Watch Systems on Boats - Living Aboard & Galley Safety

Prerequisites

This lesson assumes you have joined the yacht for a Competent Crew course (minimum age 16, no prior experience required) and have already:

• Received the skipper's safety brief, including the location of lifejackets, fire extinguishers, fire blanket, first aid kit and the gas shut-off.
• Learned the basic layout and terminology of a yacht (bow, stern, port, starboard, forward, aft, below, on deck).
• Covered personal safety: wearing a lifejacket and clipping on.

The course is normally five days living aboard, so you will put this lesson into practice from the first evening.

Learning Objectives

By the end of this lesson you should be able to:

• Find your way around the accommodation and know where things are stowed.
• Stow personal gear and ship's equipment so it is secure for sea.
• Use the galley safely, including the LPG (bottled gas) system and gimballed cooker.
• Operate the marine toilet (heads) and understand holding tanks and discharge rules.
• Manage fresh water and ventilation.
• Explain why watch systems are used, describe common watch patterns, and take part in a watch including a proper handover and log entries.
• Keep a good lookout and make clear reports to the skipper.
• Recognise and manage seasickness and fatigue.

• Dress for a night watch, avoid hypothermia and dehydration, and use harness and lifejacket correctly while on watch.
• Take a bearing of another vessel and decide whether there is a risk of collision.
• Plan simple meals and hot drinks for a watch system and share domestic duties fairly.

These map to the RYA Competent Crew syllabus items "Domestic duties: cooking, cleaning, stowage, use of heads, gas safety", "Watch keeping: taking a turn on watch, lookout, keeping a log" and "Personal safety: seasickness, hypothermia awareness". They also support the syllabus requirements to "take a turn at the helm", to "assist with navigation by keeping a lookout and log" and to "know the action to take if someone falls overboard", because you will be doing all of these while on watch.

Exam-style tip: the RYA instructor will observe whether you arrive for watch on time and dressed, listen to the handover, keep a real lookout rather than watching the compass, report things promptly and clearly, and look after yourself and the crew (food, water, warmth). Nobody expects Competent Crew to navigate alone; they expect you to be reliable, cheerful and safe.

The Yacht as a Home

A 35 to 40-foot cruising yacht may sleep six to eight people in a space smaller than a studio flat, and that space tilts, rolls and is often damp. Living aboard safely and comfortably depends on everyone following a few habits: everything has a place, everything goes back in its place, and nothing is left loose.

Accommodation layout

The diagram below shows a typical layout. Learn the names: the forepeak or V-berth in the bow, the saloon with settee berths either side of the table, the galley (kitchen), the heads (toilet and washroom), the chart table (navigation station) and the quarter berth or aft cabins under the cockpit.

Click to zoom

At sea, the best berths for sleeping are those nearest the middle and lowest in the boat, where the motion is least: the saloon settees and quarter berths. The forepeak is comfortable in harbour but very lively at sea. Settee berths used at sea have a lee cloth: a strong canvas panel tied up along the open side so that you are not thrown out when the boat heels or rolls. Always rig the lee cloth on the berth you sleep in at sea.

The companionway

The companionway is the main entrance between the cockpit and the cabin. The diagram below shows its parts: a sliding hatch on top and removable washboards (drop boards) that close the vertical opening.

Click to zoom

• Go down the companionway steps facing the steps, like a ladder, with a hand on the grab rails.
• In rough weather the lower washboard (or two) stays in so that a wave filling the cockpit cannot pour below. The skipper will tell you when.
• Never leave washboards loose in the cockpit where they can be lost overboard; they usually have their own stowage.
• Do not stand or sit in the companionway when someone needs to get past: it is the only way in and out.

Moving about below

"One hand for yourself, one for the ship" applies below as well as on deck. Move from handhold to handhold. Brace yourself in the galley and heads. Expect the boat to lurch when you least expect it, especially as it tacks or crosses wash.

Stowage

Anything not secured will eventually move. In a seaway a tin of beans, a laptop or a winch handle becomes a missile. The diagram below compares a cabin with items loose on the sole and work surfaces with one where everything is in lockers, fiddled shelves and bags.

