It’s your time to shine. Everything you have learned thus far will now be put to the test. It’s game time and you best be at you’re A game. The boat is in your hands; you’re in charge and the executive decisions are yours to make. Everyone is asleep, entrusting that they will at some point wake up or be woken up into a cohesive and calm world, and not with sea water lapping at their beards or to the shrill screams of a discombobulated watchman battling a tangle of ropes like a pit of hungry vipers.
No skipper likes to wake up to a world of chaos where the helmsman has completely lost his shit. You will make mistakes, but hopefully prior to having been put on watch, you were paying attention and making notes – running procedures through your head. Remember? The ones your skipper was telling you while you stood safely next to him, nodding and mm hmm-ing, thinking you’d always have that reassuring warmth of his experience with you. He sleeps now and the angry hissing heads of a dozen hateful snakes peer at you, all vying for a position on the 2 available winches, and you wonder who should be choked first and if you grab one, ease it or pull at it, what will it do – will the boat rocket off at an additional 1.5kts or will it bring down the mast?
Your early watches should be accompanied by the Skipper, and he should start by mentioning the priorities of watch keeping, for example: avoid hitting anything – be it other boats, reef, rocks and fishing buoys, and in general do whatever you can to prevent the mast from crashing to the decks. Later you will learn how to juggle the sheets and halyards when heading off your course to avoid a collision and how to ease the mainsheet in a hurry, drop the mainsail to reduce sail at the approach of a squall or furl the genoa. All these little procedures and more will be relayed to you by your skipper first verbally, then practically demonstrated, and finally you may be asked to conduct the procedures with him at your side while he talks you through it. He should then let you demonstrate the procedure without his assistance if possible, allowing him to butt in if necessary to correct you or prevent mishap. When free of the hot seat, jot the procedures down and run through them in your mind’s eye.
Later in the game you will be left alone while the skipper sleeps with one eye open and periodically checks on you. He will be queued either by an innate call from deep within his soul to raise himself from Lalaland to see how you are coming on or will be woken by a change in the motion of the boat as you alter course whether intentionally or not; or he will be summoned by the sound of winches turning under the strain of sheets or halyards, the motors being switched on or off or a change in the revs. Based on the nature of the sounds he will have an idea as to what you are attempting and should surface during these times to ensure you are making your adjustment correctly. Otherwise, a prolonged flogging of sails and sheets will indicate to him that you need assistance, and he will surface to offer his help, even before you work up the nerve to summon him.
Eventually, at such point that he feels comfortable that you are capable of performing the tasks corresponding to the telltale sounds he hears from below, he will remain at club duvet. Congrats! Your skipper now has faith in you!
This is what COLREGS (International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea) has to say:
‘Rule 5, Look-out: Every vessel shall at all times maintain a proper look-out by sight and hearing as well as by all available means appropriate in the prevailing circumstances and conditions so as to make a full appraisal of the situation and of the risk of collision.’
You will have your regular duties and at times be given special duties that are particular to your situation and location, but in both cases you should not be given duties which you do not have the skills to perform. Your skipper will give you an increasing level of responsibility during your watches in accordance with your rate of learning and skills development. Procedures should be drilled into you and repeated under the instruction and guidance of the Captain with a reduction of his own input throughout the repetitions until such time as you can perform the tasks alone (if at all possible).
As an inexperienced sailor, a deckhand for instance, to begin with you should not be left alone. You should be given daylight watches only, during which time you and the boats progress will be monitored by the skipper. if he needs to be absent from the deck for a substantial period of time, either for rest, repairs, checks or even cooking, he will ask the First Mate to take over his role of overseer.
In the case of a crew compliment of 4 (i.e., the Skipper, 1st Mate and 2 crew) you may be asked to share your watch with the other crew member for the earlier part of the trip or the entire journey. This will take the stress off a bit as you’ll be able to bounce ideas and info off each other.
The Priorities
You will learn what to be mindful of on watch on a priority first basis. The most obvious important considerations are:
Don’t hit anything – ships, rocks, reef, buoys, channel markers, trees or even refrigerators (I once sailed passed a large floating fridge just south of Barbados)
Don’t lose the rig – keep the stick pointing upwards. This means keeping the right out amount of sail up for the present wind and sea conditions.
