Firstly, each skipper must sign a Skippers Declaration which includes an extensive safety checklist. We recommend Yachting Australia Safety Regulations, Category One.

The Rally is open to yachts that are seaworthy and have the required safety equipment. Many Rally yachts have sailed up the Queensland coast, mostly day hops and overnighters. Before any offshore passage, the skipper and crew should have coastal sailing experience.

On Deck

Best to arrive at the destination with the same number of crew you left with, otherwise the paperwork is horrendous! There are many electronic gadgets to know when a crew member is overboard and gear to keep them afloat (inflatable lifejackets), all good stuff. Our suggestion is to also focus on keeping them on board in the first place, crew wear harnesses when on deck, no exceptions.

Have a good set of strong points for harnesses, extra tethers, so crew can have a tether on a jackstay and at the point they are working. Leave short tethers at key points (close to chest height) to allow crew to balance against, at the mast and on the stern rail (for a “boys wee spot”). Multihulls should have jackstays across the boat to allow tethered movement from the hulls to the forestay, mast and cockpit.

Ensure handholds and toe rails provide adequate security on open areas which may have to be traversed. Reduce trip hazards, keep decks clear of “crap”.

Consider chafe of sails and sheets, whilst a sheet or sail can rub against a lifeline or stay for a day, it may chafe through on a passage.

The water is meant to stay in the ocean, but those pesky molecules have “intelligent osmosis”… things that are a bit damp during rain or short coastal passages often leak substantially offshore (think Jim Jim Falls). Check hatches, portholes, dorades, lockers, wiring and gas glands and the mast collar (for keel stepped masts). 

Anchor chain lockers and hawsers are often a problem. Sealing the hawser around the chain is a good idea. Will the chain locker drain on a heel, could it leak into the cabin or bilge? Clear out all rust, mud, shell grit and debris so the drains don’t block. While we are at it … check the cockpit and any locker drains are not blocked.

Dinghy stowage on deck is always a risk… whether it be on davits, behind the mast or on the foredeck. Extra lashings (to strong points) and removal of the outboard for davit hung dinghies are good ideas. A 150mm inspection hatch in the transom of our davit hung inflatable is left open so waves can drain out.

Below Deck

Keeping the water out is important, but assume some will get in! Bilge pumps are often set up for the boat sitting upright, can you pump the bilge with the boat on a 400 heel? Multihulls often only have bilge pumps in the engine compartment of main hull(s), do you have some way of pumping other areas that could leak (think forward compartments, floats etc.).
Bilges often have some oil contamination, if bilge water rises, this can cause greasy floors and/or an offensive odour (only adding to seasickness), so clean out the bilges, check strum boxes on bilge pumps.
 
Sinks and toilets, holding tanks and even bilge pumps can suddenly become syphons at sea. Use them when sailing well heeled inshore and make sure they don’t have overflow/syphoning issues. Ensure you can access the shut off valves for all outlets (and they aren’t seized).

Engine and genset exhausts which are OK for coastal seas can become a problem in heavy weather offshore. Check that the outlet loop is well above water level on both tacks (on multis as well!) and that the wet box is of adequate size.

Water and fuel tank breathers need to be considered, again rough water and heeling can result in breathers letting water into tanks.
Moving around the cabin safely at sea requires good handholds and secure footing, modern yachts often have wide open spaces and skating rink floors, consider additional hand holds, some removable foot braces on the floor, even a simple rope strung down the centreline of the saloon can help.

Stowage is important, on mono’s assume the boat will go on its side and stow accordingly.. check locker catches work and can take the weight of the lockers contents. On multis, stuff that normally stays put may fly around…stow it.

We have all heard of pre-prepared meals, having snack food ready etc. On Sanctuary, we re-stow the galley so stuff not used on passage is at the back of lockers and “passage food” and simple utensils etc. are easily accessible. Stuff tea-towels etc. around surplus crockery, bottles etc. so they don’t “clink” or fall out of lockers.