Click to zoom

Good stowage practice:

• Personal kit in a soft bag (not a hard suitcase), in your allocated locker or berth. Keep wet foul-weather gear in the wet locker or hanging space, not on berths.
• Heavy items low and central: tins, bottles and tools go in the lowest lockers. Heavy items high up make the boat roll more and fall harder.
• Close and latch every locker after use. Many locker doors only lock when the catch is pushed fully home.
• Fiddles (raised edges) on tables and shelves stop things sliding off, but only up to a point. Clear the table before leaving harbour.
• Things you need at sea, such as your lifejacket, head torch, hat, gloves, sunscreen and seasickness tablets, should be stowed where you can find them in the dark without unpacking everything.
• Food stowage: write a stowage plan (what is in which locker) so the cook does not empty every locker to find the pasta.
• Before leaving harbour, the skipper may ask for a "secure for sea" check: walk through the boat looking for anything that could move.

The Galley

LPG (bottled gas) safety

Most yachts cook on bottled gas: butane (blue cylinders) or propane (red cylinders). LPG is heavier than air. A leak does not disperse; it sinks into the bilge and lies there until a spark ignites it, which can destroy the boat. Gas safety is therefore a strict routine, not a matter of judgement.

The diagram below shows a typical installation: the cylinder in a sealed, self-draining locker on deck or in the cockpit, a regulator, a gas line to the cooker, an isolation valve, and often a gas sniffer alarm low in the bilge.

Click to zoom

Lighting the cooker:

1. Check the sniffer alarm (if fitted) is not sounding and you cannot smell gas.
2. Turn on the gas at the cylinder or cockpit locker, and/or the isolation valve near the cooker (or the electric solenoid switch).
3. Have the match or lighter ready before you turn on the burner.
4. Push and turn the burner knob, light it, and hold the knob in for 10 to 15 seconds so the flame-failure device (thermocouple) warms up and keeps the gas flowing.

Turning off:

1. Turn off the gas at the isolation valve or solenoid first and let the flame burn out the gas left in the pipe.
2. Then turn off the burner knob.
3. Make "gas off" part of every meal, just like switching off a car.

If you smell gas: do not operate any electrical switches (including the bilge pump or the engine starter), extinguish all flames, turn off at the cylinder, open all hatches, tell the skipper, and pump the bilge with the manual bilge pump. Never use a naked flame to look for a leak; leaks are found with soapy water on joints.

The gimballed cooker

The diagram below shows a gimballed cooker: it is mounted on pivots so it stays level as the boat heels, keeping pans on the burners.

Galley safety at sea:

• Use the pot clamps or fiddles on every pan.
• Lock the gimbals when in harbour or when the cooker is not in use, so it does not swing when someone leans on it.
• Use a galley strap or bum strap to brace yourself so you can use both hands.
• Wear foul-weather trousers or an apron when cooking in a seaway: the most common serious galley injury is a scald to the lower body from a pan sliding off.
• Fill kettles and pans no more than half full; use lids.
• Never stand directly in front of the cooker on the downhill (leeward) side when heeled; stand to one side.
• Know where the fire blanket is (usually next to the cooker). For a pan fire: turn off the gas, smother with the fire blanket, leave it in place.
• Prepare simple one-pot meals and hot drinks in flasks before rough weather arrives.

Fresh water

Fresh water is limited: a 35-foot yacht might carry 200 to 300 litres, which six people can empty in two days if they shower and wash up in fresh water. The diagram below shows the freshwater tank, the deck filler and the supply to the galley.

Click to zoom

• Filling: make sure you open the water filler, not the fuel or holding tank deck fitting, which can look very similar. Diesel or sewage in the water tank is a disaster. Read the label on the cap.
• Run the hose for a few seconds before filling to flush it. Close the cap firmly after filling.
• Save water: wash up in a bowl, use seawater for the first rinse of pans when well offshore and away from pollution, turn taps off while soaping.
• Keep a supply of bottled drinking water in case the tank is contaminated or the pump fails.

