The phrase ‘the Beautiful Game’ is synonymous with football, but for American twin brothers Captain Grant Livingstone and Captain George Livingstone the words perfectly capture life at sea. Both brothers have spent decades working first as seafarers then as pilots, mastering the art of shiphandling, for which technical expertise meets instinct, experience and split-second decision making.
To inspire other seafarers to view their profession as the Beautiful Game, the Livingstone’s have gathered insights from experienced mariners, asking them: ‘What were the most challenging elements to learn theoretically?’ and ‘What were the most challenging elements to execute practically?’.
The result is a book – Shiphandling, the Beautiful Game published by the Nautical Institute- that draws together a range of real-life scenarios and how they were handled, examining both successes and failures so that today’s mariners can learn from past events.
Are we just slaves to debilitating emotions?
Shiphandling, the Beautiful Game has been written to explain what differentiates a good shiphandler from a great one. The authors consider common challenges and how best to deal with the emotions that can affect the outcomes, sharing examples of how to master those emotions and avert disaster. The book explores the many ways the human brain assimilates experience and develops motor skills and cognitive deduction, turning shiphandling into an art form that can be enjoyed rather than a challenge to be endured.
“In the last 20 years as a pilot, I witnessed a steep decline in fundamental ship handling skill among masters at sea,” Grant Livingstone told Splash, something he reckons is partially down to the supersizing of many ship types.
Livingstone began asking masters on every ship he piloted if they were experiencing ship handling challenges when handling their own vessel. The collective answer was a resounding affirmative, followed up with dozens of questions regarding fundamental ship handling, such as how and when to turn, how to slow and stop a vessel, how to anchor, and how to manage cross winds in narrow channels.
“Collectively they had very similar ship handling questions and challenges and a review of accident reports at sea reflects that,” Livingstone recounted, helping explain many of the themes for the new book.
However, there was another ship handling challenge that millions of mariners at sea have witnessed and experienced for generations: the debilitating effects that emotions like fear, anger, and anxiety have on critical thinking and decision making.
“It was compelling to me. Are we just slaves to debilitating emotions? Surely not? So, I set out to become educated in managing emotions, resolving conflict, and managing pressure,” Livingstone said.
