Sail plan template: fill it in, print it, leave it with someone you trust
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A sail plan (also called a trip plan or float plan) is your route and a description of your boat, left with someone ashore. This free generator uses the fields of Transport Canada’s trip plan form and prints the Coast Guard search and rescue numbers right on the sheet, so the person holding it knows exactly who to call.
Transport Canada: “A sail plan (also known as a trip or float plan) includes your planned route and describes your boat. No matter what you call the plan, you should file one before heading out – even if it’s only for an hour or 2.” You file it with someone you trust, not with the Coast Guard. If you’re late, they call the Coast Guard’s regional 24-hour search and rescue line, or 911. When you’re back, you tell them: that cancels the plan.
Make your sail plan
Everything stays in your browser. The share link carries the plan inside the link itself, so send it only to the person holding your plan.
Sail plan generator
Fill in what you know; leave the rest blank. It saves in this browser as you type. When you’re done, print it or save it as a PDF, copy it as a text message, or make a link for the person ashore.
Opened from a shared link. This is a copy of the plan in the link; changes you make here stay in this browser.
- Save as PDF: tap “Print / Save as PDF”, then choose “Save as PDF” as the printer. On an iPhone, tap the Share button in the print screen and choose “Save to Files”.
- Share link: the whole plan is written into the link itself, after the #. It never reaches our server, but anyone who has the link can read it, so send it only to the person ashore who holds your plan.
- Autosave: the plan is kept only in this browser on this device, until you tap Clear.
Preview the printed sheet
What Transport Canada’s trip plan asks for
The generator follows the sections of Transport Canada’s Personal Boating Trip Plan form:
- Owner: name and address, telephone number and an emergency contact number.
- Vessel: the boat’s name and licence number, sail or power, size and type, hull, deck and cabin colour, type of engine and other distinguishing features.
- Radio: channels monitored (HF, VHF, MF), your MMSI, and satellite or cellular phone numbers.
- Safety equipment on board: life rafts, a dinghy or small boat (with its colour), flares (number and type), lifejackets or PFDs (number), a personal locator beacon, other safety gear, and the search and rescue telephone number.
- Trip details: date and time of departure, leaving from, heading to, proposed route, date and time of arrival, stopover points and the number of people on board.
Transport Canada’s own online form only prints or emails your plan: it isn’t sent to the Coast Guard. This one works the same way, and adds a car-and-trailer section and a list of everyone on board, as the US Coast Guard’s float plan does: your car and trailer tell searchers where you launched.
Why it goes to a person, not to the Coast Guard
File your sail plan with someone you trust. If you’re late, ask them to contact a Joint Rescue Coordination Centre.
Transport Canada, Safe Boating Guide (TP 511E, 2026), p. 33 · tc.canada.ca
Nobody is watching a sail plan except the person holding it. They are the one who notices you’re late, tries your phone and then raises the alarm with the facts a search needs. Transport Canada also asks you to tell them when you’re back: “This cancels your trip plan”, and saves a search for a boat that is already at the dock.
If they’re worried: who your contact calls
The Canadian Coast Guard says to “report an incident by calling your regional 24 hours emergency line”. These lines reach the Joint Rescue Coordination Centres and Maritime Rescue Sub-Centres, and the generator prints them on your plan:
| Province / territory | Toll-free | Satellite, local or out of area |
|---|---|---|
| British Columbia, Yukon | 1-800-567-5111 | 250-413-8933 |
| Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Northwest Territories, Nunavut | 1-800-267-7270 | 613-965-3870 |
| Quebec | 1-800-463-4393 | 418-648-3599 |
| Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island | 1-800-565-1582 | 902-427-8200 |
| Newfoundland and Labrador | 1-800-563-2444 | 709-772-5151 |
On lakes and rivers the Coast Guard doesn’t serve, Transport Canada says to call the police on 911, and its fishing advice is simply: “Make sure they know to call 911 if you don’t return on time.”
