A pre-trip conditions checklist for any day on the water

1. Official forecast and warnings

Start with the marine forecast, or the inland weather forecast for lakes and rivers, from the national meteorological service for the area. Read the text, not just the icons. Look for any warnings in force: strong wind, gale, thunderstorm, fog, flood or anything similar.

A warning that covers the planned area and time is, for most recreational users, the end of the checklist. Note when the forecast was issued, and check it again on the morning of the trip, because a forecast read two days earlier will have been replaced.

2. Wind for the whole time out

Wind decides more trips than anything else. Check three things, hour by hour, from launch until well after the planned return:

Sustained speed: the average wind.

Gusts: the short bursts above the average. A large gap between the two means unsteady, harder conditions.

Direction: whether the wind blows onto the shore, off it or along it, and whether it is forecast to shift.

The usual error is to look only at the launch time. Wind that is light early and strong by midday describes a day with a difficult return. Compare more than one source if possible; where they disagree, plan for the worse one.

Decide personal limits at home, in advance, for the boat or craft and the least experienced person aboard. Limits chosen at the water's edge tend to stretch.

3. Tide and current

On tidal water, note the times and heights of high and low water for the day, and whether the tides are springs (the larger tides around new and full moon) or neaps (the smaller ones in between). Then answer four questions:

Depth: will there be enough water at the ramp, over bars and shallows, and at the landing, at both the start and the end of the trip?

Current: which way will it run during each leg, and how strongly?

Slack water: when does the current turn? Slack is usually the best time for crossings and narrow entrances, and it may not match the time of high or low water.

Wind against current: will the two oppose each other at any point? That combination makes waves steeper and rougher.

On rivers and reservoirs the equivalent check is the water level and flow reported by the local gauge or managing authority.

4. Waves and swell

Look at wave height and wave period together. Period is the time in seconds between one crest and the next. Short-period waves raised by local wind are steep and uncomfortable for small craft even when they are not high. Long-period swell, which has travelled from distant weather, carries more energy and can break heavily on bars, reefs and beaches even on a windless day.

Forecast wave height is normally the significant wave height, roughly the average of the highest third of the waves. Individual waves are regularly higher than that figure, and occasional ones much higher.

5. Visibility, daylight and water temperature

Check the forecast for fog, mist, heavy rain or haze. Reduced visibility hides hazards, the shore and other vessels, and it hides a small boat from everyone else.

Then look up sunset. Plan to be back with a generous margin, because most things on the water take longer than expected and the light fades sooner under cloud. Being out after dark calls for proper lights and the experience to go with them; the rules on lights vary by country and region.

Finally, check the water temperature and dress for it rather than for the air. Cold water turns a simple capsize or fall overboard into an emergency within minutes. The article on cold water safety explains what happens and what helps.

6. Plan B and the decision

Before leaving, settle these:

A shorter or more sheltered alternative if conditions on arrival are worse than forecast.

A turnaround time, and the conditions that will end the trip early.

Who ashore knows the launch point, route, people aboard and expected return time, and what they should do if the group is overdue.

Safety and communication equipment checked and charged, with lifejackets worn. Equipment rules vary by country and region, so check those that apply.

Then make the decision honestly. Not going is a normal, respectable outcome of this checklist, not a failure of it. If any item needed an optimistic reading to pass, the answer is no. Look again on arrival as well: if the water does not match the forecast, believe the water.

Gathering it in one place, and the short version

Checking this many things across several websites is where routines break down, so it helps to see them side by side. A CatchWindow location page brings together wind speed, gusts and direction, weather, wave height and period where available, tide predictions where a tide station applies, current and slack-water information at locations with a current station, water temperature where available, and sunrise and sunset, with a week-ahead view for picking a likely day.

A page like that is for planning. Its 0 to 10 activity scores summarise how well the forecast suits an activity; they are not a safety declaration. The official marine forecast and warnings, published tide and current tables, and charts remain the authority, and they are always step one.

The routine in one line: warnings, wind, tide, waves, visibility, daylight, water temperature, plan B. Same order, every time, for the whole period on the water. When in doubt, stay ashore.