The Heads

Operating the marine toilet

Marine toilets use sea water to flush and a pump to empty the bowl. They connect to the sea through seacocks: valves in holes in the hull below the waterline. A seacock left open on a toilet that is below the waterline when the boat heels can siphon water in and sink the boat. The diagram below shows the standard operating sequence.

Click to zoom

1. Check the seacocks are open (or the skipper's rule for your boat; on many boats they are left open in use and closed when leaving the boat or in rough weather).
2. Set the lever on the pump to flush (wet) and pump a little water into the bowl.
3. Use the toilet. Only human waste and a small amount of the toilet paper supplied goes in. Nothing else: no wipes, sanitary products, kitchen roll or food. Blocked heads are one of the most common and unpleasant repairs at sea.
4. Pump with the lever on flush until the bowl and pipe are clear: typically 10 to 20 full strokes, more if the outlet pipe is long.
5. Set the lever to dry and pump until the bowl is empty, so it does not slop over when the boat heels.
6. Close the seacocks if that is the boat's rule, and always before leaving the boat.

Men are asked to sit down: it is safer in a seaway and much cleaner.

Holding tanks and discharge

A holding tank collects toilet waste instead of pumping it straight overboard. It is emptied either at a marina pump-out station via a deck fitting, or overboard by opening a seacock when you are well offshore. The diagram below shows the system.

Click to zoom

Rules and good practice:

• Use the holding tank in harbours, marinas, anchorages and close to shore. Many harbours and countries (including much of the Mediterranean, the Baltic and inland waters) prohibit discharge of untreated sewage; the widely used standard, and the international MARPOL guideline, is no discharge of untreated sewage within about 3 nautical miles of land.
• Watch the gauge; an over-full tank backs up into the toilet or vents through the breather. Plan pump-outs: with a full crew a small tank may need emptying every two to three days.
• Know which valve position (Y-valve) sends waste to the tank and which overboard, and leave it where the skipper wants it.

Ventilation and damp

Several people breathing, cooking and drying wet clothes below produce a lot of moisture. In cool weather it condenses on the inside of the hull and deckhead, dripping on berths and growing mould. The diagram below shows the principle: fresh air in through vents and hatches, stale moist air out.

• Open hatches when it is dry and calm; keep dorade (cowl) vents open even at sea, as they are designed to let air in and keep water out.
• Keep wet foul-weather gear out of the cabins.
• Air bedding and cushions on deck on sunny harbour days.
• Gas cookers produce water vapour and consume oxygen: always ventilate while cooking. A carbon monoxide alarm should be fitted; never use the cooker to heat the cabin.

Before Leaving Harbour: The Below-Decks Check

The diagram below shows the below-decks checklist many skippers use before casting off.

Click to zoom

Work through it systematically. A typical crew division: one person walks forward checking lockers and hatches, one checks the galley and gas, one checks heads and bilges, and reports "Below decks secure for sea" to the skipper.

Watch Systems

Why have watches?

On a day sail everyone is awake and on deck. On longer passages, overnight or multi-day sailing, nobody can stay alert for 24 hours. Tired crew make mistakes: they misread instruments, miss lights, fall, and lose their temper. A watch system divides the crew into teams that take turns to run the boat while the others rest, so that:

• There is always a competent, awake team on deck to steer, trim, navigate and keep a lookout.
• Everyone gets predictable rest.
• Responsibility is always clear: there is never a moment when nobody is in charge on deck.

Common watch patterns

The skipper or a designated watch leader is in charge of each watch. Even when off watch, the skipper is always on call and must be woken for anything unusual. On your Competent Crew course you will usually do at least one night passage or night sail and experience a watch.

Worked example: designing a watch pattern for a crew of five

A skipper and four crew sail a 38-foot yacht overnight, leaving at 1600 and arriving at about 0800 next day (16 hours). The skipper floats, so the four crew make two watches of two:

The 3-hour watches mean that each watch is on deck for 3 hours in 6, gets 3 hours off, and no one has the worst slot twice in a row. Crew sleep for about two hours in each three-hour off period once you subtract the time to change, eat and wake up, which is why the skipper schedules a proper rest before the 0700 landfall.

Whatever the pattern, the skipper writes it on the chart table or the cabin whiteboard before sailing, and everyone checks when their next watch starts.

Duties on watch

While on watch your team is responsible for:

• Steering and sail trim: holding the course the skipper has set.
• Lookout: all round, all the time (see below).
• Navigation: recording the log, plotting position at the intervals the skipper wants (often hourly).
• Checks: bilges, engine (if running), chafe on sheets, battery state, weather.
• Calling the skipper for anything you are not sure about.

Standing orders: when to call the skipper

Most skippers give standing orders. Typical ones are: call the skipper if:

• Another vessel's bearing is not changing and it is getting closer (risk of collision).
• The wind increases, decreases or shifts significantly, or you think a reef is needed.
• Visibility drops.
• You see lights, land or marks you do not expect, or fail to see ones you do expect.
• Anything breaks, makes an unusual noise, or someone is injured or unwell.
• You are unsure about anything. No good skipper is annoyed at being called; every good skipper is angry at not being called.

Clothing, warmth and food on watch

Cold causes fatigue, clumsiness and poor judgement. At night the air temperature may be 5 to 10 degrees lower than in the afternoon, and wind chill makes it feel colder still, even in summer. Dress before you come on deck, not after.

• Layers: thermal base layer, a fleece or mid-layer, then waterproof jacket and trousers. A windproof outer layer matters more than a thick one.
• Head, hands, feet: a warm hat (a great deal of heat is lost from the head), gloves, and thick socks inside dry boots.
• Lifejacket and harness: put them on before you step into the cockpit. At night, and in any rough weather, clip on to a jackstay or strong point before leaving the cockpit, and unclip only when back in the cockpit.
• Food and drink: eat a hot meal before the watch, and take a flask of hot drink and a snack up with you. Sip water throughout. Avoid too much caffeine near the end of your watch, as it will keep you awake when you need to sleep.
• Signs of hypothermia: persistent shivering, clumsiness, slurred speech, confusion and apathy. Tell the watch leader at once; the person must go below, be dried and warmed, and watched.

Lookout

The COLREGs (Rule 5) require every vessel to keep a proper lookout by sight and hearing at all times. Practical lookout technique:

• Scan the whole horizon slowly, sector by sector, including behind and under the headsail (the area to leeward hidden by the genoa is the commonest blind spot).
• Use the hand-bearing compass or a fixed point on the boat to check whether another vessel's bearing is changing. A steady bearing with a closing range means risk of collision.
• Report clearly using relative direction and distance: "Ship, fine on the starboard bow, about two miles, heading left to right." Or by clock: "Yacht at two o'clock."
• At night, protect your night vision: use only red lights in the cockpit and at the chart table. It takes 15 to 20 minutes to regain full night vision after looking at a white light or a phone screen.

Taking and using a bearing

A hand-bearing compass lets you take the compass bearing of another vessel. If you cannot take a bearing, line the vessel up against a fixed part of the boat, such as a stanchion or the shroud, from the same position. If the vessel stays lined up with the mark while its distance decreases, the bearing is steady.

Click to zoom

Image: Mcapdevila, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Procedure:

1. Hold the compass level and steady, brace your elbows against a shroud or the coachroof, and sight on the vessel.
2. Note the bearing and the time. Take another after two or three minutes, and a third if you are unsure.
3. If the bearing is steady (or changes very little) and the range is closing, a collision is likely unless someone acts. This is the single most important lookout skill. Report it at once.
4. If the bearing is changing steadily, the other vessel will pass ahead or astern. The direction of change tells you which way: a bearing drawing aft means it will pass astern of you.

The rule of thumb is the same by day or night. At night you identify the type of vessel from its lights; Competent Crew candidates are expected to know the basic lights (a red light to port, a green light to starboard, a white masthead light and a white stern light for a vessel under power). If you see a red light and a green light together, the vessel is coming towards you; if you see only a white light and the vessel is moving away, it is going away.

The skipper decides what to do. Your task is to see, report and keep watching, and never to assume that the other vessel has seen you.

Handovers

The handover is when most information is lost. The incoming watch should arrive on deck a few minutes early, already dressed, with eyes adjusted to the dark. The outgoing watch leader briefs them, using a checklist rather than memory:

The incoming watch leader repeats the key points back and only then says "I have the watch." Until that moment the outgoing watch remains responsible.

Keeping the log

The ship's logbook is the formal record of the passage. It is used to work out the dead-reckoning position if electronics fail, and it may be needed by insurers or an accident investigation. Typical hourly entries:

Write clearly and factually in ink, at the time, not from memory later. Record every change of course, sails or engine and every unusual event.

Anchor Watch and Harbour Routines

When the boat is at anchor overnight, someone may need to keep an anchor watch, especially in a strong wind, a new anchorage, or a tidal anchorage. The anchor watch has a different job from a sea watch: to check the boat is not dragging.

• Use a transit: two fixed objects on shore that are lined up. If they move out of line, the boat is moving.
• Check the bearing of a fixed object with the hand-bearing compass, and the depth, at intervals set by the skipper (for example every 15 to 30 minutes).
• Check the GPS anchor alarm if one is set, but never rely on it alone.
• Check other boats nearby: if they seem to move relative to you, one of you is dragging.
• Wake the skipper if you think the anchor is dragging, if the wind increases significantly, or if another boat is close.

In harbour, the same principles apply: someone is always responsible for the boat, whether that is a deck watch or a night in a marina. Keep a note of fire exits and the nearest emergency number, and always know where the lifejackets and the fire extinguishers are.

Man Overboard While On Watch

On watch, you are most likely to see the person fall, and the first seconds count. Knowing the actions in advance is a requirement for Competent Crew.

1. Shout "Man overboard" loudly, and keep shouting so the crew below wake and come up.
2. Point at the casualty and never take your eyes or your pointing arm off them. This is the pointing job and it continues until the casualty is picked up.
3. Throw a lifebuoy, danbuoy and anything that floats, as close to the person as possible.
4. Press the MOB button on the GPS or chart plotter if you are not the person pointing, so the position is recorded.
5. The helm follows the skipper's recovery method, and the skipper or watch leader sends a Mayday if the person cannot be recovered quickly.

Practise it on the watch bill: everyone should know their job. The best prevention is simple: clip on, one hand for the boat, and never go on the foredeck at night without telling someone.

Seasickness and Fatigue

Seasickness

Seasickness is caused by a conflict between what your eyes see (a stationary cabin) and what your balance organs feel (motion). Most people suffer at some point, and it is not a sign of weakness. It does make you less able to look after yourself, more likely to get cold and dehydrated, and less useful as crew.

Prevention and management:

1. Take medication early: before you sail, usually the night before and the morning of departure, as the instructions say. Once you are vomiting, tablets do not stay down. Some tablets cause drowsiness; tell the skipper what you have taken.
2. Get a good night's sleep and avoid alcohol the night before.
3. Eat plain, light food little and often (crackers, bread, ginger biscuits). Drink water.
4. Stay on deck in the fresh air, look at the horizon, and keep busy. Steering is one of the best cures.
5. Avoid going below, reading or using screens. If you must go below, do it quickly and lie down flat in your berth with your eyes closed.
6. Keep warm: cold makes it worse.
7. If you are sick, do it over the leeward side, clipped on, with someone holding on to you. Tell the skipper so your duties can be adjusted. Sip water afterwards to replace fluids.

A crew member who has been vomiting for many hours is at risk of dehydration and hypothermia and needs to be watched.

Fatigue

On a night passage, use your off-watch time to sleep, even if you do not feel tired. Eat proper meals. Tell the watch leader if you feel too tired to stay alert. Fatigue causes the same mistakes as alcohol.

