Emergency Plan Before the Trip: Who Calls Whom

Most emergencies at sea are not made worse by the sea. They are made worse by confusion on land. When a boat is late and nobody knows the route, the launch ramp, or who was on board, hours get lost before anyone calls for help. The fix is cheap and takes five minutes: write a float plan before you leave the dock.

What Goes in the Plan

A float plan is a single page of plain facts. Write the route you intend to take and the fishing area you plan to work. Name the launch ramp you left from, your departure time, and your expected return time. These four lines are what tell a shore contact where to point rescuers if you do not come back on schedule.

Keep it simple and specific: from which ramp, which way, and back when.

Who Is On Board

List every person on the boat with a contact number for each. Include full names, not nicknames. This list is what lets your shore contact reach people quickly.

• Full name and mobile number for every person on board
• Emergency contact for each crew member
• Any medical conditions, including seasickness medication
• Note anyone who is a weak swimmer, a child, or an elderly passenger
• How many life jackets are on board and who is wearing one

Your One Shore Contact

Name one person — not three — who holds the plan and is responsible for raising the alarm. Three people means nobody acts. Agree fixed check-in times: one call or message when you leave, one at mid-trip, and one when you are heading back. Use whatever works: a WhatsApp message, a short call, or a shared location — agreed in advance.

Before you go, check life jackets, fuel, drinking water, phone battery and a power bank, and confirm that everyone's phone will have signal coverage along the route. This is also the moment to open the B7R app, which gives you tide times for Shuwaikh and Shuaiba, the current sea state, navigation tools and a one-tap emergency SOS button — all worth having on the water.

What the Shore Contact Does After You Are Late

Agree the trigger in writing: if you are X hours late past your expected return and there is no check-in, the shore contact stops waiting and acts. They call your mobile first, then any second number, then the official coast guard or maritime emergency number — the generic one saved in their phone before you left. Nobody should be inventing numbers at that point.

The shore contact should also have your car and trailer details, the ramp where you parked, and the colour and name of the boat, so search teams can confirm the launch point.

Print or screenshot the plan for the shore contact. Keep a second copy on the boat, and tell the crew exactly where both the plan and the emergency number are kept. A plan nobody can find is not a plan.

Do the writing on land while everyone is calm. A five-minute plan before you leave prevents hours of confusion at sea — and confusion is the one thing that turns a late return into a bad day.

The B7R app is free on Google Play and gives you tide times for Shuwaikh and Shuaiba, sea state, seasons, a fish guide, a catch log and navigation tools; use it to plan the trip, then hand your float plan to the person who will call for help if you need it.

Download it free and plan smart before every trip: Google Play