Creating a Cockpit-ready Pilotage Plan

This crib sheet helps you turn your appraisal into a cockpit-ready pilotage plan. It’s an execution aid for the skipper/navigator to run the pilotage and give crisp, one-breath instructions to the helm — not a planning worksheet or a crew handout.

Write it after you’ve decided the route, safe depths and no-go areas; the plan should simply record what you will do and the cues that confirm it. Keep it short, unambiguous and heads-up: split the track into stages, keep port notes on the left and starboard on the right, and add tick boxes so you always know where you are. Capture the essentials — Stages & Alterations, Headings & Distances, Safety Limits, Recognition Cues — and park operational admin (channels, permissions/calling points, local rules, berthing) in a separate Comms, Permissions & Local Rules box.

Key requirements of a good pilotage plan:

1. Stages & Alterations: Break the pilotage into clear stages (at every course change or major feature) and write a one-breath instruction for each stage; include a tick box so you can mark progress underway.
2. Headings & Distances: Note the initial magnetic heading (°M) and leg distance (nm) for orientation and timing checks—use them for sense-checking, not as the sole means of holding a ground track.
3. Safety Limits: Define the guardrails for each leg—minimum safe depth (allowing for tide), clearing bearing(s), no-go line(s), and an explicit abort/holding plan—phrased as simple if/then triggers.
4. Recognition Cues: List what you expect to see (marks, transits, lights, leading lines, radar targets), where you expect to see it relative to the vessel, and ensure it’s confirmed before each key action; keep port notes on the left of the track and starboard notes on the right to match reality.
5. Comms, Permissions & Local Rules: Record watching/working VHF channels, reporting/calling points, any permissions required (e.g. river/fairway crossings, locks, bridges), local speed/no-wash rules, berthing instructions, and a phone fallback if radio is patchy.

This crib sheet explains the key needs for any cockpit-ready pilotage plan. It is used in the Creating a Pilotage Plan topic of the 'How to get in and out of harbour' module, part of the Day Skipper Theory course.

Document Preview