The Admiral
04 December 2017
WT
We all know that the Captain is in charge on any boat, the duty of which lies on my shoulders on Krabat however the higher ranking officer is the Admiral. Although often described as the 1st Mate, as on many yachts, in reality the 1st Mate is really the Admiral in disguise! I would just like to say a few words about the Admiral on Krabat......
She has and continues to do a fantastic job. The meals she conjurers up in the galley, often under arduous conditions with the boat rolling about all over the place, are second to none. We are now in our 11 day at sea and we have had a different imaginative meal every day not to mention fresh bread baked every other day and the occasional cake. She is always attentive watching over me, especially if I have to go on deck, making sure I clip-on or reminding me to wear gloves when handling ropes etc. I ignored this advice on one occasion and paid the consequence as a rope slipped through my hands and caused nasty rope burns - I was in pain for several days! She is always checking the sails making sure we are not over canvassed or at risk of gybing. Nothing ever flusters her, she takes what is dished up to us, in the way of weather etc, in her stride or if something goes wrong, she doesnât panic but looks for solutions and makes suggestions in a calm and collected manner. Like all of us, she may not like it at times when the seas are particularly lumpy but she still gets on with things that need to be done. Seeing her deal with the fish we catch, gutting and filleting the things wielding a 12 inch bladed filleting knife in the confined space on a boat which is rolling about, never ceases to amaze me! She is tolerant if I get a bit agitated when things donât go quite right.
Moira is a great 1st Mate performing her duties fully and well BUT she is an even better Admiral keeping an eye on the Captain.