Concise plan
Practise these emergency procedures before attempting longer coastal passages, with the actual crew and gear you’ll carry:
- Man Overboard (MOB): immediate recognition, shout, steer a deliberate recovery (Williamson, Quick Stop or Figure-8), approach and physical recovery using the boat’s actual recovery method (liferaft, sling, boarding ladder, lifting tackle). Rehearse both daytime and night scenarios, with a live person or weighted training dummy.
- Abandon-ship / liferaft drill: don and use lifejackets and harnesses, launch the liferaft, transfer equipment and people, and practise boarding and organisation inside the raft (righting, signalling, rationing routines).
- Fire on board: isolate power/fuel, deploy extinguishers and/or fire blanket, practise shutting vents/hatches and removing sources of oxygen; rehearse abandoning a compartment and crew roles (fire party, evacuation leader).
- Flooding and progressive compartment flooding: identify, use and test bilge pumps (manual and electric), locate and practise using collision mats, wooden plugs and through-hull isolation procedures; practice shoring and temporary patching.
- Engine failure / propulsion loss: practise restarting procedures, sail- or oar- under-power transitions, rigging emergency steering and preparing drogues or sea anchors for control.
- Emergency steering: practise rigging and steering with emergency rudder, jury-rudder or drogue-steering methods and sailing balanced with limited steering.
- Communications and distress procedures: practise making distress calls on VHF (including DSC procedures if fitted), using EPIRB, PLBs and HF/SAT messaging; simulate poor-signal scenarios and radio discipline.
- Medical emergency and trauma management: run casualty handling, CPR, bleeding control, hypothermia management and moving an injured person aboard with the actual gear and crew numbers.
- Night and reduced-visibility scenarios: repeat MOB, fire and communications drills at night, with sound signals and navigation light checks.
- Command-and-control and checklists: practise handing roles (skipper, helm, navigator, medic, communications officer), using a simple emergency checklist and logging actions.
Why these drills matter
Longer coastal passages increase time-to-help and complexity: faults and injuries can escalate if the crew hasn’t rehearsed roles, kit or decision-making under stress. Practising with the actual boat, gear and people reduces reaction time, uncovers weak points in equipment or procedures and builds shared mental models so everyone knows what to do when things go wrong.
Common mistakes advanced crews make
- Assuming shore-based practice or solo drills transfers directly to full-crew reality; teamwork and communications often break down under stress.
- Not practising at night or in realistic sea state simulations; performance drops significantly after dark or in confused seas.
- Treating equipment as reliable without routine function tests (e.g. inflatable liferaft servicing, EPIRB battery checks) — confirm condition but consult official sources for service requirements.
- Skipping post-drill debriefs; missed learning opportunities and degraded procedures persist.
One practical next step
Schedule a full-day onboard emergency-scenario exercise with your intended passage crew: run at least two full evolutions (one daytime MOB and one night abandon/rafter drill), record actions on a checklist, and finish with a debrief that updates equipment lists and the shipboard emergency plan.
If you need checklists or templates, consult recognised seamanship sources or your club’s safety officer for current, location-specific guidance and any regulatory requirements that apply to your planned passage.
Glossary (brief)
- MOB: man overboard — the sequence from alerting the crew to recovering a person from the water.
- EPIRB / PLB: emergency position-indicating radio beacon / personal locator beacon — distress beacons used to alert search-and-rescue services.
- DSC: digital selective calling — a standardised way to send distress alerts via VHF with position data if integrated with GPS.