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Why a Little Preparation Goes a Long Way

There is nothing quite like casting off from a UK harbour on a bright July morning, the tide still high, the town behind you shrinking to a row of pastel rooftops. Whether you keep a small cabin cruiser on a swinging mooring in Cornwall, a dayboat on the Norfolk Broads, or a compact fishing boat in a Scottish loch, the pleasure of a summer harbour trip is directly proportional to how well you have prepared. Most breakdowns, and most call-outs to volunteer lifeboat crews, come down to a handful of predictable problems: stale fuel, a flat battery, missing safety kit, and a skipper who never looked at the forecast. None of them take long to sort out.

Spend an hour at the mooring before your trip and you will spend the day enjoying yourself rather than improvising. Here is how to go about it.

Fuel, Filters and the Engine Bay

Petrol and diesel both degrade, and the ethanol-blended petrol sold at many UK forecourts is particularly prone to absorbing water over winter. If your outboard or inboard has been sitting since last autumn, drain the old fuel and start with fresh. Check the fuel line and primer bulb for cracks or perishing; a small air leak here is a classic cause of an engine that runs well at idle and dies the moment you open the throttle.

Inspect the engine bay with a torch, not a glance:

• Engine oil at the correct level, and the colour of honey rather than tar.
• Cooling water intake clear of weed, barnacles or plastic bags.
• Impeller replaced if it has done more than two or three seasons.
• Fuel filter and water separator drained, especially on diesel.
• Anode condition checked if you moor in salt water.
• All hose clips tight, and no weeping joints under the engine.

Run the engine on the mooring for ten minutes before you intend to leave. Listen for changes in note, watch for a steady tell-tale stream of cooling water, and check underneath for drips. Far better to find a fault alongside than half a mile offshore.

Batteries and Electrical Systems

A flat battery is the most common reason a well-maintained small boat fails to start. If you have a lead-acid battery, charge it properly on shore power before the season, then check the voltage with a multimeter. A rested, healthy twelve-volt battery should read around 12.6 to 12.8 volts; anything under 12.2 volts is telling you it is tired or undercharged. Clean the terminals, smear them with petroleum jelly, and make sure the connections are tight enough that they will not vibrate loose in a chop.

Test everything electrical while you are at it. Navigation lights, cabin lights, bilge pump, horn, and any chartplotter or depth sounder. Carry a spare fuse set matched to your board, and a simple jump pack if your battery is small. If you rely on a solar trickle charger over winter, check the regulator is actually working rather than simply assuming it is.

Safety Gear You Will Actually Use

Safety equipment is only useful if it is aboard, in date, and within reach. Lifejackets left in a damp locker all winter should be inspected, the gas cylinders checked, and the firing mechanism verified. Children and non-swimmers should wear one at all times on deck, and adults should wear one in any kind of sea.

• A properly fitting lifejacket or buoyancy aid for every person aboard.
• In-date flares or an electronic distress device, plus a means of calling for help.
• A VHF radio, handheld or fixed, with the battery charged and channels familiar.
• Two anchors with adequate chain and warp for your boat and local seabed.
• A first aid kit, seasickness tablets, sun cream and plenty of water.
• A torch, spare batteries and a waterproof bag for phone and documents.
• A bucket or manual bailer, and a fire extinguisher suitable for fuel or electrical fires.

Check the tide tables and note the local harbour's entrance restrictions, sill times and speed limits. A small boat that draws a metre and a half needs to know when it can cross a bar, and what the swell is doing on the day.

Reading the Forecast Properly

Look at the inshore waters forecast, the shipping forecast, and a live wind and wave model, and read them together. Wind against tide is what turns a pleasant harbour into an unpleasant one, particularly near river mouths and headlands. A force four can be perfectly manageable with the tide and genuinely nasty against it.

Check the forecast the evening before, again in the morning, and once more just before you slip. If the wind is forecast to build above your comfort level, or thunderstorms are possible, change the plan. A trip postponed is a trip you get to enjoy next week. Note the sea state and the visibility, and remember that summer sea fog can roll in on the east coast with very little warning.

Filing a Simple Passage Plan

You do not need a formal document to be a responsible skipper, but someone ashore should know roughly where you are and when you expect to be back. Tell a friend or family member your departure time, your intended route or destination, the number of people aboard, and your expected return. Give them a time by which they should raise the alarm if they have not heard from you.

Leave a note in a dry bag aboard with the boat's name, your mobile number, and a contact ashore. Carry a paper chart or a printed harbour plan as a backup to any electronic plotter, and know your route in and out of the harbour with the marks and leading lines. If you are heading somewhere unfamiliar, study the approach at low water on a chart so you understand where the shallow patches lie.

Do all of that and the trip itself becomes simple: lines cast off, engine ticking over, a flask of tea in the locker, and a whole summer's afternoon of harbour, creek and coastline ahead of you.