The skipper: responsibilities, briefing and preparation

Moving about the boat safely takes only a few rules, and the Seaman's Notes sum them up like this. You move on deck holding on and keeping low. You use one hand for yourself and one for the boat. You go below backwards, facing the ladder. You take care of the boom.

The same notes remind you of two things that concern the crew's health: protecting yourself from the sun with cream and drinking plenty of water, about two litres per person per day, and keeping alcohol below the limits. Everyone on board also helps with the common chores: putting water in the tanks, cleaning, checking the bilges.

The tender has its own list. You inflate it to the correct pressure and do not overload it. You always wear a lifejacket, get in and out carefully and sit down. With an outboard you use the kill cord and carry a spare pair of oars, as well as a handheld VHF and a torch. You do not tow it behind the yacht.

The check-in list is the round the skipper makes before leaving, in this order: panel and instruments, engine, below deck, on deck. It is a written list, to be ticked off item by item: it exists precisely because from memory, in a hurry, something gets forgotten.

You begin with the electrical system: switch on the batteries, then the panel with the lights, the instruments and the windlass. You check the battery charge, the fuel and water levels, and that the electric bilge pump works. You write down the engine hours: the list has a space for it, repeated at check-out.

Then the engine, with the WOBBLE list: water, oil, belt, bilge, levels, electricity, plus a visual check of the shaft.

After the panel and the engine you go below deck. At sea nothing should open, fall or let water in. That is why the bathroom and galley seacocks are closed (the engine cooling seacock stays open) and all the bilges are looked at; the portholes are closed, one by one; the lockers are closed, the fridge and the internal doors secured; the gas tap is closed.

The safety equipment, such as lifejackets and fire extinguishers, must be present, valid and easy to reach. Then the documents: the boat's (navigation licence, insurance, radio), the skipper's (licence, SRC) and an identity document for every crew member. The last line is the crew briefing, already done: it has its own separate list.

The deck is the last stretch of the check-in list. You begin with what you can see: flag, instruments uncovered, sails ready, lines clear. Then communication: a last check of the weather and the itinerary, the VHF on with squelch adjusted and channel 16 monitored. The windlass has its own part: remote control fitted, anchor clear with its line, switch on.

Before leaving you test the engine with the 220 V disconnected, checking that water comes out of the exhaust, steadily, and watching the smoke. You check fuel and range. The steering is tested with the helm free and the autopilot off: ten degrees one way and ten degrees the other. A free fender and an emergency line are kept ready. In bad weather you wear lifejackets, rig the jackstays and clip on with your harness tether.

The passage plan has four stages, listed in the Seaman's Notes and on the passage planning sheet (SOLAS V). First you gather all the information (appraisal). Then you lay out the voyage (planning). Then you carry it out, taking account of the conditions of the moment and changing the plan if necessary (execution). Finally you check continuously where you are against the plan, with all the resources you have (monitoring).

The plan does not end when you cast off: the last stage lasts the whole passage. Three rules of conduct complete the plan: be flexible, do not be over ambitious, never be afraid to say no. Saying no, or changing port, is allowed for by the plan: there are the ports of refuge and the decision gates.

The passage plan devotes a whole point to the crew, with several questions inside it. How much strength and experience does it have? Who does what and for how long? Can it cope with the weather we expect? Has it had the safety briefing? Are there food, drink and special diets for the whole passage? And finally the watch rota: who keeps the lookout, and when.

In a plan with four people, for example, the lookout is in one-hour watches in pairs, and when manoeuvring all the crew go on deck. It is an example, not a rule: the right watches depend on who is on board and on the passage. The syllabus calls it delegation of responsibility and watchkeeping organisation: delegating and organising the watches are the skipper's tasks.

The last part of the syllabus concerns behaviour and courtesy on board. The Seaman's Notes have a list of rules for living on board: shoes left at the stern, fresh water saved, no sand or wetness below, food that makes crumbs eaten on deck, anything that could fall stowed. During mooring and unmooring you do not talk to the skipper.