Float Plan & Required Equipment
The federal equipment your boat must carry at its length, as a checklist — plus a float plan you can copy and leave with someone ashore.
Required equipment
Tick as you check each one. The ticks are not saved anywhere — this is a pre-departure pass, not a record.
These are the US federal carriage requirements, which are a floor and not a plan. States add their own — several require a life jacket to be WORN below a certain age, and some require more than the federal list. Check your state, and check the current regulations rather than a page that was written at some point in the past.
Not required, and worth carrying anyway
| VHF radio | A phone loses signal offshore and cannot be heard by nearby boats. A VHF call on channel 16 reaches everyone within range at once, which is the whole point. |
| Anchor with adequate rode | The most useful safety device on a small boat. If the engine dies, an anchor turns drifting toward a lee shore into waiting somewhere. |
| Manual bail — bucket or hand pump | Works with a flat battery, which is exactly when you need it. |
| First aid kit and drinking water | Sized for the number aboard and the length of the trip, not for a token gesture. |
| Spare engine kill-switch lanyard | Federal law now requires the link to be used on most boats under 26 feet when on plane. A spare means a lost one does not end the day. |
| Tools, spare fuel filter, and a way to make fast | Most tow calls are fuel or filters. Both are fixable afloat if you carry the parts. |
Float plan
A float plan is not filed with anyone. You leave it with a person who will notice you are late and knows what to do about it — that is the entire mechanism, and it is why the generated text ends with instructions addressed to them rather than to you.
Why the return time is the important field
Search and rescue works backwards from the moment somebody raises the alarm. Every hour between an overdue boat and the first phone call is an hour of drift, an hour of falling body temperature, and a search area that grows as the square of the delay.
That is the whole value of a float plan, and it is why the generated text tells the person holding it not to talk themselves out of calling. The awkwardness of an unnecessary call is not comparable to the cost of a late one.
How to use
- Enter your boat length to get the federal carriage requirements for that band.
- Work down the checklist before you leave the dock.
- Fill in the float plan and copy or download it for whoever is staying ashore.
Frequently asked questions
What safety equipment is required on a boat?
A wearable life jacket for every person, a sound-producing device, navigation lights and registration on every boat. From 16 feet up you add a throwable device and day and night visual distress signals, and fire extinguisher requirements scale with length.
How many fire extinguishers do I need?
Boats from 26 to 40 feet need two 5-B units or one 20-B; from 40 to 65 feet, three 5-B or a 20-B plus a 5-B. Under 26 feet it is one, and only if there is an enclosed engine compartment, permanent tanks or enclosed living space.
Is a 16-foot boat in the first band or the second?
The second. The bands are "under 16" and "16 to under 26", so a boat measuring exactly 16 feet needs the throwable device and the daytime distress signals. It is an easy off-by-one to make and it changes what you are required to carry.
Is the federal list enough?
It is a floor, not a plan. States add their own requirements — several mandate that children below a certain age wear a life jacket rather than merely have one aboard — so check your state as well, and check current regulations rather than any page written at some point in the past.
What is a float plan?
A note left with a person ashore saying where you are going, who is with you, and when you will be back. It is not filed with any authority. The whole mechanism is a person who will notice you are late and knows who to call.
Why does the return time matter so much?
Search and rescue works backwards from the alarm. Every hour between an overdue boat and the first call is another hour of drift and falling body temperature, and a search area that grows fast. The awkwardness of an unnecessary call does not compare to the cost of a late one.
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