PREPARATION

BOAT

There is some equipment which you need for an offshore passage which might not already be on board.

■ A liferaft should be carried. They are expensive to buy but hiring one for a short period is a viable and much cheaper option. A fully inflated dinghy on deck and ready to launch is a poor substitute, and is not recommended. If that is your choice, don’t even think of towing it. Not only will it reduce your speed through the water (even ¼ knot over 60 miles will add more than 30 minutes to the passage time), the chances of it misbehaving or going AWOL are not worth contemplating.■ A grab bag should be prepared and stowed readily to hand. Contents should include: handheld VHF radio, EPIRB/PLB if carried, handheld GPS receiver (if not incorporated in the■ Flares are potentially dangerous and you can only carry a limited number anyhow. LED ‘flares’, which have many hours of active use, are becoming popular.■ A Radar reflector is a requirement of SOLAS V and must be carried ‘if practicable’.■ A table of life-saving signals must also be on board – another SOLAS requirement. It may be downloaded or can be found in and the .