Start With the Hull and Running Gear

Before you worry about anything electronic, get down on your hands and knees and look at the boat properly. Offshore work punishes anything that is marginal inshore. A hairline crack in a gelcoat that only ever sees a sheltered harbour will find a way to open up when you are eight miles off St Alban's Head with a beam sea running.

Work through the boat from bow to stern:

• Hull and deck: check for osmosis blisters, star crazing around cleats and stanchion bases, and soft spots in the deck core. Tap the transom with a plastic screwdriver handle — a dull thud means water has got in.
• Through-hull fittings: operate every seacock by hand. If it is stiff, strip and grease it now. Replace any hose that is hard or cracked, and make sure every hose tail has two stainless clips, not one.
• Running gear: inspect the propeller for dings and fishing line, check the shaft seal or stern gland for drips, and look at the anodes. In UK waters you will typically replace them once a season, more if you moor in a marina with shore-power leakage.
• Steering and trim: turn the wheel or helm lock to lock and listen for grinding. Check hydraulic fluid levels and look for weeping at the ram. Trim tabs and outboard tilt rams should move smoothly and hold position.

Engine, Fuel and Range

Most offshore call-outs on this side of the Channel come down to fuel or cooling. A petrol outboard that has run faultlessly on the river can behave very differently when you are pushing into a four-foot chop at 4,500 rpm for two hours.

Service the engine before the season, not after the first failure. That means new plugs, a fresh impeller, clean fuel filters, fresh oil and a new water-separating filter on any diesel installation. Check the alternator belt tension and carry a spare. If you run twin engines, make sure both start reliably from cold — offshore you may need the second one in a hurry.

Fuel planning is where discipline pays. Use the thirds rule: a third to get there, a third to get back, a third in reserve. That reserve is not for efficiency, it is for the weather turning, a missed harbour entrance or a slow slog home. Know your true burn rate at cruising speed rather than the optimistic figure in the brochure. Carry spare fuel in proper cans, secured, and never fill tanks to the brim on a hot day — petrol expands.

Safety Equipment That Actually Works

Safety kit is useless if you have never touched it. A liferaft still in its valise, four years out of service, is a heavy cushion. Get it serviced, and get it out on deck occasionally so the crew know how it launches.

• Lifejackets: one per person, with crotch straps, spray hoods and a light. Check the gas cylinders are tight and in date. Inflate them manually at the start of the season to test for leaks.
• Flares or electronic alternatives: whichever you carry, check expiry dates. Many UK boats now use an electronic distress flare alongside a couple of handhelds.
• VHF radio: a fixed DSC set with your MMSI programmed correctly, plus a handheld as backup with fresh batteries. Know how to make a Mayday and a Pan Pan without reading the card.
• PLB or EPIRB: registered to the boat or the person, battery in date, and clipped to something that will not go over the side.
• Fire, bilge and bailing: extinguishers in date, a manual bilge pump that actually shifts water, and a bucket on a lanyard.

Brief the crew on the kill cord, the location of the fire extinguishers and how to call for help. Run a man-overboard drill at the start of every season — it is far better done in flat water on a sunny afternoon than in a real emergency.

Weather and Passage Planning

UK coastal weather changes fast, and the difference between a comfortable run and a miserable one is usually wind direction against tide, not wind speed. Check the inshore waters forecast, the shipping forecast for your area, and a swell model. Look at the tide tables and tidal stream atlas together with the wind.

Know your local hazards. Portland Race, the Needles, St Alban's Head, the Pentland Firth and dozens of smaller headlands all turn unpleasant when wind opposes tide. Springs versus neaps matters — spring tides can mean two knots more stream and much steeper seas over the same ground.

Write a passage plan: departure time, route, waypoints, alternative harbours, and a hard cut-off point where you turn back. Leave a copy ashore with someone responsible and agree when you will call in. Carry paper charts and a plotter as well as the chartplotter, and know how to navigate without the electronics if the power fails.

Before You Cast Off

On the day, do a final walk-round. Check the forecast once more, top up the fuel, stow everything loose, and confirm the bilges are dry. Test the radio, check your lifejacket, and make sure everyone knows where the safety kit lives and how to use it.

Offshore powerboating rewards preparation and punishes optimism. Spend a weekend getting the boat genuinely ready and you will enjoy the miles far more — and be much better placed to handle whatever the Channel decides to throw at you.