/repair manuals and the Col Regs. I’ve got a PhD in engineering and trained as a radio operator for the merchant navy therefore I am expected to fix anything that breaks. I own half the boat.

I have identical experience to the skipper (5 years sailing) apart from the fact that the skipper has always been the skipper and I have always been the crew. The skipper helms the boat and can park it (I can be relied on to hit the pontoon). The skipper decides whether we should go or not (I always think we should go unless it is blowing a gale). The skipper has nerves of steel while I have been know to get flustered in the first couple of minutes of an emergency.

Whenever I ask when I can be skipper the answer is “never”. I am never going to get to be skipper.

Fair enough or grounds for divorce?

 

[andrewhopkins]

natural selection...

Interesting post. I am the skipper unless someone is on board who i believe is better at it than me.

By that I mean that if you are ultimately in charge as skipper, you take it on the shoulders and it can be quite stressful but if someone comes on who has more experience, etc then you might defer to them.

Its usually a natural selection, like team building exercises where a leader emerges.

You should go out on you own (or with friends) without your husband (i presume you a female) and you will gain the "skipperesque" feel that you are missing.

Until then, you will always feel the underdog

 

[jamesjermain]

Your situation is not uncommon and it irritates me enormously.

On a boat sailed by two people, each has skills which he or she brings to the partnership and which should be recognised by the other. 90 per cent of the time there is no need for one of the other to be a skipper. You both know what to do and get on and do it. Experienced partnerships fall into a routing which is practiced and works. The idea of one being the boss of the other is irrelevant.

When an unforseen circumstance or an unfamiliar situation arises which is not a time sensitive emergency, a discussion to which you both bring your knowledge and experience should provide the right course of action.

In an emercency, when quick decisions need to be made and action taken, then it should be understood between you which is the one who takes the lead. It sounds, from your posting, that you would be happy to abrogate this role to your partner. However, there should be scope for you to have input.

You also need to have an agreement - probably unspoken, as to who has the casting vote in the event of irreconcilable differences.

But the bottom line, in my view, is that, in a partnership of equals, the idea of a designated skipper is irrelevant and even subversive.

JJ

 

[Guest]

Despite the saying, skippers, like leaders, are not necessarily born that way - most become good through hard work, training and experience. The trouble is, how do our future skipper candidates get that essential experience if we follow Andrew's idea of elevating the most capable, experienced member of the crew to skipper status? On our boat I often appoint a less experienced crew member as skipper for the day or for the passage, and tell them I am available for consultation if needed. After the initial shock, it is amazing how quickly even inexperienced crew rise to the occasion. (However, I never push anyone into dangerous or confidence-defeating situations.)

How do you get the chance? Why not suggest to your partner/skipper that a man overboard drill might be good for his/her safety. Then when you're finally in control, just sail away from the dummy in the water (real or otherwise). When asked why, explain this is the only way you can get skipper experience and you might do the same again. I think the lesson will sink in.

Otherwise, take yourself to a sailing school and get at least a coastal skipper certificate (sounds like you're almost there already). Does your other half have any RYA certificates to back up his/her claim to authority?

 

[Guest]

Really? Honestly?

Who decides if your crew would make a better skipper than you make? Oh, of course, silly question, you do because you’re the skipper! Have you really been appointed by natural selection or are you simply the incumbent with first mover advantage?

If a member of your crew decided that you were far from the best on the boat how would you take the suggestion that you step down?

 

[Guest]

Re: Really? Honestly?

It's my boat, so I'm the skipper. Simple as that.

I get somebody who can helm to helm; somebody who can navigate to navigate; somebody who knows what the gadgets do to look after that; somebody who can cook to cook. Many of these tasks are duplicated, as it's a small boat.

I bring in and put out the fenders, cast off and step ashore with the mooring lines; do the washing up; pull the jibsheets and row the dinghy and anything else the drivers, navigators, gadgeters and cook need done. I also get to buy the first round.

But I'm still the skipper and what I say goes as long as its all right with everybody else.

 

[Bergman]

Re: Really? Honestly?

Perhaps the question to ask is; who is responsible if anything, absolutely anything, goes wrong. Find that person and you've found the skipper.

 

[Guest]

It's simple really. It's all a matter of perception.

I'm the Skipper - we all know that.

If I say "We go" - we go.
If my wife says "we don't go" - we don't go.

It's different with mates of course. If I say "we go" they assume that I know what I'm talking about and put their trust in me.

On the other hand they haven't had to nurse me through a cold or seen me burst out crying when Bambi's mother gets killed so they don't know what a complete whimp I am!!

After one hairy sail in the Moray Firth in a small Kelpie I asked my wife (who had spent the whole afternoon reading a book in the cockpit) "Do you ever get nervous out there?"

"Don't be silly. I know you would never put the dogs at risk." was the reply.

See what I mean? All a matter of perception.

Best regards )

Ian D

 

[saltydog]

sell your half.

any reason wht you don't sell up?

 

[peterb]

It\'s simple, really

Put your foot down. Tell your wife that it's time that you had a chance to skipper. Otherwise you'll withdraw your services.....

