Smarter Sailing Starts Before You Leave the Dock

Whether you’re embarking on a coastal cruise, crossing a channel, or heading to a weekend anchorage, overnight and multi-day sailing trips require a different level of preparation. It’s more than just checking the weather and packing an extra jacket …these voyages demand coordination, foresight, and clear communication with your crew.

At Sailors Planner™, we’ve built tools to make this kind of planning seamless… from crew manifests and itinerary segments to marine weather, safety checklists, and shared supply lists. Here’s your guide to using Sailors Planner to chart your course with confidence.

Step 1: Assemble and Invite Your Crew

Start your voyage by building your crew manifest:

• Add regular crew members from your saved contacts list or invite new ones
• Assign roles: Skipper, First Mate, Navigator, Crew, etc.
• Share your float plan securely so everyone stays in the loop

Crew members can access shared details, see updates, and track assigned responsibilities.

Step 2: Chart Your Course and Create an Itinerary

Use Sailors Planner’s interactive map tools to:

• Set your departure and arrival locations
• Break your trip into segments with waypoints for anchorages, fuel stops, or navigation hazards
• Calculate estimated travel time, nautical miles, and bearing for each leg

This turns your float plan into a true voyage itinerary, complete with timing and navigational detail.

Step 3: Pull Real-Time Marine Weather Forecasts

As you build your plan, Sailors Planner automatically pulls:

• 7-day marine weather forecasts
• Wind speed and direction
• Wave height, swell intervals, and tides from NOAA & NWS
• Closest issuing weather zones to your GPS coordinates

With forecast data tied directly to your itinerary, you can make smarter go/no-go decisions.

Step 4: Add and Reuse Checklists

From boat prep to safety drills and watch schedules, create or reuse detailed checklists:

• Pre-departure inspection
• Safety briefing
• Watch rotation
• Emergency procedures
• Anchor setup

Checklists can be marked complete as you prepare, keeping the whole crew aligned.

Step 5: Assign Supplies and Responsibilities

Sailors Planner makes it easy to track gear, provisions, and responsibilities. Staying organized on longer trips means knowing who’s bringing what:

• Create a shared supplies list. Add food, water, safety gear, and tools to your Supplies List
• Assign items to individual crew members (e.g., Steve brings breakfast provisions)
• Track expenses and who’s covering what
• Prevent overpacking and eliminate gaps in gear

This works great for provisioning meetings, overnight sails, and club races alike.

Step 6: Finalize & Share Your Float Plan

Once your itinerary, crew, and checklists are in place:

• Share your plan with your crew
• Email a secure copy to your emergency contact ashore
• Save it for reuse or reference later

In case of emergency, having a clear float plan on file can make all the difference.

Sail Farther, Smarter

Planning a multi-day voyage doesn’t have to be overwhelming. With Sailors Planner™, everything from crew coordination to course plotting is handled in one intuitive system …designed by sailors, for sailors.

Wherever the wind takes you next, make your plan first. Start your next overnight voyage at SailorsPlanner.com

Thanks for reading this blog post. Set sail with confidence …on us!

Use promo code overnightsail10 to create your first sailing plan free with Sailors Planner™.

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