Where VesselSOS fits
VesselSOS is built to do the chasing for you: set a return time when you go to sea, and if you don’t answer its “Are you OK?”, its server texts your chosen contacts with a live map link. In Canada that text can’t go out yet: the automatic texts don’t reach Canadian or US (+1) numbers, so the phone asks “Are you OK?” and nobody else is alerted. Until that changes, leave this sail plan with someone, and send them your live link yourself.
What it adds today, as part of Pro (CA$3.99 a month or CA$19.99 a year, with a 14-day free trial): a live link the person holding your plan can open in any browser, showing your position, speed, course and phone battery, so they see where you actually are, not just where you meant to be. Canada routing for the SOS screen (the Coast Guard rescue centre for your waters, 911 inland) arrives in version 1.8, the next beta.
One app wherever you sail. A paper sail plan or a national scheme is tied to one country. VesselSOS works the same at home and abroad: on a charter in Greece or Croatia, the SOS screen picks the responsible rescue centre from your GPS position and gives you the local number and a call script. The app knows 222 rescue centres in 118 countries: Europe, North and Central America, the Caribbean, Asia, the Pacific, the Indian Ocean and Africa. If your contacts have UK or European numbers, the overdue texts already reach them. Pro also lets friends follow your trip while you’re at sea, and lets you mark hazards for other boaters.
VesselSOS on Canadian waters
- Life in danger? Tap “Yes, a life is in danger” and the app calls the Coast Guard rescue centre for your waters (JRCC Victoria, JRCC Trenton, MRSC Québec, JRCC Halifax or MRSC St. John’s), or 911 on inland lakes and rivers, with your GPS position in words and a word-for-word script.
- The rescue-centre list also shows the regional Coast Guard 24-hour line as a second Call button, and radio mode shows a VHF channel 16 MAYDAY text filled with your boat’s details for you to read on your own radio.
- A live link for the person holding your sail plan (part of Pro, with a 14-day free trial): your position, speed, course and phone battery in any browser, no app needed on their end. You send it by text yourself.
What it doesn’t do: it doesn’t file a sail plan, and it isn’t connected to the Coast Guard, any rescue centre or 911. The return-time check asks “Are you OK?” on your own phone, but its automatic texts can’t reach Canadian (+1) numbers yet, so in Canada nobody is alerted automatically if you’re late. A phone doesn’t replace a VHF radio with DSC, an EPIRB or PLB, or a lifejacket.
iPhone only, in invite-only TestFlight beta. Not in the App Store yet, no Android. Canada routing arrives in version 1.8, the next beta.
Quick answers
Is a sail plan mandatory in Canada?
Not for a pleasure craft, as far as we found. Transport Canada says “all recreational boaters are encouraged to file one before going out on the water”, even for an hour or two.
Do I file my sail plan with the Coast Guard?
No. You leave it with a responsible person: a friend, a family member or your marina. Transport Canada’s online form only prints or emails it. If you’re late, that person contacts a Joint Rescue Coordination Centre (through the Coast Guard’s regional 24-hour line) or 911.
Who does my contact call if I’m overdue?
The Canadian Coast Guard’s regional 24-hour search and rescue line for your waters, for example 1-800-267-7270 in Ontario or 1-800-567-5111 in British Columbia, or 911. On inland waters the Coast Guard doesn’t serve, 911.
Is the share link private?
The plan is written into the link itself (after the #), so it never reaches our server, and we don’t store it. But anyone who has the link can read the plan, so send it only to the person holding your sail plan.
How do I save it as a PDF?
Tap “Print / Save as PDF” and choose “Save as PDF” as the printer. On an iPhone, tap the Share button in the print screen and choose “Save to Files”.
Sources
- Transport Canada: Personal Boating Trip Plan form
- Transport Canada: Filing a trip plan
- Transport Canada: Safe Boating Guide, TP 511E (2026), PDF
- Canadian Coast Guard: Report a search and rescue incident (regional 24-hour lines)
Checked October 2026. Rules change — confirm with Transport Canada or the Canadian Coast Guard before you go.
This page summarises official guidance for planning; it isn’t legal advice. Where this page and the official text differ, the official text wins. Spotted an error? Email support@vesselsos.com.