Check Lists and All That

For years I've tried to impress on clients taking the CruiseMasters Boating instruction program, as well as other boaters recreational and professional, the use and value of check lists. In my own publication, "The Art of Basic Boathandling: A Training & Reference Manual" (which clients get free!) I must have at least a dozen sample checklists just waiting for the boat-owner to adapt for her or his particular vessel; for fueling, for preparing to dock, for leaving the dock, for anchoring, just to name a few. Not exactly exciting reading, but important, nevertheless.

Now comes some strong authentication: "The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right", by Atui Gawande, published by Metropolitan Books. Dr. Gawande, an American-trained surgeon from India, describes his book as being about how to prevent highly trained, specialized workers from making dumb mistakes. In a recent interview by the Seattle Times Dr. Gawande describes the key things about a checklist. It has to be short, limited to critical steps only. Generally the checking is not done by the top person. In the cockpit, the checklist is read by the copilot; in the operating room it is done best by a nurse.


For us boaters, our cruising partner (assuming that we are at the helm) could, and should, be the reader.

In his interview with Time's reporter Bruce Ramsey, Dr. Gawande traces commercial pilot use of checklists back to a flight in 1935, when Boeing's B-17 was being tested by the Army Air Corps. On that first flight it took off, stalled, crashed and burned. The new plane was complicated, and the highly experienced pilot had forgotten a routine step.

Sometimes hierarchy can present a problem. Ever met a skipper who knows it all? The doctor wondered how the this might play out in an operating room after a nurse saw a surgeon touch a non-sterile surface.

Nurse: "You have to change your glove."

Surgeon: "It's fine."

Nurse: "No, it's not. Don't be stupid."

Back to Ramsey's interview, highly intelligent and trained people are, occasionally, stupid. And the more complicated tasks become, the easier it is to crash and burn with even a 1% error rate on each step.

Brings to mind a time we were anchored in Port Townsend Bay while attending the Wooden Boat Festival. As evening came so did the wind, and all that night, while we held fast, other boats were breaking loose and quickly blowing past us, some being chased by rescue boats, one ending up on the rocks near the ferry terminal. It was not a nice night. Our guests, berth in the forepeak, experienced nothing but pounding and bouncing all night long. (They still cruise with us, though.) A friend who knew the area well wisely hauled anchor and made for Mystery Bay; We stayed put, not really knowing the area and trusting a firm anchor.

The next day, though feeling very confident having made a good anchoring, since the wind was still strong we decided to make for the safety and quiet of the Boat Basin harbor. Pretty full, but we got a commercial slip, and a comfortable night following. The next day as we left for Seattle, as we pulled out I heard a whip-snap sound but couldn't relate a cause, so on we went. The wind was now quiet, the sea almost glassy. So we cleaned up lines and fenders, and there it was, the female end of the shore power cord, still fastened to the boat, but no cord! I had forgotten to disconnect the electric cord at the dockside. An embarrassed radio call to the harbor master to say that there was a still live electric cord afloat in his slip (great for electrolysis), and then a mental self-flagilation for not using the checklist, the 'Leaving the Dock' list, that is.

So much for earlier confidence.

So, make use of your checklists, and get things right.

And if you read this in time, catch Dr. Gawande's appearances in Seattle this Sunday 7:30 and 9:30 PM at Town Hall; Monday 8 PM at the Sorrento Hotel; and Tuesday Noon at the Washington Athletic Club. Tickets through brownpapertickets.com.