Module 14 - Passage Planning
Execute Phase
What you will learn
Confirm the departure assumptions, brief the crew and execute the current plan while recording material changes and retaining the ability to stop or divert.
Execution starts with a departure decision, not automatic obedience to yesterday's plan. Use the plan while the evidence supports it and amend it when conditions change.
Immediately before departure, confirm that the current forecast and warnings, tide, daylight, route information, vessel, equipment and crew still match the appraisal. Establish a reliable position and verify the intended electronic route and safety settings where used. Brief the crew on the current plan, roles, safety equipment, communications, watchkeeping and contingency actions. If a critical assumption is no longer true, delay, shorten, change or cancel the passage.
During execution, use the planned courses, speeds, position methods and timings, but keep them subordinate to safe navigation. IMO guidance specifically points to equipment reliability, arrival at tidal constraints, weather, day versus night at danger points and traffic. A written plan does not justify unsafe speed, reduced lookout or continuing towards a closing margin.
When the route, timing, destination, hazard, weather response or crew plan changes materially, update the working plan and record the change. Tell the people who need to act on it. A change that exists only in the skipper's head can leave the helm, lookout, shore contact or relief navigator following an obsolete plan.
Reconfirm before committing
Departure is 30 minutes late, the tide has strengthened and the crew brief was based on the original arrival time. The destination gate was already the controlling constraint.
1. Pause
Do not recover the timetable by assuming more speed or silently reducing the planned margin.
2. Recalculate
Update ETA at the gate using the current departure, expected speed and tide.
3. Reappraise
Check whether destination, daylight, weather, fuel, crew and the alternative remain inside their limits.
4. Re-brief
Record the accepted change and tell the crew and shore contact if their actions or expected arrival change.
Sense check: If the delay consumes the contingency that made the entrance acceptable, the original go decision no longer answers the current question.
Common mistake or limitation
- Pressing on because effort has already been invested in the plan or because the destination feels like the only successful outcome.
- Trying to restore the original ETA with unsafe speed, more sail or reduced checks instead of recalculating the decision.
- Changing course or destination without updating the working plan and briefing the crew who must execute it.
Recap
- Confirm the plan's assumptions immediately before departure.
- Execute the current plan while continuing lookout, safe-speed and navigation duties.
- Record and brief material changes so the written and actual plans do not diverge.
Optional quick check
Section 4 of 6
The departure delay has consumed most of the planned tidal-gate margin. What should happen first?
Sources and factual review
Reviewed 19 August 2026 - Day Skipper Revision.
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