Alright, as promised, I have a quote for ya'll. This comes from an autobiographical book called Wanderer by Sterling Hayden. Sterling Hayden was an impressive man: tall, blond, and barrel chested. He was a great sailor and an ok movie actor. At one point he prepped a schooner to sail from San Francisco to Tahiti and gathered most of his crew from an ad placed in the newspaper. Once they had sunk the Golden Gate below the horizon, Hayden pulled out this red velvet chair, nay, throne, and sat down on the quarterdeck and called everyone aft. He then gave the following speech to let them know what was expected of them aboard ship during their voyage.
"Now the key to this operation lies in vigilance. Always regard the elements out here as an opponent—cunning, implacable, and able to knock you down and stomp you before you know it. Keep a sharp eye out at all times—you can tell an experienced seaman in many ways, one of them his habit of sweeping the horizon constantly. For all we know, there may be some poor devil adrift in a boat or a raft, so forget what they practice on shore and remember the golden rule.
When you steer, g!+*&@n it you steer. Stand up to the wheel, don’t smoke and don’t discuss the Big Ten and rock ‘n roll. The brighter the man, the poorer the helmsman—that’s an old adage in sailing—just in case you were feeling discouraged.
When you work, try to protect your hands. Cuts don’t heal in the tropics and if you sprain something it’s that much harder for everyone else.
If you don’t understand an order, say so—don’t just sashay around pulling on any old line till you come to the right one—because you can maim somebody that way.
When you’re awakened to go on watch, roll out and think it over afterwards. If you need an hour to get dressed, we can call you an hour early—otherwise you have twenty minutes…And if you hear the call ‘All hands on deck!’ that means to come as you are as fast as you can—don’t reach for a cigarette or mess around with your clothes, just come on up and dive into the work…What’s more, if you’re off watch and you hear hell break loose on deck, there’s no law against your coming up uninvited to lend a hand—this has obvious advantages: first, you have time to get the feel of things, and second, you might learn something—but I won’t hold my breath until you do it, either.
One final word—and this is the most critical of all. This ship lives off the wind—wind is to us what money is to life on shore. Always scan the windward horizon. Always keep in tune with the feel and heft of the wind… and don’t forget that a sudden squall could lay this wagon down so she’d never get up, no matter how hard you prayed."
.
.
.
With a little adaptation, I thought this would be a fine way to get people started on their voyage to the Isle of Dread.