It’s important to be proactive—not paranoid—in gathering evidence on the vessel

We often advise mariners to keep good records of any safety deformities or unseaworthiness of the vessel. It’s good policy to have a small notebook and pen in your work pocket to immediately write down things like sea state, weather, lat / lon, witnesses present and specifics of the deformities. This way you won’t have to struggle to recall these things down the road or under cross examination pressure in the courtroom. Being proactive, however, does not mean having your camera phone or a mini cassette recorder constantly at the ready at every moment at sea. Why? Because that mindset crosses over from prudence to obsession. And while there have been vessels where the captain has a hidden microphone on the bridge or another crewmember secretly keys the walkie-talkie microphone in the hopes that a conversation will broadcast throughout the vessel, this is not the route to go. Just be alert and record the facts in a reasonable manner.