Taking on water: what to do if your boat is leaking or sinking

Last verified: 14 October 2026

Step by step

1. Lifejackets on, raise the alarm

   Make sure everyone is wearing a lifejacket and raise the alarm.[1][2]

2. Call for help early

   If you are sinking, send a MAYDAY. If the leak is under control but could get worse, send a PAN-PAN so rescuers know early.[3][4][5][6]

3. Find the leak

   If it is safe, find where the water is coming in. Check drain plugs and fittings that go through the hull below the waterline.[7][8][9]

4. Plug or close it

   Try to plug the hole with the materials you carry for hull leaks. If the leak is at a through-hull fitting with a valve, close the valve.[7][10][9]

5. Pump and bail

   Start the bilge pump and bail with a bailer or bucket. Keep doing it.[11][12][13][14]

6. Head for safety if you can

   If the boat can still move safely, head for the nearest harbour or shore that is safe to approach.[15]

7. Prepare to abandon

   Before leaving the boat, send a distress call, keep your lifejacket on, and don't take clothes off: put more on if you have time. Have your beacon ready.[16][17]

8. If you go in the water

   Activate your EPIRB or PLB. Stay with the boat while it floats and get as much of your body onto it as you can. Huddle together to stay warm and visible.[18][19][20][21]

Don't

• Don't take clothing off. Put more on if you have time.[16]
• Don't leave the boat while it is still afloat. You are much easier to find next to it.[18][19]
• Don't wait until the boat is about to sink before you call. Early notice can be crucial.[6]

Before you sail

• Before you launch: check that the drain plugs are in.[8]
• Check the bilge before every trip.[22]
• Carry tools and materials to fix hull leaks.[10]
• Know which openings on your boat could let water in, and how to close them.[23]
• Keep lifejackets and safety equipment easy to reach, and consider carrying an EPIRB.[24][17]

Frequently asked

Sources

1. Coastguard New Zealand (2026-10-14): “If you're sinking, make sure everyone is wearing lifejackets and you've raised the alarm (MAYDAY), then:”
2. Transport Canada – Safe Boating Guide (TP 511E, 03/2026) (2026-10-14): “have everyone onboard put on their lifejacket”
3. Coastguard New Zealand (2026-10-14): “A distress/Mayday call is used to indicate that a boat or person is threatened by grave and imminent danger and requires immediate assistance - for example, a boat taking on water, a vessel on fire, a person overboard or a serious medical emergency such as a heart attack.”
4. Maritime and Coastguard Agency (HM Coastguard) (2026-10-14): “Only to be used in the event of grave and imminent danger and assistance is required. Send a distress alert using digital selective calling (DSC), (press and hold the button until the alert is sent).”
5. Transport Canada – Small Commercial Vessel Safety Guide (TP 14070) (2026-10-14): “MAYDAY indicates a person or vessel is threatened by grave and imminent danger and requests immediate help. PAN PAN indicates a safety problem that does not require immediate assistance.”
6. Transport Canada – Small Commercial Vessel Safety Guide (TP 14070) (2026-10-14): “It is strongly recommended you report any situation that may present a danger to life, without delay. Early notification can be crucial to a positive outcome. You can use the PAN PAN radio signal for this purpose.”
7. Coastguard New Zealand (2026-10-14): “Locate the source of the leak if it’s safe to do so, try to plug it”
8. U.S. Coast Guard Boating Safety – A Boater’s Guide to the Federal Requirements for Recreational Boats (2026-10-14): “Avoid inconvenience and potential danger by taking a few minutes every time to verify you haven’t forgotten something critical, like putting in the drain plugs.”
9. Transport Canada – Small Commercial Vessel Safety Guide (TP 14070) (2026-10-14): “Holes that go through the hull below the waterline must not decrease the structural strength of the hull and must have a valve or some other way of keeping water out”
10. Transport Canada – Safe Boating Guide (TP 511E, 03/2026) (2026-10-14): “Make sure you have tools and materials to fix hull leaks.”
11. Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) (2026-10-14): “Start bilge pumps”
12. Transport Canada – Safe Boating Guide (TP 511E, 03/2026) (2026-10-14): “if the boat is flooding, remove water by bailing or using the bilge pump”
13. Coastguard New Zealand (2026-10-14): “Bail the water as best as you can with a bailer”
14. U.S. Coast Guard Boating Safety – A Boater’s Guide to the Federal Requirements for Recreational Boats (2026-10-14): “Keep the bilges free of water.”
15. Transport Canada – Small Commercial Vessel Safety Guide (TP 14070) (2026-10-14): “Stay out of conditions where water could come on board and accumulate. Head for the nearest port of refuge or shore that is safe to approach, if possible.”
16. Department of Transport, Western Australia (2026-10-14): “Before abandoning the boat: use your marine radio to send a distress call put on your lifejacket do not remove any clothing - put on more if you have time.”
17. Transport Canada – Safe Boating Guide (TP 511E, 03/2026) (2026-10-14): “These floating radio distress beacons can transmit a distress signal for hours. They can be manually activated or can float from a sinking or overturned vessel.”
18. Department of Transport, Western Australia (2026-10-14): “Once in the water: activate your EPIRB or PLB adopt the huddle position to keep everybody together and to conserve body heat stay with the boat for as long as possible if it is still afloat.”
19. Coastguard New Zealand (2026-10-14): “If the boat submerges and you have to go in the water, stay with the vessel – your chances of being found are much higher this way.”
20. U.S. Coast Guard Boating Safety – A Boater’s Guide to the Federal Requirements for Recreational Boats (2026-10-14): “To reduce the effects of hypothermia, get in or on the boat. Try to get as much of your body out of the water as possible.”
21. Transport Canada – Safe Boating Guide (TP 511E, 03/2026) (2026-10-14): “Huddle with others with your chests close together, arms around your mid to lower backs, and legs woven together. This also helps keep your group together until help arrives.”
22. RNLI (2026-10-14): “Check your engine, fluid levels and bilge.”
23. Transport Canada – Small Commercial Vessel Safety Guide (TP 14070) (2026-10-14): “Know which openings on your vessel – such as engine room vents – could let water in and take steps to prevent this from happening by being able to close them or by avoiding situations where this could occur.”
24. Department of Transport, Western Australia (2026-10-14): “having lifejackets and other safety equipment easily accessible storing emergency provisions in a watertight drum storing extra water in a floating container.”
25. Department of Transport, Western Australia (2026-10-14): “Most trailer boats have flotation to cope with flooding, and rarely sink. Larger boats without flotation usually take some time to sink.”

More emergency guides

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