Packing a Small Boat

Heading out on a trip? Be sure to see our downloadable PDF checklist...

ON MAKING THE LIST —Josh Colvin

Sailing might be a mysterious blend of art and science, but so too is packing a small boat. There are minimalist sailors who approach boat stowage like a backpacker and insist every piece of gear aboard be lightweight and do double-duty, and others who seem to demand all the comforts of home. But in either case it pays to have a checklist—some way to make sure you don’t head out without any important items.

Years ago a reader told us about his annual trip to Baja, Mexico where, after many hundreds of miles of driving, he arrived at the remote launch site and prepared to rig his boat. Shortly after raising the mast he made the heart-stopping, pit-in-the-stomach discovery he’d failed to pack his rudder and tiller.

In those anxiety-filled first minutes, as he faced the very real proposition of having to get back into his car and drive home, he decided to take a look around the old dilapidated building near the beach with the preposterously wishful hope he might find scrap lumber from which to fashion a replacement rudder and tiller.

I can only imagine the confused exhilaration he must have felt when he pushed through the overgrown weeds near the empty building to find a rudder with tiller leaning against the wall. As he picked it up and dusted it off, marveling at his shockingly good fortune, he discovered it even looked to be about the right size. Rushing over to his boat he lifted the rudder to the transom, and as the pintles slid into the gudgeons perfectly, it occurred to him like a lightning strike that this was his boat’s very own rudder, which he must have left there accidentally almost a year earlier.

While not every piece of forgotten gear is quite so consequential, failing to remember simple things like sunglasses, insect repellent, a drain plug, or matches, can sour your small-boat cruise pretty quickly.

With that in mind we decided we’d asked you (via an e-mail survey) about your own packing lists. What items do you regularly pack? What is your favorite product or piece of kit—maybe something you wouldn’t leave home without that most people don’t think of bringing?

What follows is a small-boat packing list based on our own ideas and your recommendations. Incidentally, 86% of you said you sometimes or always use a packing list before your trips.

While this list is fairly extensive and represents more than you’re actually going to carry aboard the smallest boats, we also recognize it is by no means complete. Our hope is that it makes a good list to check against your own—making sure you’ve not missed something important. Additionally, it might be used as a master list from which to assemble smaller lists for different purposes, i.e. “Daysailing” “Weekend cruise,” or “Winter” “Summer” etc.

Things like “Tool Kit” and “First Aid Kit” will undoubtedly be personalized and could warrant their own separate pages-long checklists, not included here. We also didn’t address a “Trailer and Towing” checklist, a subject that deserves its own category as well.

Finally, if you see things we’ve missed (and we know we have), please consider adding your suggestions in the comments below. —JC

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WHAT TO BRING
Organize by Considering Functions —John Welsford

Faced with a new boat, ready to put in the water and head out, what do I take when we’re casting off for a week, and for the first time? How do I decide? Well, after having built some 35 or so boats, sailed them all (plus others), and several times found myself anchored somewhere unable to repair something, cook a meal or make a change on the boat because I’ve forgotten to load something aboard, I’ve developed a system.

I start by dividing the gear into “functions.”

First, The Boat. That’s all the things that make it float, move along under sail, oars or power, or stay in one place when I want it to.

So, I start with Tools. You’ll need them if anything needs to be fixed.

I survey the boat—that’s a technical assessment rather than standing back with a hand on hip, a proud expression on my face while looking at my craft. I go over it and make a list of every fastening on the boat. Bolts, nuts, screws, shackles, clips, all of them, and I put aside a tool for each and every one of them.

I make up a kit of fastenings that enables me to replace any one, or more of those. They may not be the same as the originals, but will be such that I can, if needed, refit a cleat that has pulled out, replace a shackle that leaped overboard while I was not watching, put a washer behind a bolt that is coming loose or put a loop into a wire stay that has frayed, then lash it.

I carry enough tools to do all of this, a small hand crank drill, low geared enough to take a drill bit big enough to suit the biggest bolt in the kit. I carry a couple of adjustable spanners and a pair of vice grips, a couple of clamps, a hammer, and as mentioned above, a screwdriver for every fastening type whether square drive, Philips or slotted. A tube of general-purpose sealant is in the kit, one that has never been opened so has not gone hard while I was not looking (you’ll be surprised at how useful that stuff can be). Also, of course, duct tape, the stuff that sticks to wet surfaces and has a million uses. Take some.