Keep on course – are you using the autopilot on auto mode, steering to a waypoint or on windvane mode? Have you been instructed to switch between modes if there is a shift in the wind. Any navigational hazards close to your course line? If so, are you aware of what your XTE (Cross Track Error – the perpendicular distance from your position to the course line you were steering on) is and how much you can safely permit? If you’ve intentionally gone off course for a while, have you reset your XTE to zero? Or are you steering manually and paying attention to the compass? Are you managing to keep within a 10 – 15 degree heading range?
Trim the sails – It is always a marvel to me how the slightest sail adjustment can make such a huge difference to speed. Being a perfectionist, I am hyper attentive to sail trim and forever trying to maximise performance by getting the most out of my sails. I have found over the years however that too much tinkering and continual minor adjustments, particularly over long or difficult voyages on boats that never let you pack the toolbox away, can wear you thin. One should rather conserve energy for other tasks that translate directly to added safety and the prevention of misfortunes of a nature more dire than arriving at your destination 6000 miles away, a day or 2 later.
Learning how far in or out your sails should be for the given wind angle is not too difficult, but it takes many years to become a master of fine tuning for optimum performance and anyone with comprehensive knowledge on the subject should be able to describe its intricacies in a book spanning hundreds of pages. This is not that book, but I will give you some rules of thumb to get you started.
The closer the wind is to the bow i.e the smaller the angle between the fore and aft line of the vessel (where the vessel is pointing) and the angle at which the wind strikes the boat, the tighter the sails should be.
CONVERSELEY
The further the wind is off the bow. i.e the greater is the angle between the fore/aft line of the vessel and the angle at which the wind strikes the boat, the looser/further out the sails should be.
When applying this theory to the mainsail the same goes for both the mainsheet and the main traveller. Knowing how much to let go on each relative to the other takes practice, but in short the mainsail should at least have some bag/belly to it and as a very rough rule of thumb the wind should strike the boom at an angle of around 45 degrees if the wind is at the beam or anywhere forward of it.
Sails as flat as boards do not work as well as sails with some belly/curvature in them
The Genoa – At 3 points a foot or two outboard of the luff and spaced at intervals along the height of the sail you will see ribbons which are identically paired with their counterparts attached to the other face of the sail. These are telltales (The OG telltales). For now, concern yourselves only with the middle pair. When the leeward one is trailing horizontally and the windward at an angle 30 degrees above the horizontal then your genoa is set correctly.
Best way to find your genoas sweet spot (much easier than finding her sweet spot) is to sheet it in while paying attention to the luffing disappearing its way upwards until only a very small area of sail can be seen luffing at the top of the sail. If we see a minute little luff hear each time the boat pulls into the wind then we know we are in the right spot. However, if you see no luffing then you wouldn’t really know if you were too tight or not, unless you were experienced enough to gauge by other visual cues such as the curvature of the sail.
The main sail also has tell tales – these are usually one at the end of each baton and trailing off the leech. Concern yourself at this stage only with the second one. It should trail horizontally. If it is not disturbed enough to do this then there is not a good steady flow of wind reaching it.
Listen for new sounds – investigate! – Your hearing is one of your greatest aids at night. Your boat will make a cacophony of sounds which will vary with the conditions and point of sail. Some will be regular, constant, uniform, dependable and predictable such as the hum of the motor and some will be infrequent like the creaking of a genoa sheet. Familiarise yourself with them and know what each represents so that when you encounter a new sound, heretofore unknown to you, then upon following it to its source you can determine what it’s telling you. On countless occasions these sounds have enabled me to nip disaster in the bud. Eventually you’ll come to know what sounds you can expect to hear given certain conditions, and which are unidentifiable without the confirmation of your eyes, and which of these may spell trouble.
The watchman should, for the sake of his crew attempting sleep seek out these annoyances and bloody hell, just make them stop!
Inspect – Many of these checks should be done during daylight hours when the visibility is better and when safer than during the night hours. except where changes have been made that may have altered positions of the items in question in relation to others, such as when reefing or shaking a reef.
