1) Get out all the clothes you'll need and put them on the
bed.
2) Get all the
money you'll need and put it on the bedside table.
3) Take half the clothes and twice the
money.
On a more serious note, the one thing every Admiral/First Mate/whatever must take is the ability to operate the vessel by herself should disaster befall the
Captain. There is no excuse for not possessing that knowledge.
I once knew a guy who got seriously injured while coastal sailing. Neither his wife or either of his two
children even knew how to
work the
vhf. He finally got rescued, but death might have been an appropriate reward for being such a control freak.
How commonly do you see the female crew on a
boat up on the foredeck trying to fend off pilings and attach lines, while the male is behind the
wheel using his superior upper body strength to push levers back and forth?
Lastly, having worked some years at a marina in the
Florida Keys, I have come to the opinion that most
women, given a chance, can handle a boat better than most
men. When I expressed that to a young guy I was
training as a
dock hand, he asked why I felt that way.
Why? Because
women feel no need to be macho, they just want to park the boat.
Ladies, if you prefer to leave boat operating to your husband, who's going to get him to shore when he's unconscious? What if you have
children on board, or non-sailing guests?
NO EXCUSE FOR IGNORANCE!
Sorry for the diatribe, but this is something both my lady and myself feel strongly about.
I'll get off my soapbox now.