We are sociable people and enjoy having guests on board! However, as it is relatively crowded on board and not every guest is familiar with the customs on board, we have put together a few recommendations here to make your stay with us on board as accident- and conflict-free as possible, as well as fun and entertaining.
Even if some of the recommendations may sound strange, unnecessary or restrictive at first glance, please always bear in mind that we are not a charter boat or hotel provider and that our boat is our home. There are many other things that contribute to your own safety.
1. One hand for the ship!
The most important rule that you should never forget. As soon as you move around on board, you should always hold on to something with at least one hand. Even if you see us walking around on deck with our hands free and without observing this rule – please don’t copy us! We know our boat and know when it makes which movements. An unfamiliar movement of the boat may cause you to stumble quickly and, in the worst case, you may injure yourself or even fall overboard.
Please never fall overboard!!! Even if we consider ourselves to be good sailors, you could be seriously injured or we may not be able to get you back on board despite our best efforts.
So that you always have somewhere to hold on to, you should always have one hand free. For example, don’t carry things in both hands and under your arms from the cockpit to the foredeck and vice versa. It’s better to walk once more and hold on tight on the way.
No-Go – Peeing over the railing
Peeing overboard is therefore an absolute no-go for us. Even if it seems completely safe at anchor, please do not pee at the stern at any time of the day or night. Neither when we can see you and certainly not when we can’t see you! This applies in particular to urinating at anchor at night. We have toilets on board that you should always use. Even if you are worried at night that the noise of the toilet flushing might wake someone up, we would rather wake you up than miss you at breakfast in the morning because you have gone overboard unnoticed.
This brings me directly to the next point.
2. Toilet use
Yes, we’re sure you know how to use a toilet. But things are different on board than on land.
Our toilet waste water does not go directly into the sea, but first ends up in a waste water tank. This tank may only be emptied in accordance with certain rules, e.g. via a sewage pump-out system in a marina or on the high seas. As the tank only has a certain volume and fills up faster than you think, you should use every toilet opportunity on land to do your business.
In addition, only things that have passed through the body and can be digested should end up in the toilet (cherry or olive pits do not belong in the toilet and quickly damage the pump). Therefore, no paper, no tampons or pads, no diapers, no cosmetic products, no banknotes 😉 and no cleaning rags belong in the toilet. Toilet paper should only be used as much as necessary and as little as possible, otherwise there is a risk of a blockage in the tank system. Anyone who has ever cleaned a blocked yacht toilet will understand our advice! And yes, we apply the “polluter pays” principle, i.e. if you clog it, you get to clean it.
Please sit down!
Everyone on board is required to sit when using the toilet! So for men too! While sailing anyway, so that the well-calculated jet does not end up outside the toilet bowl with every wave movement. And you can also observe point 1 – A hand for the boat – in this situation. But you should also sit down at anchor or in the marina, because the bowl of a yacht toilet is much smaller than at home and unfortunately does not allow you to pee standing up without splashing.
3. Sail along
Yes, of course you sail with us! It’s more about whether you’ll help us sail. Please be honest with yourself and honest with us. If you can’t or don’t want to do something, if you are afraid or don’t know how to do something, please tell us! We want you to have fun on board with us and not turn your visit to us into a tour through hell.
It’s absolutely fine with us if you don’t help us sail! As a rule, we only sail the seas as a couple and can handle all the manoeuvres on our own. So just stay in the cockpit during sailing manoeuvres, anchoring or mooring and casting off and try not to be in our way or distract us in such situations with questions, hints or loud conversations. It’s best to make yourself invisible 😉 Even if that sounds harsh, in our experience the manoeuvres usually go smoothly and without stress.
Learning to sail – no problem
However, if you would like to support us or even learn something about sailing, please let us know in advance. We will be happy to explain everything to you and show you how everything works. We will also tell you which „commands“ you have to listen to and what you have to do. Sailing is not a sport where you discuss everything before you do anything. If you have taken on a specific task and are instructed to carry it out, you have to do it immediately and as shown. Otherwise something will go wrong and this can quickly result in major financial or health damage on board.
Please don’t take it amiss if we only answer your questions briefly in manoeuvring situations or rudely shoo you away from your seat with a „sit there“. We mean no offence, but sometimes things just have to happen quickly on board and unfortunately there is no time for a „could you please“.
