{"id":660,"date":"2023-05-30T15:28:06","date_gmt":"2023-05-30T15:28:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/themilebuildingclub.com\/?p=660"},"modified":"2023-05-31T10:16:23","modified_gmt":"2023-05-31T10:16:23","slug":"yacht-etiquette","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/themilebuildingclub.com\/index.php\/2023\/05\/30\/yacht-etiquette\/","title":{"rendered":"Yacht Etiquette – Life-Skills for sailors"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Yacht Etiquette<\/strong>\u2026 or what your mother would have taught you \u2013 if you had grown up on a boat\u2026<\/em><\/h3>\n

There is no great mystery to yacht etiquette \u2013 like all sailing matters it is essentially common sense \u2013 plus respect for boat and skipper. Many people come to sailing via corporate events or sailing school courses which set a poor example in terms of the care and respect shown to the vessel. A privately owned vessel is someone\u2019s pride and joy \u2013 things will go better if you treat it accordingly. An excellent mind-set is to think of the yacht you are joining as being someone\u2019s home \u2013 you wouldn\u2019t enter without knocking and you wouldn\u2019t slam doors \u2013 exactly the same on a yacht.<\/p>\n

Arriving<\/strong>
\nBe on time, no more than a few minutes early and if late text or call so you aren\u2019t left behind\u2026
\nKnock and wait before climbing aboard \u2013 it\u2019s only polite.
\nUse the shrouds to pull yourself aboard, not the guard wires or stanchions.<\/p>\n

Footwear<\/strong>
\nIdeally have dedicated sailing shoes in your kit bag. Don\u2019t wear sea boots to the boat \u2013 only on the boat, they should live in your kit bag until needed. Non-marking soles are a given.<\/p>\n

Moving around<\/strong>
\nMove around carefully and quietly, tread softly. The classic sign of an inexperienced, anxious or passive-aggressive sailor is someone who crashes around noisily.<\/p>\n

Lockers<\/strong>
\nCockpit lockers \u2013 don\u2019t drop them, it makes an awful noise and causes damage. The same goes for the lockers down below \u2013 close softly.<\/p>\n

Stowing for sea<\/strong>
\nMake sure all cabin doors and lockers are latched securely. Make sure your kit is stowed securely where it can\u2019t fall onto the cabin sole and become a trip hazard.<\/p>\n

Oilskins<\/strong>
\nIf you are using the boats wet weather gear don\u2019t put it back in a locker after use if it is even slightly damp, put on a hanger and hang them up in a cabin \u2013 typically from the overhead hatch handles. Damp oilies grow mildew when shut away in a locker and won\u2019t dry out even if the dehumidifier is on. Leave locker doors open for ventilation when leaving the vessel.<\/p>\n

Being on a boat \u2013 attitude is everything.<\/strong>
\nA little story: let’s say two people sit down for coffee and a chat on a boat. When they have finished one of two things will happen:
\n1) One guy gets up and wanders off, leaving his dirty mug behind for someone else to deal with.
\n2) One guy gets up, picks up both mugs, rinses, dries and stows them.
\nVery little difference between example 1) and example 2) in terms of time and energy expended but a world of difference in attitude. The second guy has it right and will always be welcome aboard a yacht, the first one \u2013 not so much.<\/p>\n

Basic skills<\/strong>
\nTry to acquaint yourself with nautical terms and as a minimum learn to tie a clove hitch and a bowline.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t bluff \u2013 Be open to instruction<\/strong>
\nDon\u2019t over-sell your skills \u2013 the sailing world is full of people who talk a great sail \u2013 only to fail miserably when given a routine task. If you don\u2019t understand an instruction from the skipper ask for clarification. A decent skipper will happily explain what they want. In return you should be unequivocally open to instruction.<\/p>\n

Be reliable<\/strong>
\nDon\u2019t make arrangements you can\u2019t keep. If you pull out of sailing you may jeopardise the whole trip if you are necessary to crew the boat. Equally don\u2019t, as you are slipping the lines announce \u201cOh by the way I need to back early to do XXX\u201d – not the way to make friends or get invited back.<\/p>\n

The above may seem a little prescriptive but these are time-proven practices that make for a happy boat and are what it takes for a group of people to co-exist happily in a small space. There is much more to \u2018yacht etiquette\u2019 than above but this is a solid start.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Yacht Etiquette\u2026 or what your mother would have taught you \u2013 if you had grown up on a boat\u2026 There is no great mystery to yacht etiquette \u2013 like all sailing matters it is essentially common sense \u2013 plus respect for boat and skipper. Many people come to sailing via corporate events or sailing school […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":45,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[7],"tags":[10,9,11,8],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/themilebuildingclub.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/660"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/themilebuildingclub.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/themilebuildingclub.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/themilebuildingclub.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/themilebuildingclub.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=660"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/themilebuildingclub.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/660\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":670,"href":"https:\/\/themilebuildingclub.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/660\/revisions\/670"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/themilebuildingclub.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/45"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/themilebuildingclub.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=660"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/themilebuildingclub.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=660"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/themilebuildingclub.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=660"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}