The Role of a Sailboat Mate

My wife is the First Mate of our sailboat. I jokingly call her the Admiral because any selection by me, the Captain, can be overruled by her but we are a good team and in agreement.

A sailboat is a small metropolis afloat. There are two power systems, both alternating and direct currents and maybe a air and solar system on many boats, a waste treatment system, accommodations to rest the crew, food preparation systems (electrical or propane), food cooling systems (freezers and chilling), water systems for cleansing and meal preparing, navigational systems to allow the sailboat to move about and even entertainment systems with movies and concerts.

Yes, a sailboat is a kind of complicated system. And working a boat is a group activity - it would be very challenging for one to operate her and everything else.

A First Mate's role is to do anything that the Captain cannot, either determined by skill, liking, availability or all three. The First Mate's role is perfectly critical for safe and enjoyable cruising.

As First Mate, my mate stows everything down below when we are preparing to cruise, anything that can fall while cruising. She also handles the lines when leaving the dock.

She makes sure to secure those lines once we are underway. Our boat is always ship shape and disorderliness is NOT a choice.

When we are cruising to our destination, she is tasked with reading standard charts when I am navigating with the electronic plotter and radar.

Her role is to read the paper chart's data for the Skipper who's using the electronic ones; call it a backup system. We rarely go without both paper and electronic charts.

When we drop anchor, she handles the anchor, allowing the Captain to set the Bruce anchor at which time she fastens the bridle. If we take our rowboat ashore, the Captain runs that too as he does the mother ship and the First Mate handles the lines. It's just a lot easier on a 10' dingy than a 44' yacht!

When we are prepared to get away from our anchorage, she again handles the chains and lines, washes the chain and anchor off and secures the pin. When we get back at our dock, she again handles the lines when the Skipper gently guides our pleasure boat right where she should be.

I surmise a different way to look at it is the First mate is actually the Skipper's assistant. Many women may have a problem with that but my First mate doesn't. We know couples whose roles are backward - whatever works!

An essential duty is to plan meals and provision as small yachts don't have dedicated chefs. We both do the shopping but my First Mate gets to plan everything. She does relish that too and loves the shopping even more!

We both savor cooking - I am the grill-king and my spouse is the galley slave, just kidding. She plans good, tasty and effortless meals as we don't want to toll hours in the galley when there are islands to explore! You can observe many of our favorite recipes on the website.

In summary, the Captain on our boat is obligated for maintaining and operating the cruiser; the First Mate is there principally for providing hygienic living quarters and for the welfare of the crew.

Mike Dickens, the author, is the owner of a cruising yacht and owner/Broker of Paradise Yachts in Florida USA.

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