The skipper is the heart of every floating vessel on earth. His word is (or should be) law to everybody on board. Yet, on a pleasant sailing holiday with your friends it can be deemed as unpleasant, and hard for the skipper, to order those friends to do something they may not like to do, and may consider unnecessary or a “dirty job”. A crew member might think -”why me again, why not Charlie this time”, not realising he may be the best person for the job, especially in difficult or tricky manoeuvres. It is not always easy for skipper or crew member.

What about the situation where you have hired a professional skipper? You have to admit that the situation where your employee (the skipper) commands you to do something you may not like, is something which does not occur in other forms of business or social life !! But please bear in mind that you are paying this guy to do precisely this. If he doesn’t, then he is not doing his job properly and you must remember that in extreme situations your life may depend on his decisions and commands, and the way you react to them. There are three aspects regarding the skipper and I will analyse them for you:

a. You are the Skipper You must discuss your position with your family and friends IN ADVANCE, preferably before you even book the holiday. Having chosen you as skipper, they have to understand that your word is LAW on board. If they can not accept this then do not accept the position. If you are the only one with sailing experience you can always accept the position of navigator, and let someone else be skipper, however if the crew can not all accept your original conditions you would be well advised not to make the trip, as the chances of failure are very high. It has to be understood that the skipper’s authority is not only confined to emergency situations where you are about to hit rocks (they will certainly accept commands then) but have to cover all the mundane daily tasks involved in living on board.

For example, there are 6 men in the crew, it has been a long and exhausting day and you have just enjoyed a magnificent dinner of fried fish, which you have bought at the local market, washed down with a sufficiency of good local white wine and are now sitting together to enjoy a coffee and brandy. BUT there is a huge pile of dirty plates, pans - approaching deck-high. Who is going to do the washing-up, when everyone is tired and a volunteer does not appear? To leave them will smell the cabin out - having eaten fish. But it has to be done and you have to ask, or eventually command, someone to spend the next hour doing the unpleasant job. If you don’t, then what started out as a very pleasant evening will end up with arguments as to who will do what, and when - and it will all be your fault !

This example may be extreme but you would be surprised how many holidays are spoiled because these seemingly trivial issues are not handled properly. If the crew chose you as skipper they must accept your word as law. Good leadership skills by you, making sure that the crew all share the dirty jobs, as well as the rewarding ones, including yourself in the various domestic tasks, will ensure a happy ship and a subsequently enjoyable holiday.

b. You are the crew - and you have to choose the Skipper Again, an early decision is by far the best. If more than one crew member has sailing experience choose the one with the additional leadership skills rather, than the purely technical sailor. You should choose someone you respect and whose orders you will follow without question. Respect on someone’s skills has nothing to do with age. How many children these days know more about computers than their fathers ?? During the trip you must follow the skipper’s orders without question. If the skipper appears to be picking on you and you seem to be getting more than your share of a particular job - don’t argue in front of the rest of the crew, just do it - and then have a quiet word with the skipper about your feelings quietly and in private later.

c. You hired a professional skipper for your holiday

Well, this is an article by itself and will be published separately in the short future.

(NC)-Everyone knows boating is fun, but some people who are interested in taking it up hold back because of myths they’ve heard about boating. In fact, boating is easy, flexible and affordable, so I’m going to discuss a few of those myths and separate fact from fiction.

MYTH: Boating is expensive. It’s not. In fact, it probably costs less to buy and operate a boat than you think. Following are a few examples: $10,000 to $18,000 is the average price for a 17- to 19-foot outboard-powered family runabout. $6,000 to $9,500 for the average aluminium fishing boat with outboard motor or cottage sailboat. Most boats with a selling price above $5,000 can be financed. Many banks, financial institutions and credit unions provide financing for boats. Local boat retailers also provide customized boat loan programs through arrangements with boat manufacturers or local banks. Finally, check boating magazines for financiers’ advertisements. Interest rates have continued to be affordable. MYTH: Boating takes up time I can’t afford. It’s true. Like never before, everyone is so . . . busy. But boating is totally flexible - your family can use a boat as much or as little as you wish. Your boat is ready to go whenever you are. That means you can mesh your boating fun with your busy schedule. Try that with a ball game, soccer league or tee-off time at a golf club. Spending time with your family on a boat really is quality time. Activities on the water can include fishing, water-skiing, tubing and much more. Sharing the fun with friends makes it even better!

