The Book of Prudence

by John Curnow on 19 Jan 2017 When it comes to ideas, the Book of Genesis is often very hard to find on the shelf. At any rate, it is probably much more like a small A5 leaflet anyway, so looking for a flyer in a library of books is tantamount to the proverbial needle in a haystack. Whereas the Book of Prudence is far more like a Tolstoy-esque behemoth of many volumes – perhaps even the entire back catalogue of Jane’s Fighting Ships!

Now I must have had the wee flyer in question actually in my hand over the weekend, for two totally separate and unrelated events had me thinking of chapters in the book of prudence. The first was some very good friends who needed to undertake a small coastal passage to get to an event. They acknowledged they should have gone on the Thursday, which was when I saw them, for it was totally sublime out there, with a moderate breeze to offer them a reach all the way along the coast, followed by a bit of run later, once they had turned the corner.

As if to indicate that the weight of that entire back catalogue of Jane’s was on their minds too, their Saturday plan was scuttled immediately. No one needed 30 knots plus right on the nose, with attendant moguls, and a serious drop in the ambient temperature when you did not have to! After all, this was passage making.

Even the Sunday was pretty ordinary, at least for the first half anyway. So it was marvellous to see that the lovely old lady known as Prudence was instructing all, and they even had Monday down as the most likely time for their 50nm jaunt. Wonderful news, smiles all round and a boat still in the same condition as when you left the quay. Just awesome!

The next was when I learned that Lisa Blair had delayed her departure for her circumnavigation of Antarctica for a few days to sort out some gremlins in the electronics on board. She will be the first female to complete the task, so the old in order to finish first, first you have to finish mantra is ringing in the ears about now.

Frozen, big sheep in the paddock and blowing dog’s off chains is not the time to be sorting out electronics or down in the lazarette making the autopilot work once more, with a sat phone taped to your head and the helpful technician at the other end wondering why everything is taking you so long.

So it all got me to thinking about the best way to go about things. An editorial is never going to do the subject complete justice, but some headings and bullet points may help you as aide memoirs, have you asking questions of others, and perhaps make some extra notes for your own Book of Genesis for next time, whether you’re going short-handed or not.

Preparation of your boat and crew:
• Is all the Safety Gear sorted and stowed correctly?
• Are the tools in working order and the spares easy to locate?
• Have you set the boat up for everyone, not just yourself?
• Are all the reference guides on the appropriate bulkheads, shown where grab bags and bolt cutters are, and have you done your passage and safety briefings?
• Did you do all those little jobs that you keep telling yourself a good person would have got onto that?
• Did you get rig tests and any other annual type checks performed?

Passage making:
• How far are you going? Did you get the full information on safe havens in case of a blow, manned radio stations, emergency numbers?
• Did you read local pilots or ask questions of those who have gone before?
• Have you got all the right supplies, and then some, depending on whether you’re coastal hopping or crossing oceans?
• Did you lodge a passage plan with the authorities?

Cruising/Living together:
• Have you got tasks for everyone to do on the way? Boredom is a real killer and can lead to seasickness.
• Have you got plans in place for personal space? This is certainly one of the reasons cats are so popular with all their options for your special little location.
• Stress can be a killer, and is worse when combined with tiredness. What monitors do you have in place and what are you going to do about it?
• What are your plans for changes in your health and well being, along with accidents? How well trained are you and the crew?
• Have you got all your food groups on board and apart from helming, what exercises are you doing on a longer trip?
• Do you have a special time of day arranged for planned socialising?

And then yes, finally, you have that other ingredient you’ll find in small print somewhere on the small leaflet known as genesis – fun.

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