Heavy-weather preparation

Preparation · Power & sail

Most heavy-weather trouble is avoided before leaving the dock: a good forecast, a float plan, a boat secured for sea and a briefed crew. If you are caught out, slow down or reef early, get everyone into life jackets and harnesses, and head for shelter while you still can.

Before you leave

• Check the forecast for your whole route and the hours you will be out, including zone forecasts, warnings and, on the coast, bar conditions. Have an escape plan for each leg so the weather can't cut off your route to shelter.
• Leave a float plan with a reliable person ashore: who is aboard, where you are going, your route and when you will be back, plus a recent photo of the boat. The Coast Guard Auxiliary offers a fillable form.
• Brief the crew before you leave: where life jackets, harnesses, extinguishers and the radio are; moving along the high side; one hand for yourself and one for the boat; and when and where to clip on.
• Make sure at least one other person can stop the boat, use the VHF and its DSC distress button, and steer back to someone in the water. The skipper can be the one who goes overboard.

Securing the boat

• Close and secure hatches, ports and doors. Stow or lash everything that could move, on deck and below, including the galley.
• Check the engine and steering before rough water: fluid levels, a walk through the engine room, and a test of the throttle and steering controls.
• Pump the bilges and make sure scuppers and cockpit drains are clear, so water that comes aboard can leave.

Life jackets, jacklines and tethers

• Put life jackets on before conditions turn bad. The Coast Guard reports that in 2024, where life jacket use was known, 87% of boaters who drowned were not wearing one.
• On deck in rough water, clip on with a tether of the right length to a purpose-made strong point or a jackline (jackstay) rigged for the job.
• Being clipped on has its own danger: a person dragged alongside a moving boat can have water forced into their lungs. If someone goes over while attached, stop the boat completely; if you can't, consider cutting the tether and coming back for them.
• Keep less experienced or less agile crew in the cockpit or cabin, and give clear directions to anyone who has to go forward.

Seasickness

• Seasickness saps strength and judgment and can take a crew member out of action. The CDC's drug-free measures: look at the horizon, avoid reading and screens, keep head movements down, and stay away from the places with the most motion, such as the bow.
• Taking the helm helps, as do fresh air on the face and slow, steady breathing at your normal resting rate. Get enough sleep beforehand and avoid alcohol and smoking, which make it worse.
• All seasickness medicines have side effects, most often drowsiness. Talk to a doctor well before the trip and try any medicine ashore first, not for the first time when you're running the boat.
• Lab trials found acupressure bands no better than a placebo, and the evidence for ginger and other remedies is weak and contradictory. Getting used to the motion over time is the most effective protection.

When you're caught out

• Reduce sail early on a sailboat, or slow down on a powerboat, as soon as conditions start to build.
• Head for shelter while you still can. But if the entrance ahead is breaking, staying at sea with plenty of room may be safer than forcing it (see Crossing a bar).
• Rest the crew in turns; lack of sleep worsens seasickness and tired people make mistakes.
• Meet the seas with the tactics in Head seas, Following seas and Beam seas, and keep listening to the forecast.

General guidance for recreational boaters, researched from the sources listed and written in our own words. Your equipment manuals, local knowledge, the Navigation Rules and a qualified instructor come first.