Who You Left Your Float Plan With Ashore

The U.S. Coast Guard sums up the point of a float plan in one thought: at the moment of an incident, too many precise details are needed, and you can't rely on a friend's, neighbor's, or relative's memory. The person ashore will remember the color of the boat and roughly where you were headed — but rescuers need facts.

A float plan is the sheet that closes that gap. It isn't about paperwork, and it isn't just for large vessels.

Who writes one

The Coast Guard's answer: anyone. Their own list includes kayakers, anglers, hunters, personal watercraft riders, water skiers, families out for a day trip, charter skippers, rowers, sailors, and powerboaters. There's no distinction here between a ten-foot skiff and a ninety-foot yacht — the search is conducted the same way.

Usually the person operating the vessel draws up the plan. But everyone aboard should know it exists — and shouldn't hesitate to ask the skipper whether one has been left.

What it should contain

The list is simple, and you know almost all of it by heart already — which is exactly why it's worth writing down ahead of time.

• Vessel: name, type, length, hull and cabin color, registration number. And a current photograph of the boat — the Coast Guard recommends attaching one to the plan.
• People aboard: how many, who they are, ages, any health conditions.
• Route: where from, where to, waypoints along the way, planned anchorages.
• Timing: when you departed, when you plan to return.
• Communications: type of radio, working channels, MMSI, phone numbers aboard.
• Equipment: liferaft, life jackets, EPIRB, signaling devices, fuel and water reserves.

The U.S. Coast Guard has a ready-made fillable PDF form, but a sheet of paper or a messaging app text works just as well — it's the facts that matter, not the form itself.

The role of the person ashore

Their job isn't to "worry" — it's to know the deadline and know who to call. Agree in advance on:

• what time you're required to check in;
• how long to wait past that deadline before calling for help;
• which number to call in that area;
• what to say: the vessel's name, number of people, route, departure time — in other words, simply reading out your plan.

Without this agreement, the plan turns into just a piece of paper: the person sees you haven't returned but doesn't know whether it's too early to raise the alarm or too late.

A float plan and passage planning are different things

The first stays ashore; the second stays with you. The Royal Yachting Association points out that passage planning is required for everyone under SOLAS Chapter V, and lists what it consists of:

• the route and navigational hazards: shoals, overfalls, weirs, overhead cables, buoyage;
• tides and currents matched to your timing;
• up-to-date charts, pilot books, notices to mariners, and almanacs;
• fallback options: where to go if the weather deteriorates, or if there's a breakdown, illness, or injury;
• refuges along the route;
• daylight hours: whether a delay would turn the trip into a night passage;
• the weather forecast and how to update it at sea;
• the capabilities of the boat itself and its equipment;
• an engine check before departure;
• crew preparation.

The RYA covers this last point separately, and it's the one closest to a float plan: the skipper must make sure that everyone aboard knows where the safety equipment is and how to use it, knows the plan and the fallback options, can start the engine and raise a distress signal, and understands who takes command if the skipper is injured or falls ill.

What this looks like in practice

1. Make a half-page template once: vessel, people, communications, equipment. Only the route and timing will change.
2. Before departure, fill in the route and return time, and send it to one specific person. Not "the family" — a named individual.
3. Tell them out loud when to call for help.
4. If you return or change your plans — let them know. A false search is costly and undermines trust in your next plan.

Half an hour ashore before setting out is exactly the half hour you won't have later.

Sources: U.S. Coast Guard Office of Boating Safety, Float Plan section; Royal Yachting Association, Passage Planning section.