We’ve recently hosted our first guest crew members (as a reminder, we don’t allow passengers aboard, only crew). We had a great time taking them to Ilha da Culatra, the fishing village of Ferragudo, and the pre-Roman town of Portimão. We had both good and bad wind days, but we always had the beautiful, sunny Portuguese weather.
However, I should have realized that new crew would be as green as a tamale. In my mind, I thought they would have studied up a bit, watched some YouTube or read an online essay. Something to get familiar with sailing.
That was an unrealistic assumption.
In the end, they picked it up and were quite proficient in all maneuvers—they were masters of the tack and jibe, they skilled hands as we docked, and their youthful eyes pointed out fishing markers and deadheads in the water much better than my old ones did.
At the end of their voyage, we asked for feedback on the entire sailing (crewing) experience. We wanted to know how we could improve for the next time they visit and for the next round of crew that comes aboard. I was humbled as they had a lot to contribute.
Essentially, we need to include a full day of Sailing for Dummies before expecting new crew to work the lines or steer the boat. Which makes sense. Many decades ago, I was in U.S. Navy, and they even taught us how to walk, assuming that we couldn’t do it right by ourselves. Now I know why they did that, because if we couldn’t walk the way they expected, how could we run? This is the lesson I’ll be using going forward.
Thank you D.P. and A.R. for your honest and succinct feedback. Thank you for your patience with us as we learn our roles of skipper and first mate. We’ll make sure our next new crew benefit from the lessons you had to teach us.