Items in red should be done during daylight, items in green during both day and night hours
Keep an eye on everything on deck: check your sails for luffing, make sure there are no lines hanging over the side or about to find their way there. Re-secure all lines with the appropriate knots and coils.
walk around and check: the genoa drum, all the grub screws tight, shackle on tack tight, no control line coils have fallen off the drum, check there is the correct tension on the luff
Check the mainsail luff is tight enough, that the reefing lines are tight in enough so as not to catch themselves around the boom end and for the sake of general neatness. See that the gooseneck pin on the boom and the nut holding the pin in place haven’t worked their way out or off, check the shackle attached to the tack cringle of the mainsail is tight and moused, is there the correct tension on the mainsail outhaul, are the leeward lazy jacks loose enough so as not to be strained by the mainsail resting against it, are the mainsheet block shackles on the base of the boom-end tight and whipped, is the stackpack lifted enough so that its not bouncing and rubbing against the mainsheet blocks on the boom. Are the lifelines tight enough and do their ends all have split ring in place? Shine a spotlight on the mainsail head and auxiliary sail head (Code, Spinnaker, gennaker, screecher, reacher etc.) from time to time as you may notice it is chaffing up there. Scan your sails for holes or tears forming, especially your lighter fabric sails, such as spinnakers and codes. Is the mainsail lying against the shrouds?
Be Ready – It is vitally important to minimise the time it will take to change from your staple sail configuration to a state of reduced canvas in the event of a sudden increase in wind strength such as you’d experience with the approach of a squall. There are sheets, halyards and control lines that can be placed on winches and/or tensioned, but you will find that you will often be want for an extra winch so thinking carefully about what should go where. In a perfect world you’d have 4 winches – one for your main halyard, one for your mainsheet, one for your active genoa sheet and one for your genoa control line. In reality you only have 2 or 3.
The quickest way to spill wind in a hurry, assuming you have been caught with your pants down with little time for the other methods, is to ease the mainsheet. This can be done quickly, but before opening the jammer you would need to take the tension off it, by first tensioning the sheet on a winch. If the mainsheet has its very own dedicated winch then leave the mainsheet tensioned on it. If not, then rather avoid getting caught with your pants down and keep tensioned on one of 2 of your available winches, the active genoa sheet, and the genoa control line on the other. There should be no slack on the latter, otherwise the last turn of the control line around the drum may drop off the drum and make furling the genoa impossible without first going forward.
- If your mainsail is already as far out as it can go, i.e. almost touching the shroud then you will not be able to spill wind by easing the main sheet. A squall will more often than not temporarily alter wind direction. If It brings your wind forward then your mainsail will already be spilling some wind as it would be set for a wind angle aft of the new direction. In either case proceed with furling the genoa.
You should be able to detect the approach of a squall at least a minute before it hits even during a moonless night. This will give you enough time to either partly furl your genoa if the squall appears light or completely furl it away if the squall looks like a big nasty, in which case, after furling the genoa you can free up either of the winches by first closing the jammers, wrap your mainsheet around the one, tension up and open the jammer, wrap your main halyard around the other, tension up and open its jammer. Then head into the wind and drop the main. You can do this under motor or under sail.
- If you do not have a boom vang to support your boom when the mainsail is not hoisted then before dropping the main you will have to run to the mast and lightly tension the topping lift
If it appears that the squall is going bring only a slight increase in wind speed then:
1.1 Ease the sheets and run off the wind without reefing the genoa
1.2 Ease the sheets, run off the wind and put a reef or 2 in the genoa
If it appears that the squall is going to bring a considerable increase in wind strength then:
2.1 Ease the sheets, run off the wind and furl the genoa completely
In the case of 1.1 and 1.2 if you still feel like you have too much sail up you continue to furl the genoa until completely furled
If it appears that the squall is going to be strong then proceed as for 2.1 then:
Upon furling your genoa completely start your motor/motors, head into the wind and put a reef or 2 into your main or drop the main completely and head back on course under motor and unfurl a small section of your genoa, then kill your engine.
- I always like to have my topping lift on the windward side. On the leeward side it is much more likely to catch the end of a baton and hold the mainsail up. When I drop the main I like to know that it will come all the way down.
Look to find – Actively look for problems. If you look for them they will appear. Avoid just staring out at deck components with screen saver mode on, be active with your eyeballs and scrutinise everything.
Be Aware – Take note of the sail configuration and trim, wind speed and wind direction and sea state, and the distance from land, navigational hazards or other vessels. Monitor these. If the wind speed increases, you may need to reef, if it decreases you may need to shake a reef or unfurl some genoa. If the direction changes you will need to adjust your sails.
At the start of your watch the boat will be pitching, yawing, rolling, heaving … in a particular way. By monitoring the boats motion you should be able to detect any deviation from this, and if below at the time, this will be your que to go outside (regardless of when last you were out on deck) and see what has changed – the wind speed and direction, the boat’s course, the sea state or perhaps something has come undone, loosened or broken etc.
