Trips do not fail randomly - they fail in the same five categories every season: the boat (dead battery, clogged intake), the safety gear (expired flares discovered by the boarding officer), the weather (afternoon build nobody scanned), the fuel (math done on hope), and the paperwork (nobody ashore knew the plan). A checklist works when it mirrors those failure modes and splits cleanly into two halves: the part that is the same every trip, and the part that is specific to today - which a modern planner can generate for you.
- Organize by failure mode: boat, safety gear, weather, fuel, people/paperwork - five sections, five minutes each.
- The every-trip half (bilge, battery, lines, kill switch) belongs on a laminated card or a phone note - fixed and fast.
- The trip-specific half (weather window, fuel math, ETAs, bridges, float plan) should be generated, not remembered.
- Expiry items - flares, extinguishers, EPIRB battery, registration - fail silently; they belong in a reminder system, not a checklist.
- The last item is always the same: someone ashore knows the plan and the when-to-worry time.
#Section 1: the boat (same every trip)
- Bilge: dry or explained; pump runs on float and manual.
- Battery voltage up; engine starts and idles; kill switch lanyard works.
- Fuel system: no smell, no sheen, primer bulb firm; raw water flowing (telltale or exhaust).
- Steering full range; lines and fenders aboard; anchor free to run.
- VHF check; nav lights if there is any chance of dusk.
#Section 2: safety gear (check presence today, expiry elsewhere)
On departure day you check presence and reach: lifejackets for every soul (kids' sizes actually fit), throwable at hand, extinguisher mounted, flares aboard, first aid kit, sound signal, flashlight. What you should NOT be doing at the dock is reading expiry dates - flares (42 months from manufacture), extinguishers, EPIRB batteries, and registration all fail on calendars, not on trips. Those belong in a maintenance log with automatic reminders that emails you at 30 days, 7 days, and day zero - the checklist then just asks "aboard and reachable?", which takes ninety seconds.
#Sections 3-4: weather and fuel (generate, don't remember)
This is the half that changes every trip, and the half people skip because it takes effort. It should take none: the Voyage Timeline in the Marine OS planner turns your saved route into the trip-specific checklist automatically - conditions at the time you pass each point (not at departure), the go/no-go wind read as a comfort label per leg, bridges with ETAs, and maintained channel depths against your draft. Fuel is arithmetic: route hours times burn rate, plus a third in reserve; if the answer is bigger than the tank, the fuel price map picks the stop before the gauge does.
#Section 5: people and paperwork
- Everyone aboard briefed: lifejacket locations, kill switch, how to use the VHF, one line on the plan.
- Float plan filed ashore: route, crew, schedule, when-to-worry time (the passage plan guide has the template).
- Live trip link shared with the shore contact; monitoring armed if the run is long.
- Registration/documentation aboard; licenses where required.
Keep the every-trip list dumb and physical - laminated card at the helm, ten items, two minutes. Let the planner generate the trip-specific list - weather, ETAs, fuel, bridges - fresh each time. Checklists die when the fixed and the variable are mixed; split them and both halves survive the season.
Your route, turned into today's checklist
ETAs, conditions per leg, bridges, channel depths, and the weather window - the Voyage Timeline builds the trip-specific half of this checklist in one click.
#Frequently asked questions
Frequently asked questions
Five sections, two lists, one habit. Pair this with the passage plan guide for anything longer than a day trip, and the hurricane checklist for the season's big threat.
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