The boss asked me that one day. I thought about it, and surprised myself with the list of things I came up with.
Island Breeze is a 56 footer with all of the toys. When we first moved into Coco Plum Yacht Club down in Miami, my Sport Fishing captain-colleagues turned their noses up at the 'Blow Boat' until I told them I had a main engine, generator, 3 air conditioners, reefer and freezer, ice maker, washing machine, water maker, microwave, gas
stove and
oven and most of the stuff they had, plus four electric
winches, sails, a dive compressor, and about twice the number of instruments they had.
In any event, getting her ready for even a 'simple day sail' takes a while.
I start on deck, get the genoa and staysail sheets led back through their blocks and ready to use. If I was 'storm tied' with double dock
lines, that's when I 'singled up' the
lines, and usually removed one set of spring
lines.
Next, I always topped the water tanks off. Since I was living aboard then, I used quite a bit of water. I routinely just used one tank, but it never hurt to top them off.
After that, it's check the
fuel level in the day tank, oil in the engines and coolant level. Then I fire the generator, walk back topside and check the
exhaust for water. Then I start the main engine and check the
exhaust.
After that, it's down to the nav table to power the instruments up. Then back up to the cockpit for the helmsman's chart plotter and other instruments. I turn them on, wait for them to warm up, then make sure they all seem to be running. When it's ready, I fire the
radar for a couple of sweeps to check it, then shut it down again.
Next, I engage the
autopilot and make sure the
wheel locks tight. That's all you can do sitting still. After that, I check the bow thruster. A quick squirt in each direction to make sure the contactors and switches are working.
After that I get the rest of the running
rigging ready to use. THe mainsheet, outhaul for the roller
furling main, the
furling lines for both
jibs are all brought in and flaked out so they'll run freely when it's time. Then all four electric
winches get checked. Then the
windlass gets check in both directions, and the
anchor made ready for deployment. Finally I make sure the rudder moves easily from lock-to-lock. That pretty much covers the sailing part.
Down in the cabin, I make sure the coffee maker is stowed, since it is almost always out. I check the heads to make sure they're pumped dry, make sure all of the cabin doors are latched open, and that everything else is ready to go.
Overall, it takes about an hour, assuming nothing's decided to break since the last time I used it.
The boat is up in Baltimore now, and I'm not with her full time any more, and I think the boss has found out that you don't just walk on, start the engine and go. He tried that and found out that not having a routine is a bad idea. They were about to pull out of the slip when the generator shut down. The impellor gave up and the engine got warm. It's a fairly new Phasor genset, and it shut itself down long before damage could be done. I asked him about checking the
exhaust for water, and got a rather dull look back. He'd forgotten that part.
Anyway, I'm working on a 'pre-flight check list' for him and for guests, since I'm not there to double check on everything. I have a hunch it'll be a long list.
Happy sailing,
Cap'n Gary
S/V Island Breeze
Linear Mode
