Night Leg Checklist

What it does

• Night legs fail on preparation order, not on navigation skill.
• The list is ordered by when each item must be true, not by importance.
• Twelve items fit on one card and survive a wet cockpit.

How to use it

1. Charge and mount lights before loading the boat, not at the slipway.
2. Fix a turnaround time and tell someone ashore what it is.
3. Mark the last safe landing on the chart before dusk, not during it.
4. Debrief within a day; the checklist improves only if the gaps are written down.

Safety notes

• A night leg without a declared turnaround time is an open-ended commitment.
• Do not run the checklist from memory in moving water; read it aloud.