LESSONS LEARNED

1

This was supposed to be a leisurely day out with someone else in charge, but that perhaps led me to brush off the warning signs: at no stage did the skipper give us any information about the location of lifejackets or other emergency equipment.

2

The bag of strong lagers should have rung alarm bells: a phone call to management at that point might have saved us all a lot of trouble.

3

I did consider asking for assistance from the local harbour master when he came to tell us to move after we’d anchored in the wrong spot for lunch. If I hadn’t been an experienced skipper that would have been the risk-free way out.

4

The skipper had, however, invited me to take the wheel earlier in the day; he remained on board throughout and my ICC qualification does permit me to sail boats of 38ft in Italian waters. So apart from the lack of navigation aids (we eventually found the chartplotter beneath the folded spray hood) I would do the same again in this situation.