Passage Plan: Waypoints, Tidal Gates and Cockpit Cards

Plot or verify the whole route on suitable current charting, including departure and arrival. Mark intended tracks, courses or headings as appropriate, distances, hazards, no-go areas, clearing limits, safe water, position-fixing methods, tidal or daylight constraints, expected times and the points at which a decision must be made. Check every imported waypoint and the leg between waypoints; electronic routing and display precision do not prove that the route is safe.

Plan the navigation method and frequency of position checks for the risk. A constrained pilotage leg needs more frequent, independent evidence than open water. Identify where depth, visual bearings, radar or another suitable source can corroborate GNSS, and what the skipper will do if the evidence conflicts. Include the route-specific contingency: refuge or safe anchorage, its approach constraints, the latest safe decision point and the conditions that trigger it.

Plan the people and resources too. Brief the route, hazards, timings, roles, safety equipment, emergency actions and who can take over if the skipper is incapacitated. Estimate usable fuel from the vessel's known consumption and expected engine time, then add a contingency suited to headwind, adverse tide, delay, diversion and reserve policy. No RYA or MCA source reviewed for this lesson establishes one universal one-third reserve for every coastal yacht passage.