Already a sailor – no problem either
Even if you already have sailing experience, please let us know at the beginning of your holiday whether you would like to help out. We will then show you everything that is usual on board and introduce you to our systems, instruments and manoeuvring procedures. In case of doubt, these will differ from the way you know and do things. To avoid misunderstandings and manoeuvring stress, we ask you to always follow our procedures on board. If you notice anything that could be done better or more simply, please let us know before or after a manoeuvre, but not in the middle of it and certainly not just do it the way you think is more correct.
Please also leave everything on board as you find it. So put the fenders back in the locker from which you took them. Put the lines back where you took them from. Leave your binoculars, radio or nautical charts where you found them.
4. Hands off the knobs
Technology on board is a sensitive subject! It is complex, must function smoothly and is very susceptible to incorrect operation. So please keep your hands off any buttons, switches or devices that we have not explained to you. Please do not change any device settings or try to find out how a device works using the „try and error“ method. Not even if it appears to be „only“ the on-board radio or if you think it is child’s play to operate. Please ask us if you want to change anything, we will be happy to do it for you.
And of course, at the start of your holiday, we’ll also show you how to use „vital“ appliances such as the toilet and ice cube maker! However, anything we don’t show you is taboo for the time being.
5. Save Water – Drink Champagne
We either have to produce the water on board using our seawater desalination plant or fill it up on land or in canisters. Seawater desalination is energy-intensive and noisy. Refuelling on land or via canisters is inconvenient and sometimes expensive. Therefore, if you have the opportunity to shower ashore in the marina, please use this option. If you use water on board, please switch off the tap during use if possible and make sure that it does not drip or continue to run unintentionally after use.
When showering on board, it should be enough to get wet and then switch off the water while soaping up and washing your hair. Then just rinse off quickly and please don’t use the extra minute under the warm water to relax your back muscles. In warm climates, it is also advisable to use the outdoor shower at the stern. You can then use the warm sea water to get wet and rinse off.
To brush your teeth, you can use a toothbrush mug to save water. You will find toothbrush mugs in your washroom.
And when doing the dishes, use as much water as necessary and as little as possible! So don’t wash dishes under running water. Don’t fill the entire sink with water for three pieces of cutlery. And please don’t use crockery etc. on board to the standard of a 5-star hotel, but perhaps use a glass more than once to avoid too much washing up and don’t use a new glass for every drink. After all, you can also drink water from a champagne glass 😉
There is certainly no reason why you shouldn’t wash your swimming trunks or bikini briefly in fresh water after swimming. However, you should wash all other items of clothing when you get home if possible. Although we have a washing machine on board, we use it as rarely as possible. Not only because the water and energy consumption is very high, but also because detergent and waste water from on board flow untreated into the sea and thus pollute the environment.
6. Power off
Electricity on board is also a rare and valuable commodity. We need the electricity to operate important navigation electronics, but of course we also use it for a little luxury on board. With luck and careful use, we can produce the electricity we need on board in a very environmentally friendly and cost-effective way using our solar panels. However, this requires us to monitor our energy consumption well and limit ourselves in some areas compared to life on land. Otherwise, we have to produce the extra electricity we need using our diesel generator, which is expensive and not very sustainable.
So please try to pay a little attention to your power consumption on board. Only use the electrical appliances that you really need. Who needs a hairdryer in the Caribbean, for example? The wind and seawater are very wilful hairdressers and will quickly ruin any well-styled hairstyle anyway. You shouldn’t necessarily charge your smartphone, cameras and tablets all at the same time at night, but rather plug them in during the day and only when needed.
Unfortunately, air conditioning is a real power guzzler. We currently have no air conditioning installed and will probably only install it in the owner’s cabin. At anchor, however, cross ventilation and the wind ensure good ventilation and cooling. At sea, however, the hatches should remain closed to prevent unwanted water ingress.
Even though we have a television on board, we rarely use it on board. Of course, it’s nice to be able to watch a film now and again in rainy weather or watch the news every day. However, the TV should not simply be on in the background all the time – as is perhaps the case at home. Firstly, we personally find this rather annoying and secondly, it consumes too much energy.
7. Surfing on board
On land, the internet is now available almost everywhere and at all times. Unfortunately, this is not always the case on board. We use various options to enable an Internet connection on board. Firstly, our Starlink, secondly mobile internet and, if available, WLAN connections from land. In almost every case, the bandwidth and volume are limited and it costs us money to use them. Sometimes the internet is so weak that it is only just sufficient for us to retrieve the necessary weather data.
You are of course welcome to use our internet connection on board. If you have your own connection via your smartphone or tablet, please use this if possible. If you use our internet connection, please do not stream videos, make video calls, surf the internet all day or download large files.