Energy Matters

At sea you need greater battery capacity than short day hops. Long passages means a different power regime, lots of electronics are left on and the autopilot can use substantial power. Consider how you will charge the batteries at sea, solar is often a bit less effective as sails are up (shadows) and owing to heel. Wind generators are great upwind and reaching but lose their effectiveness downwind (less apparent wind).. just when the autopilot is using lots of power trying to hold course! Can you run the charging motors (main engine or genset) when well heeled?

Provision cold and frozen food well in advance, so on passage the fridge/freezer is just keeping temp, not trying to freeze 20kg of meat bought the day before you left!

On many boats HF radio transmission interferes with the autopilot, in some cases this can be fixed by using ferrite filters and/or a separate radio battery… find this out before the passage… you don’t want to have to have someone hand steering when you are on the radio!

Prior to the passage, pretend you are on passage, disconnect the boat from the shore power, turn on all electronics, navigation lights etc., add a load to replicate the autopilot’s power use (a couple of fans etc.) and run the boat for 2 days… charging as required!

Have a set up in case of complete power failure. Handheld GPS provides emergency navigation (if waypoints have been programmed in!)… cyclaume stick (red) taped above the “analogue” compass allows hand steering and emergency nav lights taped to the rails keep you going whilst the power issues are fixed. On Sanctuary we have ten 2 litre bottles of water handy to use in event of power/water pump failure.

Communications

It sounds obvious but try out all your on-board comms systems before you leave! We have found many folk have hardly used their HF/sailmail/sat phone etc. before leaving.

Too often cruising yachts have their VHF radio aerial at deck level… understand that this means you can only talk to what you see on the horizon. A mast head aerial gives you greater range, we have had two yachts with masthead aerials in the Coral Sea talking almost 60 miles apart!

The demise of voice HF radio scheds by the Commonwealth and then more recently Pentacomstat means the east coast of Australia, the Coral and Tasman Seas are left with no easy voice HF reporting system. Cruisers have their own nets (like Rally scheds or the Sheila net at 0800 on 8161 for QLD/PNG), or if you have a GMDSS/DSC HF radio, you can use DSC to talk to VMC/VMW (the Commonwealth’s HF radio service). If you have email on board, there are a number of services you can use for position reporting (e.g. Yotreps).

Practice frequencies at the times of day you will use them.. remember HF propagation changes throughout the day and according to relative positions. HF radios need lotsa volts… ensure batteries are well charged prior to radio scheds.

Emergencies are when comms most matter, they are urgent and you are most likely distracted (by the emergency!). Have a cheat sheet of frequencies, telephone numbers (if you have satphone) fixed near the radio/phone. Know how to contact radio medical (e.g. VMC via DSC HF radio or via satphone +61 2 62795771).

Ensure AMSA has your 406 EPIRB registration details, include updated passage and crew details.

Weather

Know how you will get weather information… practice plotting the high seas forecasts (you need a small scale chart of the ocean/continents to plot on) they are very different to coastal forecasts! Try the frequencies. If you plan on using weatherfax as a meaningful input to your weather decisions, practice “predicting” the weather from the faxes well before your passage.
Many cruisers now have some form of email (sailmail/ mail-a-sail via HF modem or using Iridium or Inmarsat satellite systems).

Learn how to download spot, passage and area forecasts, use a system like saildocs to get text high seas warnings, cyclone track/forecasts and wind/wave predictions.

For the Rally, we have an Inmarsat Fleet Broadband (Sailor 150) fitted (also Sailmail via a Pactor modem on the HF and Iridium satphone with modem as backups). To give the fleet a daily forecast its about half an hour to download and digest the information. If you are sailing on your own, get practice at what info is going to be useful to you.