Practical advice for off-watch sleep:

• Go to your berth as soon as you come off watch. Do not stay up chatting.
• Take off your lifejacket and wet clothes, and keep your boots and jacket where you can find them in the dark.
• Use the lee cloth, wedge yourself with a sleeping bag, and use earplugs or an eye mask if you need them.
• Set an alarm for your next watch, and be up ten to fifteen minutes before.
• The first night at sea is always the hardest, because your body is not adapted. After 24 to 48 hours most people adjust.
• Heavy fatigue warning signs include repeated yawning, heavy eyelids, a feeling of detachment, microsleeps (a few seconds where the brain stops processing even though your eyes are open), and mistakes in simple tasks such as reading the compass. Tell the watch leader at once if you notice them in yourself or others.

The skipper also has to rest. A skipper who does not sleep makes poor decisions, so do not feel you are disturbing them unnecessarily; but equally do not hesitate to call them.

Worked Example: A Night Watch and Handover

You are crew on the 0000 to 0300 watch on an overnight passage from the Solent to Poole and back. At 2340 the off-watch skipper's alarm wakes you. You dress in thermals, mid-layer and foul-weather gear by red light, put on your lifejacket and head torch, and climb the companionway facing the steps. You clip on before stepping out into the cockpit.

At 2350 the outgoing watch leader briefs you: "Steering 250 magnetic, full main and genoa, 6 knots. Wind southwest Force 3, barometer steady on 1018. We fixed at 2300 and it's on the chart. The Anvil Point light should be on the starboard bow soon. One fishing vessel ahead, slowly crossing. Bilges dry. Call the skipper if anything changes." Your watch leader repeats the course and says "We have the watch." The outgoing team goes below.

At 0100 you write the hourly log: time, log reading 18.4 nm, course 250, wind SW 3, baro 1018. You note the white light flashing four times every 15 seconds that has appeared fine on the starboard bow: your watch leader confirms with the chart that it is Anvil Point.

At 0140 you notice a red and a white light on the port bow. You take a bearing with the hand-bearing compass: 210. At 0145 it is still 210 and the lights are brighter. You report: "Vessel on the port bow, bearing steady at 210, getting closer." Your watch leader agrees it is a risk of collision and, following standing orders, calls the skipper, who comes up and alters course to pass astern of it.

At 0250 the next watch appears in the companionway. You hand over with the checklist, including the ship you avoided, and go below. You hang your wet gear in the wet locker, not on the saloon berth, rig the lee cloth and are asleep by 0310.

Domestic Duties and Fair Shares

Everyone on a yacht shares the domestic work, and an unfair division creates resentment faster than almost anything else. The skipper usually appoints a cook of the day or mother watch (one person off the sailing rota who prepares meals and hot drinks), and the rest wash up, tidy and clean the heads in turn.

• Plan meals around the watch system: a hot meal before the night watches, and snacks and hot drinks during them.
• Prepare simple one-pot meals such as pasta, stew, or soup, which can be eaten from a mug in rough weather.
• Keep the galley clean: wipe surfaces, stow everything after use, and take rubbish ashore. Never throw plastic overboard (MARPOL).
• Wash hands before handling food, as a stomach upset in a small crew is serious.
• The cook takes the strain of working below in motion, so avoid giving the cook watch duties at the same time, and offer to help.

Common Mistakes

The diagram below summarises the five most common living-aboard mistakes and how to avoid them.

Click to zoom

• Gas left on after cooking. Make "solenoid off, then burner off" an automatic habit.
• Incomplete handover. Use a written checklist and repeat back.
• Over-filled holding tank. Watch the gauge and plan pump-outs.
• Unsecured gear. Do a secure-for-sea check before every departure; latch lockers after every use.
• Ignoring early seasickness. Take tablets early, stay on deck, tell someone.
• Putting things in the toilet other than waste and a little paper. Blockages are miserable to fix.
• Filling the wrong deck filler with water or diesel. Read the cap.
• Wandering below at night with a white torch. Use red light; you destroy everyone's night vision.
• Not waking the skipper because you did not want to disturb them.

