Boating safety checklist before you leave the dock

A pre-departure check takes five minutes and prevents the majority of the situations that ruin a day on the water. The point is not to have a long list — it is to have a fixed one, run in the same order every time, so that nothing depends on remembering.

Before you leave the dock

• Weather and sea state checked, including the forecast for your return time, not just for now.
• Float plan left with someone ashore: where you are going and when you will be back. This is the cheapest safety measure that exists.
• Fuel calculated on the rule of thirds, with the reserve intact.
• Bilge checked and pump tested.
• Battery charged and the engine started before casting off.
• Drain plug in. It sounds absurd until it happens to you.
• Everyone told where the lifejackets, flares and fire extinguisher are — and how the radio works. If only one person on board knows, the plan fails the moment that person is the problem.

Safety equipment

Requirements are set by law and depend on your country, the size of your boat and, in the United States, on federal rules plus the state you are boating in. Verify the applicable list — what follows is the equipment that matters in practice, not a legal statement.

• A wearable lifejacket for every person aboard, correctly sized, and worn rather than stowed by children and anyone who cannot swim well.
• A throwable flotation device within reach of the helm.
• Fire extinguisher, serviced and accessible.
• Visual distress signals, in date.
• Sound signalling device — a horn or whistle.
• Navigation lights that work, tested before dark rather than after.
• VHF radio, with the MMSI programmed and GPS connected if it has DSC.
• Anchor and adequate rode — often the fastest way to stop a bad situation getting worse.
• First aid kit, plus any medication anyone on board needs.
• Engine cut-off lanyard, attached to the operator. Not coiled around the throttle.

The five-minute engine check

• Fuel level, and fuel line and connections for leaks or damage.
• Oil level.
• Cooling water telltale flowing once the engine is running.
• Propeller clear of line and undamaged.
• Steering moving lock to lock without stiffness.

Underway

Keep a proper lookout — it is a rule, not advice, and the majority of collisions between recreational boats come down to nobody looking. Keep a speed appropriate to conditions and traffic. Know who has right of way before you need to decide.

And a hard rule worth adopting: the person driving does not drink. Alcohol is a factor in a large share of fatal boating accidents, and sun, wind and motion amplify its effects well beyond what the same amount would do ashore.

Man overboard, decided in advance

Shout "man overboard", point continuously and never stop pointing, press the MOB button on the plotter, and turn back. Approach from downwind at idle and cut the engine before anyone comes near the stern.

Talk this through with your crew once, at the dock. Three minutes of conversation now beats improvising later.

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