The Attributes of an Outstanding Skipper
 

Joe wrote:
Having worked beside and for 100's of skippers I can tell you when the
**** hit the fans having courage can save you and your crews life. And
a coward can get you all killed.




???

How about not being there in the first place?

Joe wrote:
How about not having a choice? The sea can change in a heartbeat Doug.
You should know that.


Actually, I don't know that.
The sea can surprise you, but with study & forethought, surprises can be
minimized... probably not ever eliminated totally.

Anything as big as an ocean cannot change "suddenly" but the factors
affecting it can bring about a change that may be overlooked, until it
becomes all too obvious.

A bad driver is often "surprised" by things in traffic that seem to pop
up in front of him. An observant, defensive driver sees things long before.


Any skipper who deliberately exposes his vessel & crew to unnecessary
danger because he is "brave" is a fool and a hazard.

Joe wrote:
Yes he is.

A coward may always opt out .....and say it is not necessary that it is
just to dangerious.

A person with courage will say it is necessary and do what is needed.
If he is an "outstanding" skipper he will get the job done and not one
will be hurt.


Like what?
if you are talking about warships, then part of that job is to perform
dangerous tasks. Otherwise, I have a hard time picturing a danger that
is "necessary."



Like what?

To refuse a load and get everyone fired, takes courage IMO.

Yep.


Out racing on a 62 pearson and the owner had a tape drive foresail on
one of those dangerious roll up furlers.

A tape delaminted and tangled the fore sail making it stuck half way
open. He bitched and wined and was ready to throw in the towel because
he thought it was just way to dangerious to shimmy up 15 feet with a
knife and cut the tape fouling things up. I shimmied up and cut it
without a problem after taking 10 min to convince him, we lost the race
btw.

Sounds like poor judgement coupled with poor maintenance. This is what I
mean by having the foresight to avoid danger... this whole situation
should have been avoided.

OTOH your action was risky but it enabled the vessel to carry on.
Probably one of those cases where it may seem "brave" but is actually
taking the less risky of available options.



One time while working for Mobil we were in route to a rig offshore
rig when another companies rig hit a poison gas pocket, no helos would
land, The SB boat in the area refused to move in but my skipper moved
in offloaded everyone. I thought it took alot of courage and we were
all scared. They say if you smell this gas your dead.

Had he asked the corporate office for permission the bean counters
would of freaked and shut it down, had he hesitated the guys on the rig
would of all died if the wind shifted.


IMHO that's another case of taking the less risky of available
options... while one is obligated to rescue others at sea, it is not an
obligation to place one's own life, vessel, or crew in peril. It sounds
like the men on the platform would probably have died if your boat had
not rescued them... for them, it was *far* less risky!

An outstanding skipper also has the knowledge & skills (and foresight)
to minimize dangers that may trap other skippers... and has confidence.
Some might call this bravery.

DSK

The Attributes of an Outstanding Skipper
 

We are talking skippers now, not crew.

Courage is diffucult to define. I view courage as
doing something that might get you killed, despite the
known risks. Would an outstanding skipper do
something so risky as to possibly lose his/her life?

Skippers have no business doing anything risky,
except as a last resort.

A good skipper doesn't have fear, because he/she
always has a backup plan. When you are leading
you are making decisions about actions. Actions
conqueor fear.

Recognizing the dangers of a situation and staying
calm--is that courage? Or is it level-headedness?

"Capt. Neal®" wrote

"Joe" wrote
|
| Having worked beside and for 100's of skippers I can tell you when the
| **** hit the fans having courage can save you and your crews life. And
| a coward can get you all killed.
|
| And I would not sail with anyone who makes declarations that he's never
| afraid. I do not like liars. And if he's never been afraid at sea, then
| he hasen't been to sea long enough to know sqwat .....and is no one I
| would trust.
|
| The most courage you can see is a man or woman doing his or her job
| despite the fear.
| Thats what makes them "Outstanding" IMO.
|
| Joe
|

But, is it not generally understood that fear causes degradation in clear
thinking? And is not clear thinking of paramount importance in any
emergency?

CN

Redcloud
 

"Joe" wrote in message
ups.com...
Great. Have lots of fish is the freezer. Perfect weather (5-15
knots
2-3 ft seas) cept we had one wicked front move thru, but we
found a
nice backdown bouy to ride it out on. Lots of weird stuff in
the flosum
lines, made great cover for the dolphin and lings, lots of lawn
chairs
and lumber,.... and a poly pro line that I had to cut out of
the prop.
Spent the first few days about 110 miles SSE of Galveston at my
favorite fishing spot, then went into Freeport for a Halloween
party,
had a perfect night sail coming back up the coast... the
darkest sky
you ever seen with so many shooting stars we lost count. Spent
a night
anchored off redfish island and skipper had a blast being free
to run.
Got in last night around 22:00...


