BBK26 - A Passage Planning System!

🧭 BBK26 Passage Planning Sheet

Simple decisions, made well

Preparing for Britain by Kayak 2026, I realised something early:

This expedition won’t be decided by fitness — but by the quality of my daily decisions.

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🎯 The Problem

Forecasts are good — but they don’t make decisions.

And when you’re tired, slightly committed to a plan, or just keen to get going, it’s easy to: • push on when you shouldn’t • ignore small warning signs • decide too late

I’ve done all three.

As a solo paddler, there’s no one else to sense-check that thinking (unless you’ve got an at-home “Anchor” keeping an eye on things).

No second opinion. Just judgement.

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🧠 The Idea

One simple principle:

Decide before you launch — and keep deciding during the day.

The sheet combines: • Route planning (tides, wind, hazards, options) • Simple scoring (wind, sea, forecast confidence, personal state) • Clear triggers (go / caution / no-go)

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⚖️ Make the call • 0–3 → Go • 4–5 → Caution • 6+ → No-Go

With a few hard rules: • Wind vs tide = worse than forecast • If the first 2–3 hours aren’t clearly manageable → don’t launch • If it’s getting harder → act early

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🛶 Built for real use

This isn’t a neat planning tool — it’s designed for real conditions.

I use it as an A4 laminated sheet: • write on with a fine Sharpie • wipe clean with hand sanitiser • reuse daily

And:

I photograph each completed sheet

That builds a running log of decisions and conditions — especially useful when reviewed later using tools like ChatGPT as a learning aid.

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🧭 The point

This isn’t about bold decisions.

It’s about consistent ones, day after day.

The goal isn’t to prove anything today. It’s to keep paddling tomorrow.

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📍 Final thought

Expeditions rarely fail from one big mistake.

They drift off course through small ones.

This sheet is how I stay on track — especially when there’s no one else there to check me.