Crew Ready

Crew obviously need to be fit for the passage, are they mentally prepared? Is the first mate confident in their duties and understand emergency procedures/communications that they may not have needed to know for coastal passages. New crew just joining for the trip need to be briefed and have time to become familiar with the boat.

On an ocean passage it is likely to get dark! At night when on lookout it’s important to not have bright lights affecting night vision. Have all crew practice moving around the cabin and deck in the dark without lights and torches. Could you reef blindfolded?

Navigation

It is of course assumed that anyone heading offshore is confident in their navigation! Some tips found useful by confident navigators are:

• Program handheld GPS and main GPS with key waypoints: arrival point, passages to anchorage, even the departure point. Program in key dangers (such as a reef near the arrival point). 
• Mark the course on your paper charts, pull out the detail paper charts of the destination, guide books, tide/current information for passages and anchorages etc.
• You don’t want to have to find these when cold/wet/tired at the end of the passage. Have alternatives, what ports/safe havens can you make if a you can’t make the destination (do you have charts?).

Legal

With the focus on readying the boat for offshore, provisioning and stowing and fixing things,  legal stuff is often the last thing on your mind. Have the right visa’s for your destination, your ships registration papers, insurance certificate etc. ready for Customs and Quarantine. Know who to contact and the fees for your port of arrival (remember many countries have arrival notification requirements, sometimes days in advance).

Quarantine rules change all the time, find out what you can take where you are going and if coming back to OZ what can be brought back in. If leaving Australia remember the GST refunds you may be able to claim (purchases 30 days prior to departure).
We have a folder of all this stuff handy, so when we arrive tired/wet etc. we can just pull it out! Have photocopies of crew lists and key documents.

Tools and Spares

Just remember there are no shops, no chandleries and no Yanmar dealers where we are going. Have a good set of spares… engine/genset impellors, belts, filters, spare oil. Outboard impellors and plugs (we also have a spare prop..). We take a spare starter motor, water pump, toilet motor, we have a collection of 1m long hoses and fittings, many hose clamps, spare electrical cables and terminals, light bulbs, and heaps of other stuff! In regards to sailing gear, we have a spare mainsail, heaps of rope and fittings.
You need a good set of tools, whilst it is unlikely you will be “inside” your diesel motor.. you need adequate tools for common repairs/maintenance of the “outside” (fuel filters, bleeding, belts, water pump replacement etc.).

Rough Ready

We all hope our passages will be without rough weather… but just in case, before you leave:

• Dig out storm sails, put them up, sheet them, put them away where you can get to them, practice reefing, check sheeting angles and chafe. Get out the drogue, stream it and tow it behind whilst motoring, practice steering with it and look for chafe points.
• For multis (and others sensible enough to have a parachute anchor), try it out, at minimum, get it out and work out what ropes will go where, chafe, chafe, chafe!

On Passage!

Now you have left, all the stress of preparation is over, you can relax (yeah right!). Friends of ours, “leave”, go on anchor for 24 hours to recover from “port madness” then get ready for the passage.

Discuss watches, who will be on watch when, program this with radio scheds, weather, cooking, battery charging times. Watch systems from six hours to two can fit different crews and weather scenarios…discuss it and try it out, attempt to establish a routine. Crews should ensure the skipper gets enough sleep… remember sleep deprivation is as good as being drunk.. great for that tricky reef passage in the dark when you arrive!

Discuss the crew overboard procedure. Ensure all know how to hit the MOB button on the GPS. For your point of sail and weather conditions, discuss the best procedure: reach away, sails down and motor, quick tack, whatever will work; sort out a plan and ensure all crew know it!

Sail the boat to get there.. many modern fin keel boats need a lot of helm to stay on course, drop the traveller, or reef to help the autopilot maintain course.

Conclusions

1. Look at the boat from a fresh view.. think of sailing through a waterfall (at night).
2. Use all the systems and practice before you leave (from the drogue to sailmail!).
3. Take the time to plan the voyage, to discuss all contingencies with the crew and familiarise them.