Summary

• Know the layout, stow everything in its place, close lockers, and rig lee cloths at sea.
• LPG is heavier than air: turn on at the valve only when cooking, turn off at the valve first, and never ignore a smell of gas.
• Use pot clamps, a galley strap and protective clothing when cooking at sea.
• Heads: only waste and a little paper; pump through until clear; know the seacock rules. Use holding tanks inshore.
• Save fresh water; check you are using the correct deck filler.
• Watch systems give the boat a rested, responsible team at all times. Know your standing orders and call the skipper early.
• Keep a proper all-round lookout and report clearly; check bearings of approaching vessels.
• Hand over with a checklist and keep the log accurately every hour.
• Manage seasickness early and rest when off watch.

Check Your Understanding

1. Why is a gas leak on a yacht especially dangerous, and what is the correct order for turning off the cooker?

Answer: LPG is heavier than air, so leaked gas collects in the bilge where it can be ignited by a spark and explode. Turn off the gas at the isolation valve or solenoid first, let the flame burn out the gas in the pipe, then turn off the burner knob.

2. You smell gas in the cabin. List four things you should do.

Answer: Do not use any electrical switch, put out any flames, turn off the gas at the cylinder, open hatches to ventilate, tell the skipper, and pump the bilge using the manual pump.

3. What is a lee cloth and when should you use it?

Answer: A canvas panel tied up along the open side of a berth to stop the occupant falling out when the boat heels or rolls. Use it whenever sleeping at sea.

4. What must never be put down a marine toilet, and why?

Answer: Anything other than human waste and a small amount of the toilet paper supplied: no wipes, sanitary products, kitchen roll or food. They block the narrow pipes and pump, which is unpleasant and difficult to fix at sea.

5. Why should seacocks be closed when the heads are left unattended or in rough weather (according to the boat's rules)?

Answer: A toilet near or below the waterline can siphon sea water into the boat through an open seacock, especially when heeled, and flood or sink it.

6. What is the main purpose of a watch system?

Answer: To ensure there is always an alert, competent, clearly responsible team on deck to steer, navigate and keep lookout, while the rest of the crew get predictable rest.

7. A vessel's lights stay on the same compass bearing from your boat while getting brighter. What does this mean and what should you do?

Answer: There is a risk of collision. Report it to the watch leader immediately and call the skipper in accordance with standing orders.

8. Name five items to include in a watch handover.

Answer: Any five of: course, sails and engine, wind and weather including barometer trend, position and next waypoint or alteration, traffic and expected lights or hazards, boat condition (bilges, batteries, chafe), and the skipper's standing orders.

9. Why should you use only red light on deck and at the chart table at night?

Answer: White light destroys night vision, which takes 15 to 20 minutes to recover; red light preserves it so the lookout can see faint lights and objects.

10. When should seasickness tablets be taken, and what else helps?

Answer: Before sailing, as directed on the packet, because they are ineffective once vomiting starts. Also: rest, avoid alcohol, eat plain food little and often, stay on deck looking at the horizon, steer, keep warm and tell the skipper.

11. You are on watch at night and see a single white light on the same bearing for five minutes, getting brighter. What do you do?

Answer: Take a second and third bearing to confirm it is steady, tell the watch leader at once that the bearing is steady and the range is closing, and keep watching it. Call the skipper in accordance with standing orders. Do not assume the other vessel has seen you.

12. Describe the actions of the crew member who sees someone fall overboard from the deck at night.

Answer: Shout "Man overboard" repeatedly, point at the casualty and never stop pointing, throw the lifebuoy and danbuoy, have someone press the MOB button, and follow the skipper's recovery instructions. The skipper or watch leader calls a Mayday if the person is not recovered quickly.

13. What clothing and food should you take on a cold night watch?

Answer: Thermal layers, a fleece, waterproofs, a warm hat, gloves and dry boots, with lifejacket and harness. Eat a hot meal before the watch and take a hot drink in a flask and a snack. Keep sipping water.