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The Skipper
on a charter yacht
by Alexander Vournas |
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.
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about author
Alexander Vournas is the owner and SEO of
@lmiyachts.com, an intermediary in the yacht
chartering field. |
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