Boat Safety Checks: What to Test and Why

Whether you’re a full-time cruiser or a daysailer, boat safety checks are vital. But do you know what to check? And why it matters? Keep reading for a list of important systems to check regularly and two real-life stories of what can go wrong if you don’t.

When To Conduct Boat Safety Checks

How often should you check your boat systems and safety gear? Far more than you might think. But there are a few benchmarks to shoot for.

When You Buy a New Boat

We discovered that the Lifesling had been incorrectly installed by previous owners on both of our boats. If we had a real crew overboard situation, the problem could have had tragic consequences. Fortunately, we realized the problem when we tested our gear, and I was able to repack it properly. 

Don’t assume equipment you’ve inherited will keep you safe.

Before a Big Trip

Whether you’re a day sailer planning a week-long cruise or a full-time cruiser taking a long passage, add a boat safety inspection to your chore list. And don’t wait until the last minute. Give yourself a few days, so you have time to fix any problems you discover. 

At the Beginning of Boating Season

If you use your boat seasonally, you have a natural deadline for inspecting your boat and safety gear. If your boat is out of the water, it’s the perfect time to check and lubricate your seacocks. You want to be sure they’ll close when you need them to and that they won’t break off in your hand. 

Monthly

If you cruise and live on your boat full time, it’s wise to check things over each month. Don’t assume that all of your safety gear works simply because you’re always on the boat. Make it part of your monthly checklist to go over everything.

So what, exactly, should you be looking for in a boat safety inspection?

Basic Items to Check

Your inspection list can be as complicated as you want it to be. But these are the basics I’d always include in a pre-trip checklist: 

Bilge Pumps

Are they actually working? Don’t just check that you “hear them” running. Look overboard to make sure they are pumping water out of the boat. Dump a bucket of water in the bilge to make sure. And don’t forget the manual bilge pump, too. 

Crew Overboard Gear

Make sure all gear works and can be used as intended. Zippers should move freely (read my tips for freeing a stuck zipper and keeping zippers moving freely). Nothing should be stuck open or shut. Lines must be in good shape, and make sure they’re tied on to the boat properly.

Electronics

Make sure all your communication gear works: VHF, sat phone, SSB/ham, inReach, Spot, IridiumGO! and/or whatever else you have. Also check your radar, AIS, and your primary electronic charting. 

You have a backup navigation system too, right? Make sure you check it also. That includes keeping your phone or tablet charged if it’s your backup.

Engine

Hopefully you’re already checking your oil and transmission fluid on a regular schedule, whether it’s based on engine miles or calendar date. But it’s always a good idea to check it again a few days before setting off on a passage or multi-day cruise. You want to discover problems while you’re still at anchor, or tied to the dock, right?

Lights

After dark, test all your navigation and anchoring lights. The last thing you need is a collision because you’re not visible in all conditions.

If you don’t already have one, invest in a portable, waterproof light to hang from your shrouds or somewhere else close to your deck. In an area with a lot of fishing, it’s more likely to be spotted than an anchor light at the top of a tall mast.

Ground Tackle

Check your windlass, ground tackle, and snubbers. Make sure you have appropriate chafe guard as well.

Personal Safety Gear

Are your jacklines, tethers, and PFDs in good condition? Make sure the quick release on the tether works and test the lights on your PFDs.

Test your PFDs at least once a year by blowing them up manually. That way you don’t have to re-arm the cartridge if it’s still good. If the cartridge is getting old and near replacement time, test it by putting on the PFD and jumping in the water. See what it feels like to have one inflate while on you. It wasn’t quite what I expected!

While you’re at it, make sure PFDs, COB poles, life slings, etc. actually float (keep reading for a story of my personal discovery that you can’t count on floatables to actually floating).

Finally, test the batteries on your EPIRB and make sure your personal locator beacons work as well.

Fire Safety

Are all your fire extinguishers fully charged? Turn yours upside down and tap to make sure the chemicals move inside.

Make sure your fire blanket is in place and that you know how to use it.

Hull Damage or Other Water Intrusion

If your boat was “holed,” would you know where to find gear to stop water from coming in? And do you know how to use it? You only have seconds before water can overwhelm your bilge pumps. 

If a seacock allows water in, make sure you have properly sized plugs attached so you can stuff them in immediately. While you’re at it, this is a great time to check that all your seacocks close and to lubricate them. 

Check out my list of helpful gear to have on hand in case of water intrusion.

First Aid

Do you know where your first aid gear is? If you have more than one container, make sure you know what’s in each one. Be sure you can find it quickly if you need it. 

