What do you do to prepare for a 3 hour helm shift? Do you pack a bag? Grab things on the fly? Long passages require long helm shifts and it's important, especially in high seas, to be prepared. Preparation includes nourishment, safety, and having fun. I always pack a bag that I take with me which guarantees that I have everything I need. This is especially helpful when the seas are big and I am tethered in. Big seas make me want to leave the helm far less frequently so I am very happy to be able to have most things at my finger tips. This video will show you what I pack to be prepared. What did I leave out? Let us know in the comments.
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The speaker shares how they stay organized and entertained during three-hour watch shifts at the helm during a passage. By packing a dedicated \"entertainment bag,\" they avoid the danger and inconvenience of leaving their post to retrieve items, ensuring they have everything needed for comfort, safety, and mental stimulation throughout the day and night.
Under passage, it's really important to be organized.
And one of the things that I do is I make an entertainment bag
because we're up at the helm in three hour shifts.
And a lot of times you don't want to come down from the helm to get something.
So having a bag up there with everything in it
for all of my entertainment purposes is really appreciated.
So I'm going to tell you what's in my bag.
And the nice thing about it is I just carry this up to the helm
when I have when I'm on duty and when I'm off duty.
I just put it back in the salon.
So everything stays in it.
So I never wonder where things are.
All right. So here are my favorite things in the bag.
First of all, I carry an extra long sleeve shirt just in case
I get cold to be able to throw that on if necessary.
Next is my mobile phone because we're on satellite.
I can email or text people back home free.
Well, well, it's not free.
We pay for the unlimited subscription on Iridium Go.
I also have podcasts on here so I can listen to those.
So to be able to listen to podcasts, I've got my headphones.
I've got my earbuds.
I also have pens and things like that in this little kit and chapstick.
So if I need that highlighters, I have that all at my fingertips.
Next is reading material.
I have a Kindle, which has a lot of books on it.
And I also can read at night because it has the backlight.
So that's really helpful.
But sometimes, you know, you just want that book in your hands.
This book was given to us by a friend of ours.
I've never read it before called The Raven.
Hopefully it's good.
But I keep that in the bag, too, because on sunny days
or if I get bored of the book that I'm reading on the Kindle,
then I can just switch to this.
If I want a little mind challenge,
I carry a games magazine with me.
If you've never seen games magazine, it is amazing.
It is a magazine full of puzzles.
And I just love puzzles.
One of the nicknames Brown has for me is puzzles.
And so there's lots of them.
That's one of my favorite. That's the second favorite.
So anyway, I've got that to entertain me
if I need something a little bit different than reading.
And I also carry my clipboard in here.
My clipboard has notes on it, and it also is just blank paper.
If I get a message and I need to write some things down
or if we get a Mayday call and they give us the GPS coordinates,
I want to have something right at my fingertips
to be able to write down the GPS coordinates.
We've got to go help save someone.
Very important sun lotion.
So this is just 60 plus for my face.
And if I have that up there, then I'll be more apt to put that on.
I always wear a hat, except for right now.
So that is not in the bag, but I usually have that on.
I don't have it on this morning because we were just out
putting up the parasail and I didn't want it to blow off.
So normally I have a hat on and I've got some backup sun lotion.
Really important for night watch is headlamp.
And this headlamp is great because it's got the regular light, bright light,
red light, which helps at night to keep your ability to see.
So that is a really important tool to have in your box, especially at night.
And then last of all, the most important thing is snacks, fun snacks.
So my favorite thing on passage is the chocolate made cliff bars.
These are my absolute favorite.
So when I go on the midnight shift or the 4 a.m. shift,
like I've been doing this trip, I will eat one of these.
So if I'm hungry, it just takes away the hunger.
If I have a little bit of a sweet tooth, it takes away the sweet tooth.
So that's really good.
If I'm even more hungry than that, I always carry nuts.
My favorite nuts are hazelnuts and macadamia.
So there's a bag of those.
And then this is empty,
but it was filled with M&Ms for day shift yesterday.
I haven't refilled it, but I usually just keep a treat in here.
I love chocolate covered peanut M&Ms.
And so just a little bit of sweets sometimes just satisfies.
Or if you get bored, sometimes it's nice to have something to just chew on.
That's a little bit sweet.
So that's my entertainment bag.
I hope that helps with just knowing how to pack for your three hour shift,
night shift, whatever.
Oh, most importantly, water.
I always have a water bottle in there and it is always full.
But at night when you're clipped in, it's really not a whole lot of fun
to unclip and get down the stairs and get into wherever you need to
to find something in the dark.
So I like to keep these things at my disposal
so that I don't have to go up and down and up and down in my shift.
And it's just safer.
It really helps make my shift exciting to look forward to
because there's always something fun in my bag.
