Crew Duties and the Crew Chief
One aspect of our trips that particularly appeals to the Adult Leaders is that the Youth do most of the work. In our evaluation forms many young people wrote that they enjoyed the new responsibilities and challenges and that working as part of a team at sea was very rewarding and great fun too!
There isn’t that much to do, there’s the usual cooking and cleanup plus some new tasks to learn like recording the weather, anchor watch and topping up your drinks cooler. But, it’s different from the work you’re used to or the chores you have to take care of if you are camping. The great thing about this is that by the time you leave you will have learned a lot more than simply how to sail! Teamwork, responsibility, planning and preparation, these are all skills that you will need and will develop further as you sail around the Sea of Abaco.
Your group should appoint a Crew Chief to take responsibility for scheduling/organization of activities. When you get onboard your Crew Chief should draw up duty rosters in consultation with your Captain and he/she is responsible for ensuring they are carried out as required. A blank roster form may be found in the Crew Preparation Notes we will send to you. Typical activities include:
- cooking/clean-up – 3 x daily
- weather recording – daily
- head cleaning – 2 x daily
- general ‘ships’ duties – daily
- anchor watch – as required
Each day will start with a roster review to allocate various crew responsibilities, starting with weather recording, which will facilitate planning the day’s travels, activities and the location of your anchorage/mooring that evening.
Your group should also be aware that you will have to volunteer for various unscheduled tasks while onboard. You will be honor bound to carry out the orders of each Captain without question and always consider ‘safety’ with regard to all activities. Throughout your trip you will be expected to behave appropriately with good manners and in line with ‘Scouting Values’, as well as maintain proper discipline onboard.
Finally, your group will be expected to clean the sailboat before you depart on the last day. It should only take about 1hour to leave your sailboat and equipment in the same condition you found them when you arrived.