8. Salt water and sand
As daft as it is on board a sailing boat, salt water and sand are the natural enemies of every boat. As much as we enjoy walking along the white beach and swimming in the turquoise blue water, salt water and sand have no place on board.
Sand easily settles in every little crack, accumulates and not only scratches the floor but in the worst case also clogs our pumps. To prevent sand from creeping on board, please wear different shoes ashore than on board. Rinse your feet briefly with water at the stern before going on board and shake out your sandy clothes at the railing and not in the cabin.
Salt water is perhaps even worse. In tropical, warm regions, salt attracts a lot of moisture. And moisture in the tropics quickly means mould, rust and mildew. Every drop of salt water in the boat or below deck should therefore be avoided. If you have bathed in the sea, take a quick shower at the outdoor shower and then dry off well before going on board. Please leave your bath towel on deck or in the cockpit and hang it outside to dry.
9. Checking, snacking and crumbling
From our point of view, a holiday on board should always be a culinary delight. Unfortunately, however, this is not always as easy as one would like. Many foods are not always available or can only be obtained at very high prices. We therefore often have to improvise spontaneously when preparing a favourite dish. So that we don’t run the risk of having to throw away valuable food because you don’t like or tolerate it, please let us know before you arrive on board which food we shouldn’t or can’t use for you.
Of course, we are delighted when our guests help us with the cooking on board or even take over the catering themselves. However, there are a few things you should bear in mind.
In addition to sand and salt water, crumbs on board are a real plague. Similar to sand, they settle in every crack and clog up our bilge pumps. Worse still! In case of doubt, every crumb attracts vermin. Be it food moths, weevils or cockroaches. We definitely don’t want to have these creatures on board and have to go to the trouble of combating them. When preparing food or eating it, make sure that crumbs do not land on the floor. If it does happen, please use a cloth, hand brush and dustpan or hoover immediately to prevent the crumbs from spreading.
If you want to cook something or just have an appetite for a tasty snack, please ask us first whether or not we have the required ingredients and food on board. Please don’t look in every fridge yourself and leave them open for a long time. An open fridge at tropical outside temperatures tends to freeze extremely quickly and severely. An iced-up fridge in turn leads to higher energy consumption and the need to defrost it. As a rule, the food contained in the fridge cannot simply be „parked“ somewhere else on board. There is a risk of them spoiling or the packaging becoming completely soggy. So first think about what you want, ask us if and where something is and then take it out of the fridge quickly and without looking for anything else. Please always make sure that the fridge door is closed properly.
As already mentioned, some favourite foods are difficult or impossible to obtain in many countries. What’s more, shopping in the supermarket always involves a lot more effort than you’re used to on land. So if you see something on board that you have an appetite for, it’s better to ask if it’s OK to eat or drink it. Otherwise Axel and I might end up standing in front of the cupboard looking very sad because our very last favourite snack has been eaten by you and we might not be able to get it again for the next 6 months.
10. Life on board
Life on board takes place on approx. 50 m². That’s a pretty cramped space for four or even six people! To ensure that living together works well, everyone needs to show a certain amount of consideration, flexibility and willingness to compromise.
Not all of your favourite idiosyncrasies on land are easy for others to put up with on board.
Early risers, for example, are held in high esteem on board when they enjoy the sunrise quietly and inaudibly in the cockpit. If they tramp loudly across the deck in search of the rising sun and greet the first rays of sunshine with a widely audible ooh and ah, then it’s a different story.
By the way, early risers are most popular with us when they quietly sneak into the dinghy in the morning, cast off silently, paddle the first 50 metres away from the boat, then start the outboard motor and come back on board just as quietly a little later, but with fresh bread rolls or baguettes 🙂
Listening to loud music in the cockpit while the others are chatting or taking a nap should also be a no-go. It is also not necessary for everyone on board to overhear every word of your phone call home.
Open hatches on board are open for ventilation, not so that everyone can look in without being asked. So if you see open hatches on deck, firstly make sure that you don’t fall in and don’t just look in so that you don’t surprise someone in the shower or doing other private things.
A certain sense of tidiness also helps to improve life on board. Please don’t leave your things everywhere and don’t take up all the space. Even on a catamaran, many things don’t stay in place while sailing and it would be a shame if your new smartphone or expensive camera were to jump from the saloon table to the floor in the waves. Wet things do not belong below deck or even on the cushions. Please always hang them outside to dry immediately.
We hope that despite these „rules“ we have not put you off visiting us too much and look forward to seeing you!
The YouTube channel of „Sailing Wind Therapy“ has a clear and nicely made video on the subject. Just take a look at it!