Sailing and Camping

Any voyage that lasts longer than a single day means that a yacht's crew has to be organised into watches. And, to ensure the safety of all aboard, good communication between watches and the navigator is essential. How is this best achieved?

Watch systems

Each watch has to have its share of sailing skills - helming, foredeck, reefing, trimming. It is preferable that the navigator stands out of watches and is available whenever required. One watch should pass on the relevant information to its successor, remembering that it's easy enough for some of the details to be overlooked.

A common system is two watches working four hours in the daytime (i.e. between 6.00 am and 6.00 pm) and three hours at night. This means that the watches rotate over a two day period and no one is stuck on the midnight to 3.00 am shift. Meals can be easily prepared by a member of the on watch so that they are ready to be served at the change of watch.

In the Volvo race earlier this year, the Green Dragon crew worked a watch system with four watches of two men. Although the watch changed every two hours there were always four people on deck. This meant that the crew members coming on watch could be briefed by those remaining on deck and those going off watch could go below to rest straight away. Although possibly disruptive of people's sleep and meal times, this watch system allowed the crew to drive the yacht hard while maintaining the best possible knowledge of the boat's performance in the prevailing wind and sea conditions.

Watch-keeping responsibilities

Of course, being on watch is not simply a matter of making a boat sail fast. The prime job is keeping the boat safe by maintaining a proper lookout. This means checking the horizon regularly for any sign of vessels by day or their lights by night and making any alterations to course necessary to avoid them.

Although the yacht's position may be recorded by GPS it is also important to maintain a deck log of courses and other information such as wind speed and direction. You never know when the electronics aboard will fail or the GPS become unreliable.

Even the best navigators need a starting point (departure) of a known position to base his/her dead reckoning on.

Standing orders

Ships have written standing orders so that all watch-keepers know when to call on the captain for assistance. Aboard yachts, similar rules often exist, but they may not be in writing.

For instance, whether navigating on a cruise or while racing, I always ask to be woken me if there is any significant change in wind speed and/or direction, if visibility is seriously reduced, or if any unusual event occurs.

The good skipper/navigator will issue a set of instructions, starting with: "Wake me if..." It is up to the crew to make sure those instructions are followed. It doesn't matter if the navigator has only just turned in after many hours of tactical navigation. Letting the navigator rest may put everyone aboard at risk. It is false kindness, and very dangerous.