 

[BrianJ]

Re: Really? Honestly?

How to be a good Skipper

Selecting Crew Pick your crew with defined jobs in mind (1) Foredeck
(2) Trimmers (3 ) Navigator (4) Tactician
(5) Helmsman
Remember to select crew who don’t suffer from Sea Sickness



Crew Training At least 2-3 hours of the following (1) Tacking
(2) Headsail changes
(3) Spinnaker changes
(4) Different spinnaker drops
(5) reefing


Back up Every position must have a back up ----- in the training schedule select
backup crew and train them also


Navigator (1) the first problem for a navigator is seasickness/working below.
(2) must examine and know charts which have to be up to date
(3) prepare "navigators notebook" showing all lights and course
plus emergency shelters.
(4) must have regular entries in log for position (every 4 hours)
(5) must think ahead and communicate all thoughts to skipper and
Crew.

Provisions The Skipper must be responsible for ensuring all provisions are on board.
The First Aid box must be located in a position known to all Crew
who must have informed the medical officer of any allergies to any
Particular medicine.
Stress =Hygiene (Head to Galley)
= Log all medicines given


Owners Know your Crews objectives then provide for them and don't forget pre race checks

 

[andrewhopkins]

My point...

was really that you need to go out without your partner to bring out your true colours. If you skipper with someone on board who is "better" than you then you wont be pushed into the full responsibility as you have the safety cushion.

 

[Guest]

Divorce it is then…

3 people think I should insist/dump the skipper in the water/sell the boat
2 people think that I should increase my experience* but don’t go on to suggest how I might then gain the heady heights of command (I am hardly going sail without my partner because I want to be the skipper)
1 thinks I shouldn’t worry because wives (?) are always in charge anyway
1 thinks the owner is the skipper (obviously not true and no basis for thinking I have any authority at all)

I like JamesJermain’s answer the best and I will start a campaign immediately. This skipper/crew business is all a bit of an ego trip for (overwhelmingly) men. I very much like the idea of the word “skipper” never being mentioned and if there is a real leader, he/she will take charge only when necessary and only in an emergency. I intend to go home and inform the skipper that, from now on, the boat will be sailed by committee.

*note: it is the same as the skipper’s backed up with the same slightly meaningless set of certificates

 

[iangrant]

Women on boats are bad luck

We all know that the pretty little things are alright for domestic type duties but surely, can never really expect to be in command of a vessel.

Take for instance the fist Royal Navy Woman Captain, They gave her a little motor boat to play with in Portsmouth, She hit the jetty!

 

[jollyjacktar]

The skipper is the person resonsible.

International Maritime Regs specify the skipper / master / captain / boss / wife or whatever the position is called on your craft to be the person responsible for safety of crew and vessel or some such.

When I own the boat, I select the crew and appoint the skipper [if he/she accepts the position], but mostly I am the self appointed skipper.

When I have shared ownership of a boat we have agreed amongst ourselves that when one takes the helm, or directs the helmsman, one assumes the position of the skipper and that person gives the orders and accepts full responsibility for crew and vessel.

When we are keeping watch routines, then the skipper of the watch is appointed for each watch and remains as such for the period of the watch, with all the responibility for saftey etc.

If the watch skipper assesses that lack of experience or unfamiliarity in a particular set of circumstances are such that crew and vessel may become or be in a position of peril, then the skipper must hand over to the most suitable person to handle the situation.

If this does not happen, then stage a mutiny or usurp command on the basis that the vessel and/or crew were in danger under the existing incompetant command [good defence at your courtmartial].

If all else fails, jump ship and buy your own boat. Then you will be responsible for sinking the thing and drowning the crew, however you will also go down with the ship ... won't you?

 

[Guest]

Re: natural selection...

I'm the Boss and I have my Fiancee's permission to say so !

 

[incognito]

You sound like the perfect crew to me!! (nt)

""

 

[Guest]

Re: natural selection...

Some Russian humour:

Wife chases her fleeing husband round the flat with a rolling pin: "Just let me get my hands on you, you swine, you coward, you ne'er do good! Come out from under that bed!"

Husband (from under the bed): "You leave me alone, I'm not coming out!"

Wife: "I said come out of the there. Ragamuffin! Drunkard!"

Husband: "Who's the Master of the House? I said I'm not coming out, and I'm not going to come out!"

As Lamartine said during the 1848 revolution: "Je suis leur chef, il faut que je les suive" (I am their leader, I must follow them)

 

[Guest]

Re: agreed!

Ideally, the other half should like doing (and be better at) all the things you secretly don't like doing, but you would do if they asked, and vice versa. But this also means that one might be relaxing while the other isn't and both shd be okay about that.

The fact that the question is asked indicates that something is wrong, doesn't it? I suspect that here there may be a case of the "skipper is the one who orders the others about" whilst the skipper does less work. Which shouldn't happen.

 

[Guest]

You must be lost...

You'll find the motor boat forum (and like minds) two clicks down from scuttlebutt.