“Kick the tires and light the fires!” That was something we would sometimes say in my Coast Guard days when heading out to the helicopter for a rescue mission. It was mild bravado, a way to make us feel…cooler. In contrast to any daring acts we might or might not perform on a mission, starting an aircraft or launching a rescue boat was a ritual of nerd-like checks and tests of systems and equipment that came after previous checks and briefs about the proposed mission and a review of the aircraft’s maintenance history. Thinking and talking about starting the engines took much longer than actually firing them up. We never rushed. We never looked like we were in a hurry. Show me footage of a crew running to a helicopter to speed to a rescue, and I’ll show you a staged video.
Ironically, most boaters in distress wouldn’t be in trouble if they got underway like the Coast Guard does when it launches a rescue. Maybe you have an inspections and system checks routine for your vessel and never just “load and go.” However, if you aren’t following a step-by-step written checklist to inspect your vessel’s systems prior to getting underway, and if you aren’t briefing your crew about all the details of your vessel and your voyage, then you are inviting the kind of human error that can lead to boating mishaps.
Creating a routine and a nerd-like checklist system is how high reliability organizations reduce error to ensure they are always operating as safely as possible. Relying on your memory may work for your dinghy or a small boat with a single outboard on a short trip from the mooring ball to the marina. However, building yourself a four-part system of checks and briefs that you do the same way every time you get underway will make you a significantly safer mariner.
MAINTENANCE REVIEW
Not to assume anything, but you do log all maintenance and possible problems with your vessel, right? Doing this makes it very hard to miss a maintenance task, and having a log allows you to review possible problems you may encounter on your next voyage. When you read in your log “radar—intermittent flicker on screen. Unable to replicate the issue ashore,” you know that a four-hour day trip on a clear and bright day is no problem, but an overnight transit with fog in the forecast should require more caution.
A review of the maintenance record gives you confidence in your vessel systems, keeps the condition and maintenance of your boat at top of mind, and leads to a better understanding of potential limitations on your operations over the coming days and weeks.
SAFETY CHECKS
Next, you want a checklist of everything related to safe operations and emergencies that you can use for inspection and verification as close to the departure time as is reasonably possible.
To build your own boat check document, start with your engine operations manual and extract any of the pre-start and post-fuel maintenance recommendations, then write them down. Next, move on to your generator’s manual. Do the same for any other system you have a manual for. What you are trying to do is to capture the manufacturer’s recommended inspection and maintenance requirements and use them to develop a list of things you want to know are good to go before heading out to sea. For example, the daily recommended inspections on a Caterpillar C18, prior to starting the engine, include a conservative 33 separate checks. You are going to want to make a list.
At the very least, include the inspection of all required safety equipment; EPIRBS, radios, survival equipment, signaling devices, lights and nav lighting, ground tackle, exterior and interior hull fixtures, rudder linkages and controls, and navigational electronics. This will be the checklist where you spend most of your time and effort. Again, working through this list doesn’t have to occur immediately before powering up the vessel, but you will want to reperform many of these checks with passengers—such as the location and use of EPIRBS, radios and the fuel shut-off valves. You should also do that with the next checklist, the pre-sail voyage brief.
PRE-SAIL VOYAGE BRIEF
This is the checklist that ensures everyone aboard understands the plans, the conditions, and the responsibilities of everyone aboard. This list should include details about the route, destination and timing, the expected weather conditions, and the hazards and cautions you want the whole crew to be aware of before getting underway.
During this brief you will tell your passengers where the safety equipment is, demonstrate its use, and set your expectations during an emergency. You should discuss your communications plan and teach the less experienced passengers how to use the radio in case you end up being the emergency. If you think about leaving the dock with just yourself and a complete novice and make a list of the minimum things you would want them to know if you were to become incapacitated, you’ll likely come up with an excellent pre-sail voyage brief on your first draft.
Though you may feel silly going through this kind of brief with a crew full of your more experienced friends, I suggest making the habit non-negotiable. As you read this, somewhere out there is a professional rescuer with twenty years on the job who still goes through one of these lists with his trained and seasoned crews. They’re doing that for a reason.
START-UP CHECKLIST
Owners of gasoline-powered inboards know they should ventilate the engine space for at least four minutes and check for signs of vapors before hitting the start button. Still, in 2023, 117 fuel-related fires and explosions killed three persons and injured 113 others. Clearly, relying on, “I know to check for fuel leaks and fumes,” doesn’t always work. Instead of relying on what they know, safe operators write down what they know and do what the list tells them to do, all the time.
Scour the owner’s manuals for your vessel and its engine(s) and extract the operating procedures and make yourself a quick reference checklist to use every time you apply power or start your engines to ensure compliance with those requirements. Making another list for shutting down those systems isn’t a bad idea either. And if you think you don’t need a checklist to start the engine of your vessel, remember that pilots know to lower the landing gear prior to landing, but every time a commercial or military pilot lands a plane, someone is looking at a checklist and saying, “Landing gear down?” to which the pilot must reply, “Check.”
The next time you head offshore, the day should start with a ritualized routine. Get that routine down in writing and do it the same way, every time, all the time. Remember, the adventure is out on the water. Before you cast off the lines, try to keep things boring at the dock. Work your way through your vessel checks and safety briefings, just like the crew that you might call on for help, and you’ll likely never need to call them at all.
April 2025
