Abandon ship.
Step UP into the life raft, not down. As long as you can stand on the boat, stand on the boat. Abandon is the last procedure — and the longest one to do right.
Brief, dress, transmit.
Abandoning ship is a multi-step operation that takes ten to thirty minutes if you do it right. The order matters. Skip nothing.
- 1
Order the crew to prepare to abandon ship.
Make sure the order is conveyed and understood by all. Communicate clearly — there will be panic. Calm, named instructions to specific people.
- 2
All crew don life jackets, warm clothes, and personal documents.
Documents, medications, credit cards, passport. Once in the raft, you have what you brought and nothing else.
- 3
Allocate crew duties and responsibilities.
Who launches the raft? Who carries the ditch bag? Who manages the radio? Assignments, not volunteers.
- 4
Transmit Mayday now.
Even before launching the raft. The Coast Guard needs your position and intent before you leave the boat — communications get worse from the raft.
Launch, board, account for everyone.
Communicate your position, nature of distress, number of people, injuries. Keep communication engaged.
Don't switch channels or radios mid-call. Stay on the frequency the Coast Guard puts you on. Repeat your position every few minutes.
Activate the EPIRB.
Manually deploy and activate. Don't rely on the hydrostatic release alone — confirm the beacon is transmitting (look for the flashing strobe).
Consider alerting your on-shore advocate. Keep them on standby.
If you have one — a named person on shore with your float plan — call them. They become the secondary link to authorities and family.
Prepare to launch the liferaft and dinghy.
Check raft cradle and painter. Check the dinghy outboard and fuel. Both go in the water; both come along.
Prepare the ditch bag.
- EPIRB
- Hand-held VHF
- Phone
- Sat phone
- Flares
- Compass and charts
- Portable GPS
- Flashlights
- First aid kit
- Knives
- Water (3 days minimum)
- Food (high-calorie)
- Space blankets
- Warm clothing
Deploy the liferaft and launch the dinghy. Connect them with a short line.
Raft to leeward of the boat (don't deploy upwind — you'll drift away from the raft). Dinghy tied to the raft, then both to the boat until you're ready to cut loose.
Board agile people first AND last.
Agile in first to stabilize the raft and help others board. Agile out last so the strongest crew is on the boat helping until the end. Children, elderly, injured in the middle.
Account for all crew. Cut loose.
Gear for this moment.
The equipment we'd want aboard if this alarm went off right now. Each piece earns its place against a specific step above.
Serviced, in date, and mounted where two people can launch it in seconds. The single most important item aboard the day you need it.
View gearRegistered to the vessel, GPS-enabled so the alert carries your position. Activate before you leave the boat.
View gearPacked once, checked yearly, grabbed on the way out. What's in it is what you'll have for days.
View gearShort range, but it's your voice to the rescue helicopter overhead. Floating and waterproof, with a charged spare.
View gearSeaWise may earn a small commission on these links — it helps keep the procedures free. We only list gear we'd carry ourselves.
Skipper notes.
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