Most of the trouble we read about in coastal passages is not dramatic. It is a fuel filter that had not been changed, a tide table read for the wrong harbour, a lifejacket still in its bag under a bunk, or nobody ashore who knew when to start worrying. None of that takes long to fix. Fifteen minutes at the berth, done properly and in the same order every time, removes a surprising number of bad afternoons.
What follows is the pass I run before slipping lines on anything from a half-day hop along the coast to a full day's run to the next river. It is written for a small cruising boat with one engine and a crew of two to five, which is what most of us sail. Adapt it to your boat, but keep the order: weather first, because everything else depends on it.
Weather: Read Two Sources, Then Look Up
One forecast is not a forecast, it is an opinion. Get the inshore waters forecast for your area and, alongside it, a wider synoptic view so you can see where the fronts and the pressure systems actually sit. If the two disagree, believe the more cautious one and plan for it.
Then write down the pressure and its trend. A hand-bearing barometer or a decent barograph app is enough; the number matters less than the direction it has been moving since yesterday. Falling steadily before a front, rising sharply behind one, or hanging flat and high for days — each tells you something the spoken forecast cannot. Step outside and check the sky, the visibility and the actual wind at the masthead against what you were told. On the coast, a sea breeze can fill in by late morning and turn a gentle forecast into twenty knots on the nose by two o'clock. If your passage has a headland or a tidal gate, work out when you will be there, not when you leave.
Charts, Tides and the Shape of the Day
Plot the passage before you leave, even if it is a route you know. Draw the line, mark the waypoints, note the distance and the estimated time on each leg, and write down the tidal stream you expect on each one. A coastal passage is mostly a timing problem: two knots of foul tide on a six-mile leg costs you an hour you may not have.
Check the chart edition and any corrections you have to hand, and look at the harbour notice board or the marina office for local works, dredging or buoyage changes. Paper or electronic is your choice, but carry a backup that does not depend on the same battery — a folded paper chart of the area, or a second device with an independent power supply.
Tides deserve their own few minutes. Note the height and time of high and low water for the right standard port, the tidal range for the day, and any sill, bar or drying patch you will cross. If you draw 1.6 metres and the harbour dries to chart datum, you need the height of tide at your arrival time, not at noon. Mark two or three bail-out anchorages along the route, places you could sit out a rising wind or a failed engine, and note the approach and shelter for each.
Fuel, Engine and the Things That Sink You
Top off the fuel and know your range, not from the gauge but from arithmetic: tank capacity, an honest cruising burn rate at your planned speed, and a reserve of a third. Coastal work often means punching tide or motor-sailing, which drinks more than the brochure figures. Carry spare fuel in a proper container, and remember that a Jerry can is useless if the funnel is at home.
Then open the engine bay and look. Oil and coolant levels, belt tension and condition, a spare belt that actually fits, fuel filter and water separator drained, raw-water strainer clean, impeller inspected. Run the engine for a few minutes with the raw-water intake open and confirm water is coming out of the exhaust. Check the bilges are dry and smell of nothing in particular, then look at every seacock and hose clip you can reach, and make sure the galley and heads seacocks are closed unless in use. Fit the cockpit drains' plugs. Top up the fresh water, stow the gear that would become a missile in a seaway, and put fenders and mooring lines where you can reach them without unpacking a locker.
Safety Gear: Reachable Beats Stowed
Safety kit that lives in a sealed bag under the quarter berth is not safety kit, it is inventory. Everything you might need in a hurry should be to hand, in the dark, at heel, with wet hands.
- Lifejackets and harnesses for every person aboard, sized correctly, checked for cylinder and webbing, and kept where they can be put on in seconds. Children's jackets get checked twice.
- Jackstays and clip-on points rigged before you need them; harness lines with the right length so you can work at the mast without being able to go over the side.
- VHF switched on and tested, DSC position updated, and a charged handheld in the grab bag or on your belt. Do a radio check if the local coastguard offers one.
- Flares and any electronic distress device checked for date and function, with the operating instructions read before departure, not during.
- Fire extinguishers in date and in place, a torch or headlamp on every person, a stocked first aid kit, a throw line and a danbuoy or float, and seasickness tablets taken early enough to work.
Also decide, out loud, what happens if someone goes over the water: who takes the helm, who keeps eyes on the casualty, which button gets pressed. Two sentences, once per trip, is enough.
Crew Briefing and the Float Plan
Before you cast off, walk the crew round the boat: the head, the fire extinguishers, the radio, the liferaft or dinghy, the grab bag, and how to stop the engine. Ask about experience and about seasickness honestly, and put the least experienced person where they can see the horizon. Brief the man-overboard drill and the fire drill in plain language, and tell everyone where the lifejackets are and when you expect them worn — dusk, reefing, or any time on deck alone.
Then the float plan. Leave it with someone reliable ashore, not on the boat's own noticeboard: boat name, description and registration, crew and how many aboard, intended route and waypoints, expected arrival time, and a call-in time. Give that person the harbour master's or marina's number and a clear instruction about who to call if you have not checked in. A text message to a friend counts, as long as the friend knows what to do with it.
The Fifteen-Item Pass
Run this in order at the berth. Tick each one, out loud if you have crew aboard.
- Inshore forecast plus a wider synoptic chart, both read for your passage window.
- Barometer written down with its trend, and the sky checked against the forecast.
- Wind against tide worked out for each headland and tidal gate.
- Tide heights, times and streams noted for departure, arrival and every sill or bar.
- Passage plotted: waypoints, distances, timings, and two or three bail-out anchorages.
- Charts current and corrected, with a backup that does not share the boat's power.
- Fuel topped off, range calculated at a conservative burn, reserve kept back.
- Engine checked and run: oil, coolant, belt, filters, strainer, water from the exhaust.
- Bilges dry, seacocks and hoses sound, drain plugs in, gear stowed.
- Lifejackets and harnesses checked, sized, and within reach.
- Flares and distress devices in date; VHF and handheld tested.
- Fire extinguishers, torch, first aid, throw line and man-overboard kit in place.
- Crew briefed on man overboard, fire, radio, lifejackets and seasickness.
- Float plan left ashore with a named person, a call-in time and a phone number.
- Water, food, warm layers, sun protection, fenders and lines ready for the first berthing.
Fifteen items, most of them a glance rather than a job. Do them in the same order every time and they become a habit, which is exactly the point: the checklist is not there for the day you remember everything, it is there for the day you are distracted, late, and one conversation away from forgetting the water separator. Walk it once, then go sailing.
Photo: Baptiste Valthier / Pexels
