Two of my favorite offshore passage were crewing for Rick and Julie Palm on the fall runs south from the East Coast to the Caribbean. Rosie and I had met Rick and Julie in the Galapagos in 1991 as we both were both circumnavigating, and we remained friends ever since. Rick and Julie had become mentors to many new cruisers and set many off on the right foot. Sadly, we lost Rick last year.
So, it was no surprise on the second passage with Dave and me as crew, that Rick set up a formal watch system of three-on, three-off in pairs through the night. We were sailing their new Outremer 51, Archer, a mighty and powerful cat, so having two on watch made a lot of sense.
That left the daylight hours in a more free-form mode as we caught up on sleep from the somewhat broken night. So, David and I would take turns and Rick and Julie would fill in in between naps and meals.
Every now and then, if Rick was navigating or working with his weather consultant, he’d stick his head out the saloon door and say in his best captain’s voice, “Who’s got the boat?” What he meant, obviously, was who was responsible in that moment for making sure we were being as vigilant as possible. We might be 700 miles from land, but there are plenty of ships and squalls out there.
I think of that question, “Who’s got the boat?’ just about every time I come on watch. Because even if you are in the cockpit and officially on watch, you can’t be nodding off or reading. If the rest of the crew knows you’ve got the boat when it is your turn, they will sleep soundly. It will be their turn soon enough.
