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Preparing Hatseflats for outings

Preparing Hatseflats for a long trip is very different from a daysail. I prefer to not take too much on board, so for every outing I must decide what I will actually need. It might be easier to always have everything on board but it saves a lot of weight if you leave ashore what you don't need (and the stuff that you don't need will last longer in your garage than in your damp boat).
Preparing your boat like this for every outing requires extra work and is only feasible with good work lists and checklists.

Work Lists

I have put some work lists to perform for trips with Hatseflats. Maybe they are useful for others too.

Preparing the 'Hubert' container

This is a small watertight container for emergencies. It has my name and phone number on it.

• Opinel 8 knife
• Hand gel for clean hands (no water required)
• headlamp
• cigarette lighter
• mosquito spray and net
• pen
• medicine for 2 days - more in toiletry bag.
• room for 2 smart phones and watertight bags
• sunscreen SPF30 or SPF50
• toothbrush

Preparing the 'Hatseflats' container

This is a small watertight container with small items specific to Hatseflats.

• sailors knife
• handheld VHF
• handheld GPS
• anemometer
• handheld compass
• binoculars
• medicine for 2 days (again!)
• wrench #13 for M8 nuts
• sunglasses for skipper
• 2 lightweight isolation blankets
• 2 lightweight rain ponchos
• grease for oar leathers
• 1-2 plasters (more in First Aid box)

Preparing the electronic devices

• charge VHF
• charge batteries for GPS
• charge PowerBrick
• charge GoalZero powerbank with 4AA batteries
• charge GoPro
• charge batteries for nav lights

On longer trips it is handy to bring:

• nav lights
• 230V/12V charger for VHF
• solar panel to charge the powerbanks

Preparing the Galley Box

• cutlery: Opinel 8 knife, 2 sporks, lighter, matches, pen, wooden spoon for cooking
• waste bags
• Campingaz burner with spare C306 cartridges
• Small cooking set with cooking pan, sauce pan, 2 folding cups, 2 beakers and 2 folding naps
• 2 plastic drinking glasses
• cutting board
• pepper and salt
• washing up liquid and sponge
• cooking oil (sunflower or olive)
• 1-2 drying cloths
• instant coffee, tea bags

Preparing Documents

• car insurance policy including cover for passengers, green card
• boat insurance policy
• trailer insurance policy
• Vaarbewijs
• VHF certicficate and registration

Preparing Car and Trailer

Car:

• Check tyre pressure (2.4 bar)
  Increase to 2.4 forward and 2.8 aft when heavily loaded.
• Put certified trailer lock in boot.
• Grease ball of towing hitch.

Preparing the trailer:

• Check tyre pressure of road wheels (2.2 bar)
• Check tyre pressure of guide wheels.
• Ensure that the cushions are adjusted to support Hatseflats.
• Add protective ring around mast to separate mast from transom.
• Add webbing strap around aft part of Hatseflats.
• Put transport cover on Hatseflats.

Checklists

The bare hull of Hatseflats weighs only 100kg but setting up for a quick sail already adds 82kg. For a daysail you would take provisions, an anchor etc which takes the sailing weight up to 200kg.
The next big hurdle is to set the boat up for an overnight trip. Adding the boat tent and camping gear adds another 35kg. After that, camping for a week adds only 15kg.

Preparing for a longer trip is not helpful unless you are planning to spend weeks without access to shops. On our recent trip on the Limfjord we found that Struer and Thisted had supermarkets but the smaller villages did not have shops. This means you must plan to visit a bigger town at least every week to stock up on your food.

Each of the checklists below builds on the previous one, so you must add the weights as well - a good brain training. Preparing for a week-long camping trip means a total weight of around 250kg (without crew).