Loss of the Boat

If the worst happens and you need to leave the boat or risk losing your life, you’ll want to know that your ditch bag is well stocked and easily accessible.

Is your life raft easy to get to and deploy? There’s one way to know, and that’s by checking.

How to Ensure You Do Your Boat Safety Checks

It can be easy to put off these vital safety inspections. They’re far more dull than installing a spiffy new sail or charting your course to a new anchorage. Accountability can help.

Set up a buddy system with a fellow cruiser. Encourage each other to do them at the same time. If you have anxious family back on land, they’d probably be happy to send you reminder emails to check your safety gear.

You can also get help from the US Coast Guard Auxiliary and US and Canadian Power Squadrons who conduct free safety checks for boaters and offer helpful information. Learn more about these helpful resources:

• US Coast Guard Auxiliary Vessel Safety Checks
• American Power Squadron Safety Checks (note this includes sail and power boats, and you can request a safety check online)
• Canadian Power Squadron Safety Checks

Hopefully these tips will convince you to routinely check your boat systems and safety gear. But if you’re not convinced, I’ll share some real-world stories.

What A Reader’s Safety Check Revealed

I got an email from a reader, Peter Stewart, that made me really stop and take notice. And, with his permission, I wanted to pass it on.

Good point, Peter. It is so easy to fall into the trap of assuming that everything works. Or to check one part of a system and not another.

When I followed up with him to ask permission to reprint his note, he replied that I was welcome to use it and said:

I had a similar realization when I inspected our safety gear.

What I Found When I Checked My Aging Safety Gear

Before we put Barefoot Gal into storage, I decided to inspect our marine safety equipment item by item. The results were unsettling, to say the least. Several pieces of safety gear would not have worked in an emergency. Thankfully, we hadn’t needed them. But realizing that they might have failed when we did was more than a little scary.

When we bought our then 16-year-old boat, it came equipped with a Jim Buoy horseshoe buoy (a throwable flotation device) mounted on the lifeline, along with a throw bag and line. The idea was simple: if someone fell overboard, you could throw the buoy, then use the line to retrieve it, or help pull a person back to the boat. A throwing line isn’t required safety equipment, but the Coast Guard strongly recommends it. And given my throwing accuracy, it seemed like a very good idea.

As I removed the horseshoe buoy from its mount, the problem became obvious immediately: the line was literally disintegrating in my hands.

The line was polypropylene, which is commonly used for throwing lines because it floats. But polypropylene degrades badly with long-term exposure to sunlight. Often, only the ends are affected—but when I started pulling the line out of the bag, I discovered that the entire length was falling apart. The bag itself didn’t fare any better; it came apart as soon as I handled it.

Clearly, the throw bag and line needed to be replaced. (And even after replacing them, we later had to do so again—UV exposure is just brutal on safety gear that lives on deck.)

At Least it Wasn’t a Fatal Failure

That discovery prompted me to take a closer look at the throwable flotation device itself. The outer cover showed obvious sun damage, but the real shock came when I took the horseshoe buoy down to the dock and put it in the water. Slowly—very slowly—it sank.

Yes. Sank.

A throwable flotation device that doesn’t float is worse than useless. The horseshoe buoy went straight into the trash, clearly marked “DOES NOT FLOAT” in permanent marker. I didn’t want anyone rescuing it from the dumpster and assuming it was safe to use.

I don’t mean to suggest that the throw bag, line, or horseshoe buoy were poor products. They weren’t. They were simply old and had spent years exposed to sun, weather, and salt. Like all marine safety equipment, they had a service life—and that life was long over.

I continued inspecting the rest of our boat safety gear and discovered that our Lifesling was also not ready for use.

Like many new boat owners, we’d been so excited to get out cruising that we focused on making sure the required safety equipment was on board—but not that it was actually functional. That was a mistake.

Regular Inspections and Gear Replacement Might Save a Life

Boat safety gear isn’t something you check once and forget. Man overboard gear, throwable flotation devices, lines, and recovery systems all need regular inspection. Just like engines, rigging, and lifelines, marine safety equipment degrades over time—especially when it lives on deck in the sun.

If your safety gear won’t work when you need it, it doesn’t belong on the boat. Periodic inspection and timely replacement should be part of every boat maintenance routine—and part of your ongoing cruising budget.

Because someday, your life—or someone else’s—may depend on it.

Learn More

Inspecting safety gear is just one of many routine tasks that come with living on a boat. If you want a clear, practical overview of what boat life really involves day-to-day—and step-by-step guidance for the things most people don’t even realize they need to know—our on-demand online course, The Basics of Living on a Boat, walks you through it all.

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