Onboard - Crew Duties
Our trips are full of fun and adventure but experience has shown that people taking part in our trips get much more out of them by taking responsibility for everything onboard. Most trip leaders feel it's important for their crewmembers to be self-reliant and on our evaluation forms many young people write that they enjoyed new responsibilities and working as part of a team was rewarding and fun!
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. By the time you leave you'll have learned a lot more than how to sail! Teamwork, responsibility, planning and preparation, these are all skills you'll develop further.
Some families will put one of their older children in charge of their group responsibilities and Scout and Student groups should appoint a Crew Chief to take responsibility for scheduling/organization of activities. Your Crew Chief should draw up duty rosters with your Captain and ensure they're completed. There's a blank roster form in the Crew Preparation Notes we send to you.
Each day starts with a roster review, starting with weather recording. This will facilitate planning the day's travels, activities and the location of your anchorage/mooring that evening.
Your group should also volunteer for various, small unscheduled tasks while onboard. You'll be honor bound to carry out the orders of your Captain without question and should always consider 'safety' with regard to all activities. Scouts will be expected to behave in line with 'Scouting Values', all crewmembers should show good manners to each other and their Captain and maintain proper discipline at all times.
