Offshore preperation check list

[goboatingnow]

Originally Posted by MBLittle

Duck is a brand that makes duct tape. Much like Kleenex and Q-Tip. They are still tissues and cotton swabs respectively, but it is duct tape, for heating and cooling ducts.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duck_cloth

It was originally developed to seal ammunition cases and used a rubber adhesive bonded onto cotton " duck cloth"

Nothing to do with ducts. That came later when on the 50s the rights were acquired by a duct company. But in fact proper " duct tape " is not the same as " duck tape" in fact duck tape isn't good at sealing ducts mind you nor is it good for ducks either.

Round here its known as gaffer tape.

Dave

[carstenb]

Well Evans, there is a enormous gap between your passage experience and mine, but I did notice a couple of points.

1- running lights - should be checked and spares carried
2- harness for going up mast - checked and tried (go up the mast)
3- check foulies, stitching, zippers etc etc
4- same for sea boots, shoes, sunglasses (carry spares) sun lotion (replace if not new)
5- Carry a couple of extra telltales, if the ones on the sails come off.
6- Man in the water. Don diving suit and go over every inch of the bottom, especially all the through-hulls, rudder, propeller.
7- Make a watch plan. Post it
8- Practice man overboard with crew.
9- practice dry-run abandon ship
10- practice fire drill
11- rig tethers and jack lines around boat.
12- check PFD's
13- pieces of marine plywood, already cut and drilled to fit exactly over every window on the boat (in case one gets stoven in). Necessary screws in a ziplock bag attached to the plywood. Cordless drill/screwdriver charged and readily available.

Some of the above may be no-brainers - but as you have pointed out many times, the biggest threat to sailing is complacency. So checking off the list is a good idea.

I did notice that you have not included materials for jury-rigging a rudder. I believe that all boats on passage, should at least have thought about what they would do if the rudder crapped out. Could be as simple as using the spinnaker pole and a piece of plywood - but it is a damn good idea to have practiced it at least once. These things always happen in a storm.

[estarzinger]

^^

All good thoughts, but most out of the scope of what I was intending.

My intent was . . . . You have the boat all outfit and sea trialed and the crew all trained . . . What are the final checks looking around before casting off the dock lines.

There are other lists for "outfitting" (which would include tools and spares and such) and for crew training. And there are some grey areas as to what should be on which list.

Checking the running lights should probably be on this "prep" list, as they die with some random but high frequency.

But yes, the prime motivation for lists like this is to reduce complacency and laziness. I learned the value when I was a private pilot, where the downside of complacency is more often more severe. I should time myself going thru this list in one go - be interesting to know how long it takes. Normally I do it in little bites rather than one go. I am guessing I could do it easily in a day.

And we come back a bit to the discussion about "rules" vs "judgement". From one apect, checklists do fall well more on the side of "rules" (setting a minimum list of things to check), but there is also a "judgement" aspect as you judge the state of each item.

[goboatingnow]

But yes, the prime motivation for lists like this is to reduce complacency and laziness. I

bit different to deliveries so, its usually , hello, cast off, and " an hour later, whaddya mean, the engine/sails/rudder doesnt work, ah **** , here I go again fixing a boat with a swiss army knife".

Dave

[carstenb]

looking at it from this point of view - i would say- gather the crew and ask

"have we forgotten anything?" Are we all ready to go?"

Originally Posted by estarzinger

^^

All good thoughts, but most out of the scope of what I was intending.

My intent was . . . . You have the boat all outfit and sea trialed and the crew all trained . . . What are the final checks looking around before casting off the dock lines.

There are other lists for "outfitting" (which would include tools and spares and such) and for crew training. And there are some grey areas as to what should be on which list.

Checking the running lights should probably be on this "prep" list, as they die with some random but high frequency.

But yes, the prime motivation for lists like this is to reduce complacency and laziness. I learned the value when I was a private pilot, where the downside of complacency is more often more severe. I should time myself going thru this list in one go - be interesting to know how long it takes. Normally I do it in little bites rather than one go. I am guessing I could do it easily in a day.

And we come back a bit to the discussion about "rules" vs "judgement". From one apect, checklists do fall well more on the side of "rules" (setting a minimum list of things to check), but there is also a "judgement" aspect as you judge the state of each item.

[sestina]

SWMBO and I always carry out a close top to bottom inspection of the mast before ocean passages.

Incidentally, why replace the CO2 cylinders on your lifejackets? I inspect and hand inflate my lifejacket/harness annually. Also they get used all the time.