What does it take to be the skipper?

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I rest my case ...

... especially as experience tells me that it will be a committee of one!

Best regards :o)

Ian D
 
Re: Tolerance?

Oh dear sleepy, your skipper may be right. Your skipper tolerates your whining. Can't you tolerate a silly little dig? As skipper you'll have to tolerate much worse than that. For example, there'll be the other crew who reckon that they can do a better job. Like you. And there'll be those with some peculiar prejudices against certain other types of boat, perhaps canoes, or ferries, or (in this case) powerboats. Like you.
 
Infinite gall

That's why I usually sail single-handed.

Can't stand these sententious commentaries by the unled to the uninspirable.

If you're asking how you can bring the daft bugger to his/her senses - just tell him/her you're going to find your own crew and he can do the same and you'll share the boat 50/50.

If you're trying to mutiny and take command, just hit him/her over the head with the chamber pot and when they come round tell them of the changed status quo.

Good luck - don't even think of divorce, far too economically ruinous.
 
Sleepy,
I urge you to drop any thoughts of being skipper. That is if you want to be the sort of skipper I believe should be in charge of any boat. Everything, and by that I exclude nothing, is the skipper's responsibility. Either to be done by him/herself, or delegated to others. If the delegation turns out to have disasterous results, it is entirely the skipper's fault for delegating the activity. For not having explained properly what it wanted. For not having assessed the crew's abilities properly, and above all, for having put the boat in a position where the crew could not assist properly.

It is a poor skipper that loudly blames the incompetent cow on the foredeck for an inability to leap 10 foot onto a pontoon, or more probably, for not being a mind reader when Plan A suddenly becomes Plan B.

If two people have identical experience and ability, the arguement should run along the lines of "No. I don't want to be skipper - you do it. Then you can have the red face when I do something wrong." Few people have identical experience, and so one gets stuck with the job, and has to ensure the other is not exposed to an activity beyond reasonable strength or ability.

The best skipper is the one with a pocket well filled with Thank-you's, and willingly admits that but for the crew's abilities things could have been worse.

My wife and I sail as a team. No dispute, no arguement. We both know what needs to be done most of the time. BUT, it is me who has to answer when she says 'What is the plan ?' Fortunately, she does not criticise when I reply 'I have not made up my mind yet.'

Colin H.
 
Re: not patronising

I wasn't! You seem to accuse lots of people of this. FYI, VMG = velocity made good, not "vector made good". This isn't patronising either, nor even an opinion.
 
You have answered your own question

"The skipper has nerves of steel while I have been know to get flustered in the first couple of minutes of an emergency"

I would add two other essential attributes for a good skipper - the ability to listen to advice and the ability to insist on his or her chosen course of action even it is unpopular.

morawel@hotmail.com
 
well...

I thought this thread was dead but I have to respond to your point. Getting flustered for a short time is common enough. My skipper is exceptional because his job is to deal with emergencies. Observations of most skippers lead me to believe that I am better than most at staying calm (not perfect, I do have to work at thinking calmly). But there is one difference: I suspect that, being men, most skippers have less of a tendency than I have to own up to falling short of perfect. So you may very well have a point, if it is true that, as some of the responses indicate, being the skipper is a matter of perception and confidence.
 
Getting flustered

Interesting point. When doing my practical exams the RYA/DOT examiner noted that while I am normally a calm logical person, occasionally I could get flustered. He advised me to avoid quick or hasty decisions while skippering, and not let crew pressure me into decisions prematurely. In coming into a marina, for example, if we are not completely calm and prepared, I willingly do an extra circuit outside until Plan A and B have been properly formulated and communicated to crew. During a passage, taking a moment to heave to and work things out logically has immense benefits. Over the years I have learned to think well ahead and avoid allowing situations to develop which could push me into hasty action. It takes all types to be skippers, and that's my experience. Reminds me of the joke about the old bull and the young bull, but that's another story.
 
Very well..... The kind of skipper I prefer

I may as well own up to my embarrassment at having posted a response (to your original somewhat tongue in cheek remark) which was not only mindnumbingly obvious but also totally lacking in humour.

So what are the important features that makes a skipper best suited to cope with crises? Unflappability by no means tops my list. An ability to take decisions within the time available to make them effective (it is surprising how many people cannot, and end up being victims of luck/fate); a systematic and analytical approach to assembling information and making sense of it; an ability to listen to advice; the ability to communicate effectively; the courage to execute a decision even if it is unpopular; and the humility to admit a wrong decision before it's too late to change it.

I suspect that those qualities are no more "innate" in men than in women. They need developing, and our culture had a tradition of discouraging their development in women. Watching my daughters move into adulthood helps me to believe that we are now making better use of women's skills.

What makes some men dangerous as skippers is their illusion that their sex somehow confers on them the necessary skills and that a macho approach is "decisive".

morawel@hotmail.com
 
Let\'s get some advice...

...on this point from the wonderful 89-year-old woman who sailed home the other day after crossing the Atlantic both ways. In the 30s her father promised to take her across then left without her. So she did it herself at the age of 89. There's a moral here for Sleepy, but you don't have to wait for your sons to retire before you go, as this splendid person did. I wonder if she was skipper or crew?
 
What's so difficult about parking? I work on the basis that if I have to use reverse less than 1 boat-length from the pontoon, I've failed. This means I come in a lot slower than almost everyone else - I can abort the approach easily if there's anything in the way, and if I do hit anything, there's no damage.
My skipper leaps around with warps and fenders - he's better at jumping and throwing than me. Occasionally, I let him park so as to keep his hand in!
 
Re: Really? Honestly?

Couldn't agree more.

However, I do the cooking, navigating, fiddle with the electronics, moor, anchor etc. and happy to let anyone on the helm except in the marina.

But, never washup, and what I say goes.
 
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