Written for people who actually take a boat out: what the forecast really says, how to set an anchor that holds, and the checks that prevent most bad days on the water.
The point is not a long list but a fixed one, run in the same order every time, so nothing depends on remembering. Starting with the drain plug.
Head seas can double consumption, and that is the leg people forget because the trip out was fine. One third out, one third back, one third in reserve.
Rain that arrives with wind is a different event from rain that arrives alone. It is the gust front ahead of a squall, not the rain, that capsizes small boats.
From a small boat your visible horizon is roughly three miles and VHF range is line of sight. Beyond that, a satellite beacon is the difference between being found and not being found.
Moving water beats still water, low light beats bright sun, and falling pressure ahead of a front is often the best fishing of the week. Stack three of them and you have picked a good morning.
Tide predictions are only valid for their station, heights are measured above chart datum, and slack water does not necessarily happen at high or low tide.
An anchor holds when it is pulled sideways and lets go when it is pulled upwards. That single fact is why scope matters more than anchor weight.
Three feet at nine seconds is a rolling swell you ride over; three feet at three seconds is stacked chop that stops a small boat. Same height, completely different day.
Under 10 knots is comfortable for everyone, over 25 small craft stay home. But gusts, direction relative to your harbour, fetch and wind against current decide the day more than the number does.
Press, pause, speak. Say 'over' when you expect a reply and 'out' when you are finished — never both. And check your MMSI and GPS connection at the dock, not on the day you need them.
A chart is not a map of the sea: everything on it answers one of three questions — how deep is it, what will hurt me, and how do I know where I am.
Read the warning line first, then the synopsis, then the detail. Wind means direction, range and gusts — and forecast wave height is the average of the highest third, so bigger waves are a promise, not a surprise.