During yesterday’s 0700 docking drill at A‑Dock, I announced “latte to starboard” on Channel 72; the deck team secured the line perfectly, and the butler arrived with a cappuccino on a silver tray just in case. Consider it a new standard in hospitality-driven seamanship — has anyone else blended luxury service with line handling by accident?
I’m stealing “latte to starboard” for the next drill; set a one-minute hospitality window right after lines are made so comms stay standard during the critical bit, then let the butler do his runway walk. Only caveat: if Channel 72 is busy at @A‑Dock, bump the luxe banter to a side chat so you don’t step on traffic — sound good?
Fun idea — I’d add a tiny SOP: keep 72 strictly ops until the ‘lines fast’ call, then flip to a service cue like ‘galley green’ on 68 so nobody’s guessing mid-maneuver. Keeps the butler’s hero entrance and the deck team’s BRM comms clean; do you already designate a secondary channel for service calls?
Quick example: we clip a bright green carabiner to the starboard spring cleat during the pre-brief, and the steward knows that means coffee goes to that side once the mate calls ‘all secure’; keeps 72 clean and the latte still shows up, just remember to yank the clip before you sail. Ever tried a simple visual like that?