MYTH: There’s too much involved in maintaining a boat. With today’s technology, there is very little maintenance required. All it takes is filling it up with gas - just as you do with a car - and some preventative maintenance your dealer will do at a minimal cost. Before a boat is stored for the winter it requires an oil change and cleaning - that’s it!

Boating is a great activity, particularly for the family!

There, you have just got a boat. A nice new hobby for the weekend and it is time to stock it out. It is time to get all that equipment and gear that you have read about in all the magazines and that you have dreamt about for so long. Time to fill that boat up with all the latest goodies and set sail into the unknown. Sail out and over the horizon, ready for all that may be placed in your way!

The engine has always been my greatest problem and I have this constant nightmare of breaking down whilst away from shore. The last thing that I want to do is to call for help and admit to everybody that I was not ready. Spanners, screwdrivers, engine tool kit and a few essential spares are of course a necessity but the Chain Block and the torque wrench, the hydraulic spanner and the ten-pound hammer? I am not so sure that I will ever really need them at sea.

What are you going to do with them? Lift the engine off the block and do a complete strip down whilst bobbing on the water? Let us look into this before we dive in and fill the boat up full to the brim with unessential items. Before we fill up the cabin drawers with tools of all shapes and sizes and electrical equipment that would stretch your power supply to its limits. It must be remembered that if the problem is a serious one then nine times out of ten you will not have the correct spare part anyway! So what do you really need before you make a storeroom out of every available space onboard?

Tools are essential and maybe the saving grace to any that lose their power at sea. Tools are required to unblock a fuel filter or cure a leaking pipe, but you are not going to be doing a complete overhaul so leave the 18” monkey wrench behind along with the engine lifting frame and the welding machine. Leave them safely at home in the garage and set sail with the minimum of required tools for essential repairs. Have in your boat enough tools to do the job and leave plenty of space for all the food and goodies that will make the trip into what you dreamt it would be like. Don’t turn your boat into a nightmare with unnecessary tools falling out of cupboards and leaving oily stains everywhere, just have what you need and set sail happily. Don’t have your friends and guests complaining of stubbed toes and bruises on the head as they work there way through the cupboards whilst searching for some food to eat!

The crucial point to remember about engine maintenance and repair is that it should all have been done before you left port. The engine and auxiliary equipment should be in a good condition and able to do the job it is meant to do before you take the last rope off the jetty. So any repairs and work should have been carried out before you even thought of stocking up for the trip. When you set sail you should have underneath you a boat ready and prepared for all occasions, one that you can trust in to do the job that it is required to do.

In many situations the amount of equipment that you carry does depend on the skills that you yourself possess. First of all, if you are not very good at engine overhauls then it is pointless to have the larger pieces of equipment anyway. If you are good at doing engine overhauls and have knowledge about what you are doing then you should not have set sail with a faulty engine in the first place. It is possible that you breakdown through no fault of your own but it is far better to have a good communication system to call for help and swallow your pride than to try and fix the engine yourself.

Essential items therefore consist of a set of spanners, a couple of hammers, a set of screwdrivers, and an adjustable wrench. One monkey wrench of a small size, filter removal strap for the Fuel filters and LO filters, hand crank handle if the engine is small, a spare set of batteries, some spare Lubricating Oil and some odds and ends of screws and nuts and bolts. Along with these items should be the engines tool kit, essential spares for the engine including a couple of injectors, fuel filter and LO filter inserts and anything else that the manufacturer recommends for that engine.

Leave behind the Chain Block, the large Monkey Wrench and the Hydraulic Spanners. Leave behind the spare heads and the spare crankshaft and all the spares that require the use of a chain block. Make sure before you leave that the engine is in top working condition and that you can trust in its ability to take you where you want to go without breaking down on the way. And finally make sure that your communication system is suitable and in a good working condition, so that if a problem does arise help is not far away.

There is no pride to think of when you breakdown. Safety is of a higher priority.