Charles Loos: Captain’s Five Finger Checklist

Is it safe to go out on the ocean tomorrow?  This question eternally vexes small boat captains as they pore over weather forecasts and plan fishing trips. This presentation provides a framework for making that all-important go or no-go decision.  

The Captains Five Finger Checklist covers all parts of a day at sea from morning bar crossing to afternoon winds and final return. Wind, swell, fog and tide will change throughout the day and the Checklist provides a planning road map that builds confidence and promotes good decisions. 

Charles Loos is a lifelong waterman with a background in surfing, fishing, ocean boating, boatbuilding and extreme endurance rowing. Growing up in a beach town he was in the water 5 days a week through early adulthood. His passion is ocean fishing from small boats. He has 26 years of ocean boating experience in California and 22 years in Oregon.  

A registered professional engineer, Charles brings rigor and discipline to his understanding of fisheries, oceanography and seamanship. In midlife, Charles began a shift away from engineering and toward mentorship and teaching. As the Ocean Coach, Charles teaches weather forecasting, seamanship, radio skills and navigation. His coaching clients learn how to cross the bar, venture safely onto the ocean and become the captain everyone trusts.