Bluewater Planning: The Right Crew

The right crew will have the correct mix of essential skillsets. They also need to be organized into watch keeping schedules that allow for difficult weather.

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The right crew is as essential as the right boat for an enjoyable ocean crossing. (Photo/ Betsie Van Der Meer/ Getty)
The right crew is as essential as the right boat for an enjoyable ocean crossing. (Photo/ Betsie Van Der Meer/ Getty)

Each crewmember doesn't have to be an RYA Yacht-master or 6-Pack captain—I have sailed across an ocean with a complete novice. My wife was concerned about what might happen if I got ill so I signed up an intensive care nurse as crew—they were not a novice sailor by the time we reached land.

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Roland Stockham got his start sailing Olympic-class 470s and Finns in his native England. He started his journey as a voyager crewing for yacht owners sailing to Europe because he was handy at diesel repair. His first cruising boat was a 26-ft. Folkboat with no engine. He lives in British Columbia and sails a 35-ft. Colin Archer design. He is a Royal Yachting Association certified Yacht Master and is qualified to make trans-oceanic deliveries.

1 COMMENT

  1. I usually only make coastal passages with a crew of two besides myself. When I apprenticed on SEA Semester’s R/V Westward decades ago, we used what they called a “Swedish watch schedule. With 3 people I set 3 4-hour watches at night and 2 6-hour watches during the day. I set them this way: 19:00 – 23:00, 23:00 – 03:00, 03:00 – 07:00, 07:00 to 13:00 and 13:00 – 19:00. That way the watches rotate, and everyone gets 8 hours at least once a day. With 4 total crew there are 4 night watches of 3 hours each, and 3 day watches of 4 hours each. I let the day watches be more casual, and if the crew wants to spell each other then, it’s not a problem.
    I usually take the first dawn watch, as I know the crew, who don’t do this often, will be awake for most of first the evening, and I go to bed as soon as the first watch evening watch is set so I’m rested when my watch comes up.
    Something else I do is to let each crew member decide how long before they’re due to relieve the watch they want to be roused. It then becomes the on watch member’s responsibility to wake them in time, and theirs to get on deck in a timely fashion.