Come Aboard – The First Mate Welcomes You
My spouse is number two in command of our boat. I jokingly call her the Admiral because any choice by me, the Captain, can be overruled by her but we are usually a good team and in accord.
A boat is a small city. There are two electrical systems, both AC and DC currents and maybe a wind or solar system on some vessels, a waste handling process, accommodations to sleep the crew, meal preparation systems (electrical or propane), meal cargo systems (freezers and cooling), water systems, navigational systems to allow the watercraft to move about and even entertainment systems with TV, radio or movies.
Yes, a yacht is a kind of complex unit. And a yacht is a process that is very awkward for one person to monitor and operate alone.
A First Mate's role is to do anything that the Skipper cannot; either determined by expertise, choice, availability or all three. The First Mate's role is absolutely critical for safe and pleasant cruising.
As First Mate, my spouse stows everything down below when we are preparing to cruise; anything that can break while on the move. She also handles the lines when leaving the dock. She makes certain to secure those lines once we are underway. Our boat is always ship shape and disorganization is NOT an option.
So when we are cruising to our destination, she is tasked with previewing paper NOAA charts while I am operating the boat and navigating with the electronic plotter and radar. Her role is to confirm the chart's accuracy for me, the Captain, who's using the electronic variation; call it a backup system. We rarely go without both paper and electronic charts.
If we take our tender ashore, I run that the same as we do the mother ship and the First Mate the lines. It's just a lot easier on a 10' dory than a 44' yacht!
When we are prepared to depart from our anchorage, she again handles the hook, washes the anchor line and anchor off and secures the pin. When we are back at our home pier, she again handles the lines while I guide our boat right where she should be.
One way to look at it is the First mate is actually the Skipper's assistant. Many women might have a problem with that but my First Mate doesn't. We know couples whose roles are backward - whatever works!
Another essential first mate responsibility is to plan meals and provision as small boats don't have sacred chefs. We both do the real shopping but my First Mate gets to plan everything. She does like that too and loves the shopping even more! We both enjoy the cooking - I am the grill-king and my wife is the galley slave, just kidding. She plans nourishing, tasteful and easy meals as we don't want to pass hours in the galley when there are islands to explore! You can appreciate many of our choice recipes on the website.
Summarizing, I am obligated to maintaining and operating the yacht; the First Mate is obligated for keeping a sanitary living environment and for the prosperity of the crew.
Questions and Answers
If you can get your hands on a uniquely tailored high policy boat yacht insurance, then the smart move for you is to make the most out of it.
In my last blog I covered buying insurance for smaller boats (under 27'). This time I'll cover larger boats over 27'.
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