Did I miss any thing here?

nope, same old ****. Glad to hear you had a good time. just the
3 of you, right?
I got to go for a 3 day cruise, weather was nice.

Scotty

The Attributes of an Outstanding Skipper
 

"Capt. Neal®" wrote in message

But, is it not generally understood that fear causes degradation in clear
thinking? And is not clear thinking of paramount importance in any
emergency?

No Cappy.... fear is a wonderful thing... it causes clarity of thought.....
what you are describing is Panic... like when Bobsprit loses sight of land!!
:-)

Courage is merely the ability to harness fear......

CM

The Attributes of an Outstanding Skipper
 

As I stated to Capt Neal...... you folks are mistaking fear for panic and
courage for fearlessness. Stupidity does not discriminate between the brave
and the cowardly.....

CM

"Bart Senior" .@. wrote in message ...
We are talking skippers now, not crew.

Courage is diffucult to define. I view courage as
doing something that might get you killed, despite the
known risks. Would an outstanding skipper do
something so risky as to possibly lose his/her life?

Skippers have no business doing anything risky,
except as a last resort.

A good skipper doesn't have fear, because he/she
always has a backup plan. When you are leading
you are making decisions about actions. Actions
conqueor fear.

Recognizing the dangers of a situation and staying
calm--is that courage? Or is it level-headedness?

"Capt. Neal®" wrote

"Joe" wrote
|
| Having worked beside and for 100's of skippers I can tell you when the
| **** hit the fans having courage can save you and your crews life. And
| a coward can get you all killed.
|
| And I would not sail with anyone who makes declarations that he's never
| afraid. I do not like liars. And if he's never been afraid at sea, then
| he hasen't been to sea long enough to know sqwat .....and is no one I
| would trust.
|
| The most courage you can see is a man or woman doing his or her job
| despite the fear.
| Thats what makes them "Outstanding" IMO.
|
| Joe
|

But, is it not generally understood that fear causes degradation in clear
thinking? And is not clear thinking of paramount importance in any
emergency?

CN

The Attributes of an Outstanding Skipper
 

"DSK" wrote in message

How about not being there in the first place?

Why?

Any skipper who deliberately exposes his vessel & crew to unnecessary
danger because he is "brave" is a fool and a hazard.

.....can you cite me an example of necessary danger?

CM

The Attributes of an Outstanding Skipper
 

"Capt.Mooron" wrote in message news:qStaf.101592$Io.7003@clgrps13...
|
| "Capt. Neal®" wrote in message
|
| But, is it not generally understood that fear causes degradation in clear
| thinking? And is not clear thinking of paramount importance in any
| emergency?
|
| No Cappy.... fear is a wonderful thing... it causes clarity of thought.....
| what you are describing is Panic... like when Bobsprit loses sight of land!!
| :-)
|
| Courage is merely the ability to harness fear......
|
| CM
|

Thought is linear. One cannot experience fear (a thought) without taking away
from other thought processes. Time spent thinking fearfully is time taken
from thinking constructively. Fear is the mind killer - the little death . . .

CN

The Attributes of an Outstanding Skipper
 

Capt.Mooron wrote:
Why?


Why not?


Any skipper who deliberately exposes his vessel & crew to unnecessary
danger because he is "brave" is a fool and a hazard.


....can you cite me an example of necessary danger?


Yep. But that's what I was asking Joe, so let him go first ;)

DSK

The Attributes of an Outstanding Skipper
 

"DSK" wrote in message

Actually, I don't know that.
The sea can surprise you, but with study & forethought, surprises can be
minimized... probably not ever eliminated totally.

Heh... what about the Trans Atlantic sailors. They don't have much room to
"get out of the way" of approaching bad weather. Is it foolhardy and
dangerous to subject vessel & crew to a crossing? Is that skipper a danger
and a menace?

Anything as big as an ocean cannot change "suddenly"

Pardon Me???? Look Man... I commercial fished the east coast of Nova
Scotia. It'll change on you in 20 minutes without warning and totally
oblivious of the weather forecast..... usually when you have your deep set
gill pulled and half clear.

CM

The Attributes of an Outstanding Skipper
 

How about slapping open a pelican hook loose holding 65,000 pounds of
anchor and chain flaked out on deck under a heavy strain. Its
dangerious work, but necessary, working on a deck awash, diving under a
boat in rough seas, offloading underway in a 15 ft wake, I can think of
a thousand things that are dangerious and necessary to accomplish many
jobs at sea. The Alaskan crabbers have the most dangerious job on
earth, with offshore oilfield workers next in line. Not all skippers
have the courage to do the job. They are not outstanding IMO and need
to stick to safer occupations our ventures.

Joe