Chapter 8 · Lesson 4Onboard activity · about 6 minutes
Three goals and a decent notebook
Close the course with an honest gap list and three goals that can survive contact with an actual season.
Video coming soon
Three goals and a decent notebook
In the video
- A simple notebook page for what you are shown
- Replacing a vague goal with a specific practice request
- Reviewing the goals honestly, then choosing the next one
From the captain
Before you start
You do not need a twelve-colour life plan. You need to know what you cannot yet do, what you are going to practise next and how you will know it improved. Three sensible goals will do more for you than a notebook full of ambitions written during a particularly motivational Sunday.
By the end of this lesson
Turn three real gaps into agreed practice requests with evidence and review dates.
See it
See it for yourself
Your gap list and three goals
Sort what you understand, what you can perform under supervision and what you have never done. Then give three goals an action, evidence and a review date.
1 · Make an honest gap list
Keep the three categories separate. Watching is not doing.
2 · Write three usable goals
The action says what you will do. The evidence says how you will know. The review date stops ‘later’ becoming the entire season.
Goal 1
Still needs an action, evidence and a review date.
Goal 2
Still needs an action, evidence and a review date.
Goal 3
Still needs an action, evidence and a review date.
0 of 3 goals have an action, evidence and a review date. A tick on this sheet is a learning note, not an observer sign-off or certificate.
Nothing is stored · printable · your vessel decides when you are competent and authorised
What to look for
Choose the next useful gap
Select something that matters in your current role and that the vessel can safely help you practise. A longer list is not necessarily a better plan.
Give the goal an action and a review
Name the repetition, who can supervise, the evidence to capture and a date to review it. If the opportunity does not arise, record that and rearrange it honestly.
The lesson
The lesson
- 01
Make an honest gap list
Look back across the course. Mark what you understand, what you can perform under supervision and what you have never physically done. Keep those categories separate. Watching a tender recovery and carrying one out are not the same achievement, even if you watched extremely attentively.
- 02
Write three usable goals
Choose goals that matter to your current role and can be achieved safely with the vessel's support. Give each one an action, evidence and review date. For example: request two supervised radio drills this month, record the feedback and review the weak points with the officer at month-end.
- The action says what you will do.
- The evidence says how you will know.
- The review date stops 'later' becoming the entire season.
- 03
Review without pretending
At the review date, decide whether the goal is complete, still in progress or badly chosen. Ask for feedback. Replace a completed goal with the next useful gap. If the operation or practice opportunity never arose, move the date honestly; do not award yourself competence because the calendar tried its best.
Where it goes wrong
A new crew member writes 'get better at tenders' and never defines what better means. The season becomes busy, no practice is requested and the goal quietly survives untouched for six months. Vague goals are excellent at avoiding failure because they also avoid measurement.
Your call
What would you do?
Pick one, then read the feedback on all three.
The situation
Your goal says 'get better at tenders'. A month has passed and no practice was arranged.
Take it aboard
Write your next three practice goals
Do this during your induction or first weeks, with the person responsible for your work.
Desk exercise
Use the printable goal sheet. Discuss the requests with the person who can arrange suitable supervision.
- 01Name three specific gaps.
- 02Write one action, supervisor role and evidence for each.
- 03Set a review date and record the agreed opportunity.
What a useful result looks like
- Every goal has an action, evidence and review date.
- No goal requires unauthorised practice.
- Uncompleted work remains visible.
Stop: A tick on this sheet is a learning note, not an observer sign-off or certificate.
Deckhand Foundation · Job card
Next practice plan
From the lesson: Three goals and a decent notebook
- Specific gap chosen.
- Suitable task requested.
- Supervision agreed.
- Evidence and review date set.
- Outcome recorded honestly.
Goal / action
Supervisor role / evidence
Review date / outcome
Your vessel's procedures and senior crew come first. Nothing on this card is stored.
Quick check
Four decisions, then move on
This check confirms the principle. Your vessel's own induction still comes first.