A gallery full of vessels, photographs and equipment can leave you with many impressions and few clear memories. Choosing one question before you enter gives the visit a manageable thread.
For example: how does this exhibition show people working together aboard a boat? This lets you look across different objects without needing to master the whole history in an afternoon.
A small collecting rule
Choose three examples that answer the question in different ways. One might be a photograph of several people handling a sail; another a written account; the third an object whose label explains a shared task. Record the object identifiers where available so that your notes can lead you back to the sources.
You are collecting observations, not proving that every crew worked alike. An exhibition may bring together material from different periods, vessel types and purposes.
Leave room for the exception
Before leaving, find one item that does not fit your first impression. Perhaps it shows solitary work, or its label says little about the people involved. Add the question it raises rather than forcing it into the pattern.
Later, turn the three examples and the exception into a short paragraph. That paragraph will usually be more useful than a list of every object you passed.