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How to Teach A New Crewman in Five Minutes

When I was quite young and began doing overnight races, my view of the universe was only as big as the area where I was working. I was only concerned with the task at hand. I was certainly unable to think in the sort of scope or range that the skipper of the boat would have been thinking.

Im sure that limitation still applies to most crew in their early days of extended racing. But, as experience grows, so the universe expands until it takes in, first of all, the watch one is keeping, and later the whole boat.

Later still, it encompasses other boats in the fleet, and eventually weather patterns, current predictions, tidal, where the boat stands in relation to others in the race, tactics and eventually strategy.

Although such experience cant be taught, acquiring it can be accelerated.

Later as a skipper, I developed a learning routine for new sailors that helped accelerate the process of their usefulness from the very first day onboard.

Although finding a crew, actually participating in a race, trials at sea, building a team and basic testing are important, the most important first lesson is how to use your hands on a boat. It sounds simply and almost automatic, but let me explain.

As skipper, when you begin training your own crew, teach them something which every old sailor takes for granted, but which still needs to be passed on. It is the rule of one hand for yourself and one for the boat.

Its explicit and precise and invaluable. Once the crew has learned that they must first ensure of their own safety, and then do whatever work is necessary, they have made the first step from landlubber to sailor.

Everybody has seen the willing crew who has hardly been to sea before, and really wants to help, but fouls everything up. He or she cant seem to keep their balance, or gets thrown from one side of the boat to the other when there is the slightest lurch. The experienced sailor has a handhold or has short-clipped his harness so that the work can be safely done.

Keep that rule in mind until it becomes second nature. Major injuries that occur during heavy weather are usually caused by somebody having forgotten that maxim.

By climbing out of a berth without a good grip they are thrown across the cabin. By coming out of a companionway without having their safety line clipped on they are thrown into the cockpit, or even into the sea.

It is hard to make the inexperienced sailor understand that the most dangerous place in the boat is at the foot of the companionway stairs, inside the boat. Invariably conditions seem much calmer down below than they are on the deck and a person about to climb the steps is going from a safe environment to a dangerous one.

Crew members are not always fully alert to that so it should be standard practice that people coming up from below pass up their safety hook to someone on deck to be clipped on to the lifeline before they actually begin their accent.

Keep this simple, yet invaluable principle of one hand for yourself and one for the boat in mind and the next tests are easy. The first test by which a crew is judged is their capacity to be available. The second most important test is their capacity and qualifications in terms of individual skills and individual personality trait.

Joel is an avid boating enthusiast. If you're interested in boats then you are missing out if you aren't constantly trading up. It is one of the best ways for you to get into the boat of your dreams. Check out his website at http://ahoyboater.com for information, resourceful articles, boating tips and methods you can use to skipper the boat of your choice for less money than you thought it would cost. Get your free report "Tips, Tricks and Resources for Financing the Boat of Your Dreams!", when you visit."