For National Safe Boating Week (May 17-23) we’re revisiting some of the best safety stories, recommendations, and gear from our sister publications. Today, from Soundings, contributor Mario Vittone says the pros use safety checklists to prevent boating mishaps, and you should too.

“Kick the tires and light the fires!” That was something we would sometimes say in my Coast Guard days when heading out to the helicopter for a rescue mission. It was mild bravado, a way to make us feel…cooler. In contrast to any daring acts we might or might not perform on a mission, starting an aircraft or launching a rescue boat was a ritual of nerd-like checks and tests of systems and equipment that came after previous checks and briefs about the proposed mission and a review of the aircraft’s maintenance history. Thinking and talking about starting the engines took much longer than actually firing them up. We never rushed. We never looked like we were in a hurry. Show me footage of a crew running to a helicopter to speed to a rescue, and I’ll show you a staged video.

Ironically, most boaters in distress wouldn’t be in trouble if they got underway like the Coast Guard does when it launches a rescue. Maybe you have an inspections and system checks routine for your vessel and never just “load and go.” However, if you aren’t following a step-by-step written checklist to inspect your vessel’s systems prior to getting underway, and if you aren’t briefing your crew about all the details of your vessel and your voyage, then you are inviting the kind of human error that can lead to boating mishaps.

Creating a routine and a nerd-like checklist system is how high reliability organizations reduce error to ensure they are always operating as safely as possible. Relying on your memory may work for your dinghy or a small boat with a single outboard on a short trip from the mooring ball to the marina. However, building yourself a four-part system of checks and briefs that you do the same way every time you get underway will make you a significantly safer mariner.

To read the full story from Soundings, click here. 

For more information and resources relating to National Safe Boating week, click here.