Checklists prevent mistakes, small and large
When you‘re getting ready to head to the lake or even a longer trip to the coast, there is a natural tendancy to want to get moving. When you’re ready to launch the boat, there’s a desire to move quickly. These tendencies are why we use checklists. Miss one item on the list, and it won’t be the end of the world, miss others and it makes for a really bad day. In the end, it makes boating more enjoyable for us.
We use checklists for a lot of different things related to Elvin Ray. We have a pre-move checklist when we are getting ready to trailer her somewhere. Before we launch, we have a checklist. We have maintenance checklists, project checklists, and a few others. Our checklists have changed over the years. For example, I forgot to get a line off the bow cleat and we realized that about 2o miles down the road. We now have a checklist item for ensuring all lines are removed.
In order to be efficient with the lists, we use the Notes app on our iPhones with a shared note that allows us to both work with the checklist simultaneously. Generally, we have our headsets on and call out the items to each other.
Check out our lists below: