Davis Law Group, P.S.

Pre-Departure Checklist for Small Boat Trips

If you are going on a long journey on your boat, particularly on a smaller boat, you need to prepare for the worst.

Follow this pre-departure checklist for guidance:

• To make sure your small boat is going to be safe on the sea and that all essentials are on board, do a 15 minutes quick inspection before departing.

• Check the operating condition of your boat including: steering, motor, hoses, battery, bilge, clamps, pumps, wiring, fuel tanks, lines, float switches, and lights.

• Make sure you have a U.S. Coast Guard-approved life jacket of the appropriate size and type for you and every passenger (and make sure they are actually being worn!)

• If your boat is greater than 16-feet in length, make sure you have a Coast Guard approved flotation device – for example buoyant cushion, ring buoy, or horseshoe buoy (kayaks and canoes are exempted from this requirement).

• Check for other safety equipment appropriate to the size of your boat and the area where it will be operating, such as flashlight, tool kit, first-aid kit and sunscreen, paddles, oars, binoculars, anchor and anchor line, fire extinguisher, spare battery, visual distress signals, charts of the local area, and a VHF-FM marine radio.

• Check the capacity plate or calculate the maximum load to make sure you don’t overload the boat with passengers and gear.

Davis Law Group recommends downloading a Pre-Departure Checklist from the U.S. Coast Guard at:

http://uscgboating.org/safety/fedreqs/saf_prechecklist.htm