Start With What You Wear

The single most important piece of kit on any British powerboat is the lifejacket, and it should suit the water you are heading into rather than the weather at the pontoon. For sheltered coastal hops and estuary work, a 150N automatically inflating jacket is the usual starting point. Push out into exposed water, run in winter, or fish alone on deck, and a 275N jacket with a spray hood, light and reflective patches is the better call.

Fit matters more than price. A jacket that rides up around your ears when you hit a wake is not doing its job, so make sure the crutch strap is done up every time, even on a flat calm day. Children need properly sized jackets rather than adult ones cinched down. Check the gas cylinder, the oral inflation tube and the firing mechanism at the start of each season. Add a clip-on emergency beacon and a waterproof torch for anyone likely to be on deck alone. Sealed layers help too: a drysuit or good salopettes and jacket will keep you functional far longer than cotton and hope.

Communication That Actually Reaches Someone

A fixed DSC VHF radio is the backbone of coastal communications, and registering it for an MMSI number means one press of the red button sends your identity and position as well as the alarm. Learn to use Channel 16 properly and know the difference between a mayday, a pan-pan and a routine call before you ever need one.

• A handheld waterproof VHF as backup, with spare batteries and a fully charged set
• A registered 406MHz personal locator beacon carried on your person, not stowed in a locker
• A mobile phone in a waterproof pouch, understood as a convenience rather than a primary means of distress alerting
• Written details in the chart table: your boat's identity, next of kin contact, and a simple radio procedure card

Remember that VHF range depends on aerial height, so a masthead set will comfortably out-reach a handheld. Tell someone ashore where you are going and when you expect to be back.

Distress Signals, Lights and Visibility

Flares remain a legal and practical requirement for many coastal passages, and there is no substitute for keeping them in date and dry. A sensible set includes red parachute rockets for long-range alerting, red handhelds for closer work, and orange smoke for daylight marking. Note the expiry date the day you buy them, and never let them roll loose in a damp locker.

Many skippers now supplement, or in some cases replace, pyrotechnics with electronic distress signals, high-powered LED signalling torches and laser devices. Whatever you carry, keep a radar reflector fitted if your boat has a low profile, check navigation lights work before every dusk departure, and carry a loud whistle or compressed-air horn for fog. Add a lifebuoy with a light and line, plus a throw line within easy reach of the helm.

Fire, Fuel and the Engine Bay

Petrol vapour is heavier than air and settles in the bilge, so run the blower before starting, and never refuel afloat with the engine running or with naked flames nearby. Portable tanks should be vented, secured and never filled to the brim.

• At least two extinguishers, sized and rated for fuel and electrical fires, mounted where you can reach them
• An automatic clean-agent extinguisher in the engine bay for inboard installations
• A fire blanket in the galley area
• A kill cord worn on the leg every time the engine is running, and tested rather than assumed

Inspect fuel lines, filters and connections regularly. A cracked hose or a loose clip is a cheap fix ashore and a serious problem a mile off the headland.

First Aid and the Grab Bag

Your first aid kit should be stocked for the injuries you can actually imagine: cuts from props and cleats, burns from exhausts and stoves, seasickness, and the cold that creeps in faster than anyone expects on a November run. Include sterile dressings, bandages, tape, scissors, tweezers, gloves, burns gel, painkillers, seasickness tablets, sun cream and a thermal blanket. Know how to treat hypothermia and how to get a cold, wet crew member warm and dry.

Keep a grab bag ready to go. Fill it with a handheld VHF, spare flares, a torch, a first aid kit, drinking water, high-energy food, a thermal shelter, a knife, and a sea anchor or drogue. Add a properly sized anchor, warp and spare line. If you have to leave the boat in a hurry, that bag is the difference between waiting and surviving.

Check It, Service It, Practise It

The best safety kit in Britain is worthless if it has not been looked at since last summer. Build a simple maintenance routine: engine impeller, fuel filters, spark plugs, battery terminals, anodes and fuel lines checked before the season, then a quick visual once a month. Test the bilge pump, fit a high-water alarm if you do not have one, and keep a bailer aboard as a last resort.

Write expiry dates for flares, extinguishers and first aid supplies on a calendar. Then run drills: a man overboard recovery, a mayday call, a fire in the engine bay. Check the inshore waters forecast before every trip and watch for wind against tide on exposed headlands. Know your own limits, and be willing to turn back. The bravest decision a skipper makes is usually the one that keeps everyone aboard.