Checklists
I am a strong believer in the use of checklists. Their use ensures that I have performed all safety related items prior to casting off and though less important, they also help me to avoid the frustration of forgetting a convenience item. They are particularly important for us because we sail so many different boats. It is hard to develop a regular routine for preparing a boat given that we rarely take out the same boat twice in a row. Not every item on a checlist applies to every boat or every sailing trip, but using a checklist provides us piece of mind that we haven't forgotten anything really important.
Some of our more commonly used checklists are provided below. Click on the hyperlink to view the list.
Packing Checklist - This needs no decription. It helps to insure that we have everything we need and want for a given sailing trip. Not everthing listed goes on every trip but going through the list forces a concious decision as to whether we want it or not.
Food Checklist - Ours consists of mostly easy food for on the boat. We don't do much actual cooking on the boat and when we travel we are never more than a couple of days from a store where we can restock if we forgot something.
Pre-Departure Checklist - This is especially important if you are not already familar with the boat you are on. Most of our checklist is simply related to identifying the location of certain equipment. In some cases it involves checking the operability.
Guest Briefing - This is used to brief guests prior to departure. It's not usually a formal briefing and I tend to mention many of the items at opportune times during initial boarding and stowing of the equipment. The written briefing notes serve more as a checklist for me to verify that I have discussed all items with all guests prior to departure.
Last Updated: 29 Dec 2007