Do you use checklists?

[odaydokay]

Over the years my wife and I have learned a couple of things: A) We are getting older and more forgetful and B) If we make mistakes out on the water we can hurt ourselves and/or our equipment. Accordingly, quite a few years back we developed departure and arrival checklists which we have refined over the years. This has really cut down on our error rate and has made us more confident sailors/boat operators. I am curious if a lot of others do this.

 

[jssailem]

Check lists are a great reminder to affirm all of the required and nice to do tasks are complete. Certainly as we age they are helpful.

They also support the new to you boat operator. Perhaps the former owner or broker was kind enough to share the starting procedure. Perhaps your mind is like a steel trap and you remember all of the details of things. But who, after they have bought their boat or their first boat, is not thinking about a thousand dreamy ideas while this person is going on and on about switches and valves. Let's just get out on the water with my new boat. We can read about all that stuff.

Then the moment of reckoning occurs. You walk down the dock smiling. You board the boat. Suddenly your mind goes blank. What were they saying... How do I turn on the battery? Is it 1/2/both? Where are all the labels I thought I saw? Was it 10 seconds or 10 minutes for the glo plugs?

It is then that a check list would be a nice thing to have.

 

[SEMPERAVANTI41]

I agree wholeheartedly. I make up a checklist all the time. Nothing worse then leaving the dock and realizing what you left ashore.

 

[Tedd]

I wouldn't sail without them. The peace of mind alone is well worth the effort, even if they didn't prevent mistakes--which they do.

We're trailer sailors and so we have a checklist for every step of the trip.

• Pre-trip
  • Equipment Condition (boat, trailer, and tow vehicle)
  • Rigging Bag Contents
  • Standard Equipment (stow list)
  • Planning (wx, crew briefing, etc.)
• Departure
  • Boat Preparation (& stow list)
  • Tow Vehicle Stow List
  • Towing Departure (safety chains, etc.)
• Launch (rigging checks, last-minute items such as sunglasses)
• Recovery
  • Pre-recovery
  • Boat to Trailer
  • Towing Departure (safety chains, etc.)
• Post Trip (inspections, etc.)

 

[jssailem]

You got a lot on your table Ted.

I have used check lists. Still been known to load the car for a trip to the boat for repair/ maintenance and have my wife call to ask if the bag of clothes I left sitting in the driveway were needed?

 

[Don S/V ILLusion]

Such as it is:
1. Disconnect shore power and water
2. open seacock
3. untie dock lines.

those are the only things I’ve ever forgotten to do

 

[odaydokay]

I guess my lists veers into the heavy detailed. We have a list at home we use so we don't forget stuff like lemon for the GT's (after anchoring only!). My bigger concern is that we forget something important on board so here is my depart list:

CAR Closed/Locked

HEAD BOWL Dry

HEAD SEACOCK Open

SHORE POWER 2 Switches OFF/Disconnect

BATTERY CHARGER OFF/Disconnect/Stow

BILGE Manual Pump Dry

GPS To Cockpit

WINCH HANDLE To Cockpit

INSTRUMENT COVERS Remove/Stow

GEAR BELOW Stow/Secure

NAVCOM Switch ON

INSTRUMENTS Both Reading

BILGE PUMP Switch ON

BATTERY LEVEL Check 1+2 – 12V+?

BATTERY SWITCH (Master) Set to “1”

DODGER WINDSHIELD Open

ENGINE OIL LEVEL Full

FUEL 1/2 Tank+

FUEL COCK Open

WHEEL Unlocked

DINGHY Secure Aft/Short

OUTBOARD Secured to Rail

ENGINE START Water Discharge
Red Light OFF
Arrival list is mostly the "flip side" of the above

 

[jviss]

Here's an idea for MFD vendors:
Implement a checklist feature just as aviation MFDs have and also link it to a smartphone app so we can have a checklist that takes us from home to boat to cruise to return to dock to home.

 

[thinwater]

Such as it is:
1. Disconnect shore power and water
2. open seacock
3. untie dock lines.

those are the only things I’ve ever forgotten to do

Is that before sailing... or after a bad day of boat maintnance?

 

[JRacer]

I have a "Remove Before Flight" pennant clipped to my wheel. Reminds me not to back out of the slip with the shore power cord attached.

 

[Terry Cox]

I am curious if a lot of others do this

No paper list. Mental, yes. Now where did I leave that paper list?

 

[Siamese]

Sure do. I have checklists for various things. Prep for a boat trip. Prep for a trip to our condo down south. When we were RV'ing for a few years, a checklist for breaking down camp and hitting the road.

I'm A.D.D., and if I don't have a list to go by, my mind turns to mush in the heat of getting ready, and I'm capable of forgetting just about anything. The list saves me.

I prepare the list I'll need at my leisure, creating it on my laptop. When we complete our trip, etc., I make corrections to the list. On the morning of getting ready to go, I print the list and cross out the items that have been completed.

 

[odaydokay]

Even with a check list we make mistakes. Tonight I found we did not plug in the battery tender correctly. Check list item, yes, but poorly executed. We use a check list when we go on vacations also. Bad to get to Spain and find you forgot to set up the cat sitter, etc. I was shocked to learn that hospital OR's have started to use check lists in the last few years. Cuts down on errors (duh, right?) Where the heck were they for the past 2 generations or so?

 

[Tally Ho]

Based on the need to go back to the boat to close something too many times, I have a brief checklist on a post-it note:

- close all windows/hatches
- close all thru-hulls
- take phones / computers
- take car keys

on a recent day sail with 80+ year old father-in-law, I added one…

- flush head

Apparently he didn’t flush, and we left for a week…nasty when I got back on the boat… …no not that bad!

Greg

 

[WayneH]

The wife and I have a laminated checklist on the boat. We used a hole punch in one corner. The checklist lays on the nav station when we are away. We get to the boat and unlock the hatch and lock the lock to the checklist through the hole in the corner. We verify the going out section before leaving the dock. When we get back, we verify the shutdown checklist, remove the lock and lock the hatch as we leave.

 

[odaydokay]

Yep, laminating is a must. Our is two sided, one for depart and one for arrive. We found a piece pf paper could not take the abuse, dampness etc.

 

[dmdiehl64]

For $28 USD, Sailing Britican sells a 123 page document with all sorts of checklists for every imaginable task. (see > Keeping children occupied on a boat checklist). For the price, and not having anything other than mental notes prior, a worthy investment.

 

[danstanford]

The question makes me smile because I have two pilots and a paramedic on my race team and they are made a bit crazy by the absence of checklists. If we forget something there is either eye rolling or a good natured “if we had a checklist….”

 

[jviss]

When I took flying lessons years ago, checklists were King! - and mandatory. Even on fixed-gear aircraft we'd hit the checklist item "gear down and locked welded."

 

[Justin_NSA]

I agree wholeheartedly. I make up a checklist all the time. Nothing worse then leaving the dock and realizing what you left ashore.

Or 'who' you left ashore. I saw that in the BVIs once. A woman on the dock was screaming out to a boat that was motoring away. Maybe he thought she was below. Maybe it was intentional