Then I look at The Rig, adding a couple of bulldog clips to put a loop into a stay, spare shackles, pulley blocks, deck loops and several shackle pins. They don’t have to be the same as the ones on the rig, just able to perform the same functions. In the case of my gaff-rigged sloop that’s about four or five of them. Rope, three sizes, allowing me to replace anything on that boat from small lashings up in size to the jib or mainsheets. The heavier ones can if needed double as dock lines or painters.

The Motor—almost always an outboard in the case of a small boat—deserves attention.

I carry fuel in two separate containers, that means I have “spare,” plus if one is dirty or contaminated I’ve another. I carry spare shear pins for the prop, a spare spark plug, and the motor’s tool kit, plus will have familiarized myself with such things as the fuel tap and filter, the carburetor drain, how the cover comes off, and how to get the propeller off to replace that shear pin.

Then on to the next function. I start looking at the Safety Gear, and Creature Comforts.

Under the Safety heading, at least two means of communication. A cellphone in a waterproof plastic sleeve or case is a start, but check that you can use it without having to take it out of the sleeve. Many of them do work okay. Program all the relevant numbers into the phone’s contact list, including Coast Guard, harbor authorities, the friend who you’ve told you’d report in with, the online weather forecast and any others you think you might need.

A handheld VHF is good, but again, waterproof is essential. I find that if I turn mine on once an hour for ten minutes or so, I’ve got more than a week’s worth of use before running out of charge. If sailing with friends, agree on a time schedule to report in with each other.

Flares are old fashioned but very effective. They’re not dependent on batteries or someone listening for the phone. Smoke flares for daytime, parachute flares for night. Be sure to check the expiration dates.

A personal locator beacon is a very good, but somewhat expensive. Worth considering, though, if going to distant places on your own.

PFDs, safety harnesses and flotation aids. I have a policy of trying all of those in controlled places like local swimming pools, even though you’ll get some odd looks. This is especially good for the young people in your crew, being familiar with the feel of a PFD that floats them on their back will much reduce any panic if they end up in the water.

A part of Safety is anchoring. Choose your anchor, then go up a size, since anchors are like steamrollers and light ones might not do the job. Carry two anchors on board, each with a section of chain, each with a good long rope of more than adequate strength, and each suited to the kinds of sea bottom on which they’ll be deployed.

Then there’s Navigation. GPS is seen as normal these days, often with a chart plotter, maybe on a smart phone or a dedicated unit. But whichever, in a small boat it needs to be protected from water, and you need to be thoroughly familiar with its operation. It will give you position, but not the bigger picture: Paper charts, hopefully on water- resistant paper, are the best for that. For many areas there are “pilot charts” or cruising guides that can be invaluable sources of information on an area you may not be familiar with. GPS won’t give you that information, so do consider those as an aid.

Compass, yes, do take one, but do look up how to check that it points in the right direction; they don’t point north, so learn about that, and how metals within your boat might affect it. Same with hand-bearing compasses.

Clothing. On any voyage there is a chance of weather from cold, wet and windy to blazing heat, that subject on its own is a whole article in this magazine. Suffice it to say I “layer.” My wetties are loose so I can get more clothing on underneath, all the way from near polar to hot with spray flying, and I peel layers off as the temperature dictates.

Bedding. Check this out. Take the bunk cushions inside, get your sleeping bag out and take a nap, if that’s not comfortable, your boat won’t be either. Figure out what the problem is and fix it before you go.

Then we get down to Food and cooking it.

First, the cooker itself. Work out what standard of cuisine you think you’ll be comfortable with. I know a sailor who was content taking a pack of Cliff Bars and water, but I like to cook proper meals, so am at the opposite end of the provisioning scale. But when deciding on the stove itself, take your choice inside the house and use it to prepare meals, use the pans and utensils, the food and the condiments that you will take with you on the boat. Test the recipes. Anchored in a far-away cove, miles from a pizza place, is not a good time to find out that your cooking plan can’t be done.

As with clothing, the subject of provisioning and cooking on board a small boat is deserving of a whole article on its own. Take at least two means of lighting the burner, stored in separate waterproof containers.

We’ve got the “functions” divided up, but the consistent theme is preparation, thinking how each of the “functions” work out—what’s needed to have the boat workable and comfortable, not only in good conditions but when things go awry…and to carry enough tools and spares to cope when they do.

Almost all of the disasters that I hear about can be attributed to a lack of preparation. Think about that: None of us need or want “disasters.”

All of the above subjects are worthy of articles on their own, all of them are important, and every boat, and every owner will be a little different. Take care out there, I’d like to hear that you and yours are enjoying yourself.

—John Welsford Small Craft Design. www.jwboatdesigns.co.nz

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Below is our packing list. If you’d like to download a PDF version, click on the link just below the list.

Scapackinglist

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