Safety equipment is only useful if it suits the boat, works properly and can be reached when something goes wrong. A short trip into the Solent does not necessarily call for the same equipment as a longer coastal passage, but every skipper should know what is aboard, where it is kept and when it was last checked.
Rather than filling lockers with equipment you may never use, think about the situations you could realistically face. A person overboard, engine failure, fire, flooding, an injury or an unexpected return after dark all require different equipment and, just as importantly, a crew that knows how to use it.
Start with the boat and the passage
There is no single safety kit that suits every Motorboat. What you carry should reflect the size and type of boat, number of people aboard, operating area, weather and how far you will be from practical assistance.
Before setting off, consider where you are going and what could change during the trip. A local run from Southampton Water may keep you relatively close to shelter, while a longer coastal passage could leave you considerably farther from a safe harbour if the weather deteriorates or the engine develops a fault.
Legal and insurance requirements should also be checked for your particular vessel and use. Meeting a minimum requirement, however, should not be the only consideration. Equipment needs to make sense for the boating you actually do.
Core safety equipment for a Motorboat
The exact equipment will vary, but a sensible coastal Motorboat setup should normally consider:
- Correctly fitted lifejackets for everyone aboard
- Fixed or waterproof handheld VHF radio
- Suitable distress-alerting equipment for the planned passage
- First-aid kit and any essential personal medication
- Appropriate fire extinguishers
- Bilge pumping or bailing equipment
- Lifebuoy, throw line or suitable person-overboard recovery equipment
- Anchor with suitable chain and warp
- Working navigation lights and torches
- Waterproof means of protecting a mobile phone
- Basic tools and appropriate engine spares
- Warm and waterproof clothing
- Additional equipment such as a liferaft or electronic distress device where the passage justifies it
The important point is not simply owning these items. They need to be accessible, maintained and suitable for the boat.
Lifejackets need to fit the people aboard
Carry a correctly sized and serviceable lifejacket for each person. Children need lifejackets intended for their size rather than adult equipment adjusted as tightly as possible.
Decide when lifejackets will be worn before leaving the berth. On an open Motorboat, at night, in deteriorating conditions or when people are moving around exposed areas of the boat, waiting until something feels unsafe is already too late to start looking for them.
If your boat has a kill cord, the helm should use it correctly and check that it operates as intended. Changing helm should include deliberately transferring the kill cord rather than leaving it attached to the controls.
Make sure you can call for help
For coastal Motorboating, VHF radio provides an important means of contacting the coastguard, harbour authorities, marinas and other vessels.
A fixed VHF will often be the primary set, while a charged waterproof handheld can provide useful backup. A mobile phone is worth carrying too, preferably protected from water, but it should not automatically be treated as the only way of raising assistance.
More than one person aboard should know where the radio is and understand the basics of using it. If the skipper becomes injured or incapacitated, somebody else may need to give the vessel’s name, position, nature of the problem and number of people aboard.
Knowing how to make a distress call before an emergency is far easier than trying to work it out under pressure.
Think about getting somebody back aboard
Carrying a lifebuoy or throw line addresses only part of a person-overboard emergency. You also need a realistic way of recovering the person.
A boarding ladder may be sufficient for someone who is conscious and physically able to climb. It may be much less useful if the casualty is cold, injured or exhausted.
Look at your own Motorboat and decide where you would recover someone, how the engine and propeller would be made safe and what equipment could help if they were unable to climb aboard unaided.
This is one area where carrying the right equipment and practising with it go together.
Fire and flooding equipment must be immediately accessible
Fire extinguishers should suit the risks aboard and be positioned where they can be reached without moving towards the fire. Check their condition and servicing requirements regularly.
The same principle applies to flooding equipment. Know where the bilge pumps operate from and whether you have a manual backup or bailer appropriate to the boat.
It is also worth carrying basic tools and materials for straightforward problems, but avoid assuming every fault can be repaired afloat. Sometimes the safer response to a mechanical or electrical problem is to secure the situation, call for assistance and avoid making matters worse.
Consider additional equipment for longer passages
A boat remaining close to familiar harbours has different requirements from one heading farther along the coast.
As the distance from shelter increases, consider whether additional equipment such as a liferaft, grab bag or electronic distress device is appropriate.
These should not simply be bought and forgotten. Understand where they are stored, how they are deployed and any servicing or battery replacement requirements.
The same applies to clothing and shelter. Waterproof layers, spare warm clothing, drinking water and a foil blanket take relatively little space but can become important if somebody is wet, cold or waiting longer than expected for assistance.
Where you keep safety equipment matters
Equipment buried beneath bags, cruising gear and spare clothing may be almost useless when it is needed quickly.
Keep urgent equipment where it can be reached easily. Lifejackets, VHF radios, kill cords and person-overboard equipment should be immediately available. Fire extinguishers need obvious locations, while any emergency grab bag should be somewhere it can be collected quickly.
Make sure regular crew and family members know these locations too. Do not assume the skipper will always be the person dealing with the emergency.
A short safety briefing before departure can cover the essentials without turning into a lecture: lifejackets, VHF, fire extinguishers, person-overboard equipment and anything passengers need to know about moving safely around the boat.
Check your safety equipment regularly
Safety kit should be inspected as part of normal boat ownership rather than once a year when the season begins.
Check inflatable lifejackets, fire extinguishers, radio batteries, torches, first-aid supplies and distress equipment for damage, corrosion or expiry dates. If you carry a liferaft or other serviced equipment, keep track of when professional inspection is due.
After using any emergency equipment, replace or repack it promptly. It is surprisingly easy for a torch, handheld VHF or first-aid item to be removed from the boat and forgotten before the next trip.
A useful safety kit is not the one with the most equipment in it. It is the one that matches the boat and passage, is properly maintained and can be used without rummaging through lockers when something has already gone wrong.
Check it before the season, review it before longer passages and make sure the people aboard know where the essentials are.
FAQs about motorboat safety equipment
What should you keep in a motorboat emergency grab bag?
A grab bag should contain items that would be useful if you had to leave the boat or wait for assistance. Depending on the passage, this could include a waterproof handheld VHF, drinking water, essential medication, a torch, spare batteries, thermal protection and important emergency information. Its contents should reflect where and how you use the boat.
Should you carry a spare kill cord on a motorboat?
If your motorboat uses a kill cord, carrying a compatible spare is sensible. Kill cords can become damaged, stretched or misplaced, and the engine should not be operated without the appropriate safety device in use. Keep the spare somewhere accessible rather than buried with general spares.
What extra safety equipment is useful when boating alone?
Solo boating places greater importance on equipment that stays with you if you become separated from the boat. A waterproof handheld VHF or suitable personal distress device carried on your person may be worth considering, alongside a properly fitted lifejacket and a reliable means of getting back aboard.
Are lifejacket lights and sprayhoods worth carrying?
They can provide additional protection, particularly for boating after dark or farther from immediate assistance. A lifejacket light can make someone in the water easier to locate, while a sprayhood can reduce the amount of spray reaching the face in rough conditions. Their suitability depends on the type of boating you undertake.
Should emergency contact information be kept aboard the motorboat?
It can be useful to keep essential vessel and emergency information somewhere that crew can find quickly. This might include the boat’s name, call sign or other identifying details, important contact numbers and information that could help someone else communicate clearly if the usual skipper is unable to do so.