Getting Your Boat Ready For A Long Journey: What You Need To Know

It might be a very exciting time, but there are a lot of things that you’re going to need to keep in mind when it comes to getting your boat out on the water. You’re going to need to ensure that you’re looking into professional services, planning ahead, and being prepared for a frankly huge number of things that could go wrong. However, you can keep those to a minimum by taking some important steps.

1. Keep on top of Maintenance

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Before you do anything with your boat, you’re going to need to make sure that everything is up to scratch. This means making sure that you’re completing all standard checks with your boat, as well as making sure that you’re looking a little deeper into any potential issues. If something looks like it’s getting a bit old or is making you feel a little uneasy, you should get it replaced as soon as possible.

The last thing that you want is to get your boat in the water and for something to break, meaning you have to get it back out of the water to fix it. You should also ensure that your boat is double-checked by a professional or another pair of eyes that know what they’re looking at to make certain that you haven’t missed anything important.

2. Sort out Transport

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You might find that it’s very stressful to move your boat from one location to another, especially if you’re taking it on a long journey. You might find that, instead of taking your boat on a long journey yourself, which you might not have done before, it’s a better choice to invest in professional boat transport services such as those at https://www.shiply.com/boat-transport/ which will mean your boat is better looked after and in safe hands. You’re likely to find it’s a huge relief that your boat is being handled by experts and trained professionals. This can be great for the blood pressure, and you can focus on everything else while your boat is being moved to its destination by people who know exactly what they’re doing.

3. You Need To Organize Storage

Next on what is turning out to be a very long list is ensuring that you’ve looked into the best storage facilities in the area, especially if you’re moving your boat prior to your trip and you need to make sure that you have everything sorted out at home too. You should be looking into storage facilities that have surveillance, and also good quality physical security.

Of course, you might not be able to have a look around the facilities yourself and have the boat dropped off directly there, so you might find that getting a friend who lives in the area to check it out might be a good idea, or if this isn’t an option, make sure that you’re having detailed talks with the storage company over the phone to get everything sorted out.

4. You Need To Make Sure Your Home Is Looked After

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While you’re away, you’re going to need to bring in someone to help look after your home. This could be:

  • A trusted neighbor who has a spare key to come in and water your plants, check security and oversee that everything’s OK. They might also collect your mail and contact you frequently to let you know what’s going on in your home.
  • A house sitter, who can ensure that your home isn’t left empty. There are plenty of sites online that can help you to find someone trustworthy to look after your pets and keep everything in your house clean. It can also help you to feel a lot more relaxed as there’ll be someone occupying your home, so if there’s something wrong, it will be noticed immediately.
  • A family member could stop by on weekends to make sure that your home hasn’t been broken into, collect your mail, and ensure that general maintenance is kept up.

There are a lot of different things that you can do to ensure that your home is kept secure and to decrease the amount of stress that you might have when you’re away from your home for a while. It can be a really important factor to help you enjoy your vacation, especially if you haven’t been away for a long period of time before.

5. You Need To Be Prepared

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Finally, and possibly most importantly, you have to be prepared for anything that could go wrong, so at a bare minimum, you need to make sure that you have health and safety precautions sorted out. You’re also going to need to be certain that you bring spares for most or all of the important parts of your boat with you. You should also be making sure that you’re notifying your marina if you have to, as well as double-checking over your boat when you meet it on the other side of the journey. This can be incredibly important to keeping you and your fellow travelers safe, so don’t overlook it or try to hash something together at the last minute.

To Wrap Everything Up

As you’ve seen, there are a lot of steps that should be taken to make sure that your boat is prepared for a long journey on both land and sea. You should start by making sure that you’re conducting thorough maintenance, and you should certainly get it checked either by a professional or just another person who knows what they’re talking about.

You might also find that looking into high-quality storage solutions, as well as the correct preparation can be incredibly useful. In addition to this, looking into house- sitting and having someone to look after any pets that aren’t coming with you can help reduce stress while you’re out at sea. Looking into professional boat transportation services can be fantastic when it comes to helping you focus on these things at home for a little longer before you leave.