A yacht is a small home that heels, carries its own gas, water and electricity, and has nowhere to pop out to. A few habits keep it safe and pleasant for everyone on board.
1 · Gas and the galley
Gas is heavier than air
What should I do if I smell gas on a boat?
No flames, and touch no electrical switch, since a switch makes a spark. Turn the gas off at the bottle, get everyone into fresh air and tell the skipper: bottled gas is heavier than air and collects in the bilge.
Bottled cooking gas is heavier than air. If it leaks it does not blow away: it sinks into the bilge and stays there, and one spark can set it off. Every gas habit on board follows from that.
The gas passes three valves: the one on the bottle, the solenoid (an electric valve with a switch near the galley) and the burner knob. All three must be open for the stove to light.
Strike the match or lighter first, then open the burner, so that no unburnt gas escapes.
After cooking close the burner and turn the gas off at the solenoid or the bottle. Then no gas sits in the pipe overnight.
You smell gas: no flames, and touch no electrical switch, because a switch makes a spark. Turn the gas off at the bottle, get everyone into fresh air and tell the skipper.
Cooking at sea: let the stove swing on its gimbals so the pans stay level, clip on the galley strap to keep both hands free, and wear oilskin trousers against scalds.
2 · The heads
A pump, narrow pipes and one rule
What can I put down the toilet on a yacht?
Only what you have eaten first, and toilet paper; everything else goes in the bin. The heads pump through narrow pipes and block easily, so keep pumping after the bowl looks clean to clear the pipe.
The marine toilet, the heads, pumps through narrow pipes and blocks easily. Nothing goes down it that you have not eaten first, except toilet paper. Everything else goes in the bin.
Using the heads
1 In harbour: valve to holding tank
2 Open the seacocks
3 Pump until the bowl is clean
4 Then more strokes to clear the pipe
5 Under sail: close the seacocks
Where you are
Where the waste goes
Marina, harbour, anchorage
Into the holding tank
Well out at sea
Overboard only where local rules allow; the skipper says when
When the bowl looks clean the waste is still in the pipe, so pump on for a while. Under sail a bowl below the waterline can siphon sea water in through open seacocks and flood the boat: many skippers want them closed after every use.
3 · Water and power
The tanks and batteries are all you have
How long will the yacht's battery last with the engine off?
Divide its amp-hours by the amps everything switched on draws: 120 Ah at 8 A lasts 15 hours. With the engine off and no shore power nothing charges the house battery, so switch off what nobody uses.
Away from a marina nobody refills the water tanks. Turn the tap off while you soap your hands, the dishes or yourself, and rinse briefly. To see what you can afford, divide what is left by the crew and by the days.
With the engine off and no shore power nothing charges the house battery. It holds amp-hours (Ah); everything switched on draws amps (A). Add up the amps, divide the amp-hours by them and you have the hours left. Switch off lights and chargers nobody is using.
4 · Stowage and tidiness
Ready for sea
What does "stow for sea" mean on a sailing yacht?
That nothing can move and no water can get below: to stow for sea, put loose things in lockers or wedge them, shut hatches and portholes, latch lockers and drawers, and coil lines clear of feet.
When the boat heels, anything loose flies across the cabin: it breaks, or it hurts someone. "Stow for sea" means that nothing can move and no water can get below.
What
Before you sail
Phones, laptops, cups, books
In a locker, or wedged so they cannot move
Hatches and portholes
Shut, and they stay shut under way
Lockers and drawers
Latched
Sheets and halyard tails
Coiled and stowed clear of feet, none over the side
Rubbish
Bagged and kept aboard for the bins ashore
One wave through an open forehatch soaks a cabin. A loose line trips people, and one trailing over the side can foul the propeller. Plastic never goes overboard, at sea or at anchor.
5 · Seasickness
Prevent it before you sail
How can I avoid getting seasick on a sailing trip?
Take your tablet before you sail, as the packet says, sleep well, eat lightly and leave the wine alone the evening before. If seasickness starts, come on deck into the fresh air and watch the horizon.
Almost everyone is seasick at some time, and it passes. It is much easier to prevent than to cure: take your tablet before you sail, as the packet says, sleep well, eat lightly and leave the wine alone the evening before a lumpy crossing.
The bow moves most; low down amidships the motion is least. The cockpit has fresh air and a horizon.
If you start to feel queasy, come on deck into the fresh air and watch the horizon. Below decks it is worse, and worst of all in the forward cabin, where the motion is greatest. Keep warm, sip water, and tell someone how you feel.
6 · Watches
Off watch, sleep
What should I do when I'm off watch on a night passage?
Rest: go below and sleep even if the cockpit is pleasant, because a tired watchkeeper misses things. Come up a few minutes early, dressed and ready, so that the watch you relieve gets its full rest.
On an overnight passage the crew splits into watches: one group sails the boat while the other rests, for example three hours on and three hours off.
Time
Watch A
Watch B
21:00–00:00
On deck
Asleep
00:00–03:00
Asleep
On deck
03:00–06:00
On deck
Asleep
Off watch, your job is to rest. Go below and sleep even if the evening in the cockpit is pleasant: a tired watchkeeper misses things. Come up a few minutes early, dressed and ready, so that the watch you relieve gets its full rest.
Practice questions
Questions from this topic, as the app asks them. Open one to see the answer.
Below, at anchor
Faint smell of gas in the saloon
Nobody has cooked for hours
Two crew below, one asleep
You come down the companionway and notice this. How do you deal with it?
Switch on the cabin fan to clear the smell
Light the stove to find where it leaks
No flames or switches, gas off, tell the skipper
Start the engine to run the blower
Show the answer
C. No flames or switches, gas off, tell the skipper
Bottled gas is heavier than air and pools low down — any spark can set it off.
All 20 questions of this topic are in the app: practice by topic with the reason after every answer, your mistakes brought back, and a timed mock exam. Free, no sign-up, in the browser or in Telegram.
