11 Cautionary tales When going to sea in any type of vessel, whether it be a rubber dinghy or a superyacht, you must have an understanding of how the sea works, not at a scientific level but at a physical one, and what effect the weather has on it. It must be remembered that a tidal sea is a body of water that goes up and down and moves in many directions; you being on it means you are constantly moving and not being aware of this can lead to a
multitude of mistakes when decision-making. It’s also prudent to know how the vessel operates – if you do not, bring someone who does. Yes, we all have to start somewhere but not having a person of experience with you can make the sea an unpredictable and dangerous place where making the wrong decisions can lead to one problem being the cause of another, as the following stories will illustrate. And never set sail without a weather forecast. It may sound rather critical to say ‘every fault on every boat is a result of human error’. But think of any problem you’ve had with your boat and tell me otherwise. You can even go as far as to say, ‘every accident that has ever happened is a result of people’s mistakes’. Well, think about it, think about the very last problem you had. What caused it? A lack of concentration, a miscalculation, an engine breakdown, poor communication? What was the root cause of the problem? I would guess – human error.
p A neat way of tidying away lines.
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