The amount of information you have to remember during a bareboat charter is expansive; on your first bareboat charter remembering everything is downright overwhelming.  I’ve created several checklists to assist bareboat skippers in keeping track of everything.  Scroll down to check out the checklists…

Checkout Checklist

Bareboat charters begin with two briefings: the chart briefing and the boat briefing.  This checklist covers most everything that will be covered during the boat briefing.  And then some.

• Inspect: Have a look.  Example: verify the contents of the separator bowl are clear not cloudy
• Check: Take a look inside.  Example: Check the engine oil level
• Test: Verify it’s working.  Example: quickly shift into forward and reverse while tied to the dock

Bareboat Boat Log

I used to keep a full text log during charters and passages.  It didn’t take me long to realize that the most useful information from the log was keeping track of boat resources over time.  So I started keeping track of the key resources in a easy to cross reference table format.  When I use this table I found it is best to update it once or twice a day approximately the same time each day.  For passages every watch was too frequently; two entries per day was as crowded as I liked the list to be.

More Bareboat Charter Preparations

Here are a handful more articles and checklists to use to prepare for a bareboat:

• Packing Checklist
• Provisioning Checklist
  • Provisioning Tips
• Passage Plan vs Reality
• Skipper Paperwork Requirements
• FAQ for Bareboat Charter Crew

I’ve sailed more than 15,000 nautical miles and I still use most of these lists to make sure I don’t forget anything on my bareboat charters.  I hope they help you too.