Touchy male parent met at sea (13)
I believe the answer is:
temperamental
'touchy' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'male parent met at sea' is the wordplay.
'at sea' is an anagram indicator.
'male'+'parent'+'met'='maleparentmet'
'maleparentmet' is an anagram of 'TEMPERAMENTAL'.
(Other definitions for temperamental that I've seen before include "Liable to changes of mood" , "Given to mood changes" , "Likely to act unpredictably" , "requiring delicate handling" , "Moody, sensitive" .)