Start With Life Jackets That Fit Properly

Everything else on this list matters, but nothing matters quite as much as a life jacket that you will actually wear. For coastal sailing in UK waters, a 150N automatic jacket is the sensible baseline for adults. If you sail well offshore, sail at night in winter, or wear heavy oilskins, step up to 275N, which has enough buoyancy to keep an unconscious person's head clear of the water even with bulky clothing.

Fit is everything. A jacket that rides up around your ears is worse than useless — it will not hold your face out of the water. Check that it has a crotch strap or thigh straps and that you use them. Look for a spray hood, a light that activates on contact with water, and a whistle. Children need jackets rated for their weight, not simply a small adult version, and they need checking every season as they grow.

Servicing is straightforward but easy to forget. Most automatic jackets should be serviced annually, or at least have the gas cylinder, firing head and bobbin checked. Weigh the cylinder on a kitchen scale — if it has lost weight, it has lost gas. Inflate the bladder orally and leave it overnight to check for leaks. Look for corrosion on the metal parts and any sign of wear on the webbing.

Flares, Smoke and Modern Alternatives

Pyrotechnics still have a place on a small coastal boat, but they demand respect and a diary. A typical inshore set includes red hand flares for night use, orange smoke for daylight, and a parachute rocket to attract attention from a distance. White hand flares are for warning other vessels of a collision risk, not for distress.

The critical detail is the expiry date, usually three years from manufacture. Out-of-date flares are unreliable and, in some circumstances, illegal to keep aboard. Store them dry, in a dedicated container, somewhere you can reach in a hurry — not buried under a week's provisions. Brief every crew member on how to fire them before you leave the mooring, and read the instructions aloud. In a real emergency, nobody reads small print for the first time.

Laser flares and electronic distress lights are increasingly popular and have no expiry date, which is a real advantage. Many skippers now carry a mix: an electronic device for everyday use and a small set of conventional flares for the worst case. Disposal of old flares is a nuisance, so plan ahead — most harbour masters run amnesties, and some chandleries will take them during advertised periods. Never set them off casually and never put them in a household bin.

Fire Extinguishers and the Galley

Fire aboard a small boat is fast and frightening, and most incidents start in one of three places: the stove, the engine bay, or the wiring. Carry at least two extinguishers, ideally three on a boat with an inboard engine, each of about 1kg. Dry powder is cheap and effective at knocking down flames quickly, though it makes an unholy mess; foam suits fuel fires; clean agent extinguishers are excellent for engine compartments because they leave no residue.

Fit a fire blanket within arm's reach of the cooker and use it on any pan fire — never water. If you have a petrol inboard or a large diesel, consider a fire port so you can discharge an extinguisher into the engine bay without opening the hatch and feeding the flames with air. An automatic extinguisher mounted inside the compartment is worth the money.

Check every extinguisher before the season. The pressure gauge needle should sit in the green, the safety pin and seal should be intact, and the bracket should actually hold the unit in a seaway rather than letting it slide into a locker. Make sure everyone aboard knows where the fuel shut-off and battery isolator are.

VHF Radio — Your Primary Lifeline

A fixed DSC VHF set is the workhorse of coastal communications. Register it for an MMSI number and connect it to your GPS so that a distress alert transmits your position automatically. The red button under its cover sends a digital mayday on channel 70; voice mayday follows on channel 16. Know the script, and practise saying it aloud once a season.

Carry a waterproof handheld as a backup, charged and stored in your grab bag, because a fixed set depends on the boat's electrical system and its antenna. Check the antenna connections and the coax annually — range is line of sight, and a corroded connector can halve it. A mobile phone is not a substitute: coverage disappears a few miles offshore and the coastguard cannot direction-find on it.

Both a ship radio licence and an operator's certificate are legal requirements in the UK. The short-range certificate course is worth doing properly; the confidence it gives you on the radio is the real return.

Dates, Servicing and the Pre-Season Check

Almost every item above has a date attached to it, and the start of the season is when they all come due at once. Somewhere aboard, keep a simple log listing the expiry or service date for flares, extinguishers, lifejacket cylinders, the liferaft if you carry one, and the battery in any EPIRB or personal locator beacon.

• Life jackets: cylinder weight, firing mechanism, oral inflation test
• Flares: manufacture and expiry dates, container dry and accessible
• Extinguishers: pressure gauge, pin, seal, bracket security
• VHF: antenna and connections, handheld battery charge, MMSI programmed
• First aid kit: restock and check sterile items
• Torches and batteries: test, replace, and stow spares

Do this in March, before the boat goes back in the water, and again lightly mid-season. A laminated card by the chart table with dates, mayday script and shut-off locations is one of the cheapest pieces of safety kit you will ever fit. It costs almost nothing and it works when your hands are shaking.