10 BEST PRACTICES for ... communication onboard

Boats are like marriages: it all comes down to communication!

1. Speak the same language.

The basics of all good communication!

You wouldn’t believe how many people get into a pickle because one person thought ‘blue speckled line’ meant the ‘white line with blue speckles’ and the other person thought it meant the ‘blue line with dark blue speckles’. ‘Furling line’ would have been a better choice…

Create a boat glossary. And stick to it. There are way too many words for the same thing in the English language.

2. Use hand signals

Hand signals are gold dust on a boat! They are a universal language and don’t require you all to even speak English. They hold up strong as a communication tool when it’s too windy or you are too far away from one another to hear each other. They become a good support-act to vocal communication and help avoid any ambiguity with your instructions. Using them keeps the stress levels low because no shouting is necessary. Thus if you do shout, people know it’s important. They make the machine onboard feel well oiled and slick. And … they reinforce no.9 on this list.

Here are four hand signals I use. You can change them. Just make sure you are all on the same page (see no.1 on this list):