Go outside – AT LEAST every 15 mins. Aim for 10, but 15 should be your absolute latest. If a ship is travelling at 20kts towards you, while you sail at 8kts toward it, from the moment before the ship becomes visible on a clear night to colliding with the you will take just 20mins. You need to develop an accurate understanding of what the passage of 10 and 15mins feels like.
When you are due to go outside, switch off the saloon lights and any other blinding lights on your way out, then wait for your eyes to adjust to the darkness and then and only then do a slow turn of your head while scanning the horizon – this should take no less than 30 seconds. Walk to the leeward side of the boat so that you can see behind your major blind spot – the genoa. Be aware of other blind spots and ALWAYS look around and beyond them.
Keep the boat clean and tidy – Clean as you go. Don’t let foodstuffs accumulate in the galley. Wash dishes as you use them and finish off by wiping and drying the surfaces and wringing out the dish rag. Stow away anything that might want to take flight if the conditions worsen and keep your personal belongings in your own cabin as much as possible. If you make a mess, clean it up immediately.
Use your eyeballs – Forget the TV game in front of you. The chart plotter is not the real world. Going on deck to check only the plotter does not qualify as keeping a good lookout. Some vessels do not have AIS and I’m certain whales, buoys, trees and refrigerators do not either.
- The evening watchman must turn the brightness down on the instruments, enough so as not to be blinded by them. If you cannot see the horizon then in the words of Elton John you are being ‘blinded by the light’. The morning watchman must turn the brightness up as the day brightens otherwise you will struggle to see the screens well enough to be able to do it later.
Hatches – I think I can count, using at least no more than the digits on my hands and feet, the number of times I’ve been rudely awaken from blissful sleep by a big dousing of several litres of frigid sea water or by a flying fish hitting me in the eye or having my pillow stained an inky purple by errant squid. In the tropics you will want your hatches always open and in cooler climes this will be occasioned more by general ventilation and the necessary prevention of damp, mould and mildew. The wind strength, heading/point of sail, hatch location and sea conditions will determine which hatches you can open and when. Watch the hatch that you are contemplating opening from on deck for 15 mins or so and if no water droplets are being deposited on it in this time then it may be safe to open that hatch.
(#notresponsibleforruinedlaptops) If conditions change so may the tenability of having it open. The watchman should take note of what hatches are open when coming on watch and close them if and when necessary. It should also be his duty to close cabin hatches of his sleeping crew if changes in conditions call for it or if heading into the wind to make a sail change. If crew hit the hay with closed hatches and I can safely assume, particularly in the tropics, that they’d prefer them open, then if the conditions permit it, I will do so.
- With the potential approach of the squall, it may be prudent to close all hatches in advance so that you have one less thing to do when the dodo hits the fanfan.
Don’t forget you’re on watch – Since you have to stay up anyway, you may as well get some jobs done. BUT regardless of what endeavours you undertake, whether it’s taking a dump or cooking dinner, remember you are still on watch, and your time constraint of 15 minutes still applies. So, if you begin a job that ends up exceeding this, then you will have to drop tools and prioritise your visual checks.
- If someone is up and about then you may ask them to keep lookout while you complete the task at hand. Be sure you have received audio confirmation from the stand-in watchman that they have heard and agreed to your request.
Do the Log – This is the record book filled in at regular intervals throughout the journey to document your progress and record information such as your position, speed, heading, engine hrs etc. (see appendage.. pg..) You may be required to fill in the log during one, some or all of your watches depending on the interval preference of your captain, this may be at the start of every watch, every 4hrs, 6hrs, 12hrs or even 24hrs. Your captain will show you how. Important though is to check and re-check the information you enter, particularly your position and to remember to do it religiously.
- It is important to document breakages, maintenance, repairs, issues or concerns as they occur and with the aid of photographic and video evidence, particularly where manufacturer flaws are suspected to be at fault and a warranty claim can be made or in the case where a damaged item may be covered under the vessel’s insurance. The time, date, position and conditions concurrent with the breakage or upon first noticing the issue should be recorded and then entered into the log during the next scheduled entry.
The Roster
Many of the popular roster options work on 2 or 3 day cycles, meaning your daily watch roster is only repeated every second or third day. I don’t like this for a number of reasons:
- If your watch hours are continually changing then your body clock gets confused, and your brain doesn’t know when to secrete the “time for beddy drugs” and the “get your ass up drugs”. Sticking to the same time everyday enables your body to sync with the times that you need to sleep and need to be awake.
- With a changing roster, inexperienced crew end up with the graveyard shift – 12am to 4am. This I find is the most dangerous time of the day as it contains no hours of daylight even with a fair distance covered east or west. Not wanting to avoid tempting fate, we should also give a little leeway to superstition surrounding the “witching hours”.
- Keeping the same times everyday avoids confusion. Everybody knows who’s on when and since duties may vary slightly between morning, afternoon and night watches, everybody comes well versed in what is expected of them during their watch which they “own”.
The watches are divided into a 24hr period by 6 time slots of 4 hrs each. Each person does the same times twice in a 24hr period. As the Skipper I always do 0000-0400 and 1200-1600. If anyone should get good sleep, it’s ‘ol cappy, so he should put his First Mate on after him for the 0400-0800 and the 1600-2000 watches. The crew member can then do the 0800-1200 and 2000 to 2400 slots. (or in the case of 4 on board, and if it is the will of the captain, then the 2 most inexperienced crew can do these watches together).
I find that in fair weather, watches of under 4hrs each are unnecessary and personally I’d rather do a longer watch so that I can have more consecutive off-watch hours, in this case 8.
| Captain | First Mate | Crew | Captain | First Mate | Crew |
| 0000-4000 | 4000-8000 | 8000-1200 | 1200-1600 | 1600-2000 | 2000-2400 |
I also like the above order because if I’m feeling restless or worried about the crew on watch I can get up earlier for my watch and support them for the latter part of theirs. Conversely, if I am being worn thin by constant crew support I can wake my First Mate early to complete my watch.
Be a Sweetheart
It’s not always easy to fall asleep on cue. It feels pressured and forced, so at the outset of your journey especially, you may feel like you’re not getting enough sleep. Your body will adjust to your watch times, and you’ll catch up as the weeks pass. There will be times when some will be getting more sleep than others and not everyone will necessary be doing the same amount of work. Your skipper will be doing so much more than meets the eye and will be working the hardest. If you feel someone is running on empty then do them a solid and surprise them by extending your watch into there’s. Even an extra 20 mins can make a difference. My First Mates are exceptionally lucky in that I almost always do extra time. This is for 1 or a combination of 3 reasons. I really enjoy having the boat to myself in the early hours of the morning. I am productive both in maintenance and creativity, and to give the first mate extra rest.
Don’t Expect your time back
If you give extra time, do it out of kindness and not with the intention of getting the time back. Yes one does hope that if needed the favour shall be returned.
Travelling East and West.
Although your watch hours will be the same every day according to the ships clock, the local time will change. Travelling west you will run from the sun, and it will set later every day. Travelling east you will run towards the sun, and it will set earlier every day. To avoid “daylight” watches becoming “night” watches and vice versa, reset the ship’s clock to local time whenever you make landfall. This way you are also keeping your body’s clock in sync with the changing light.
Cappy’s Rules
- If you’re not sure about anything – wake him up!
- Every 10 mins without fail you must see every part of the horizon – do this by slowly turn your head a full 360 degrees. This should take you no less than 30 seconds.
- Look past your blind spots: jib/genoa, mast, davits, dingy, etc.
- Look behind you. Ships come from there too!
- If you are not sure which direction a boat is travelling, and it appears dangerously close – wake him up
- If a ship is flashing a light at you – wake him up
- If you think a squall is soon to hit – wake him up
- If there is an obvious increase in wind speed, wind direction or a change in sea-state – wake him up
- If you think a reef needs to be put in – wake him up
- If you need to go on deck during inclement conditions – wake him up
- Tie yourself in during inclement or bad weather.
- All bilges should be checked at least once every watch
The Handover
Give a tidy boat over to the next watchman. The cockpit should be organized with all lines untangled and coiled and stowed away in their respective homes. The galley should be tidy, and all foodstuffs packed away and crumbs and spills wiped up.
Wake up the watchman 5-10 mins before the hour so that by the time he is dressed he is on watch on the hour. Present him with a cup of coffee just the way he likes it.
All information relating to any changes in the course, wind and sea condition, and sail configuration should be relayed to the watchman as well as any checks performed, ship sightings, or observations and concerns in general.
Written by Jason Ruger