Tom had a good list. I would amplify to state something that may not be obvious. Make sure you have the correct anchor size and type as well as a lot of anchor rode. When a newbie, I had an engine failure on the water on my CD 16 within the first month of use. Long Island Sound is very shallow with a sandy bottom, so I carried only 100 feet of rode and a small two-pound, fold-up grapnel. The one rule on the water is that Murphy (Murphy's Law) always strikes, and it struck me. Our boat became disabled in the Thames River a short distance up-river from the ferry terminal. We were in fifty feet of water, and since the Thames River bottom is granite carved out by the glacier, the grapnel with a 2-1 anchor rode ratio did not hold. We helplessly drifted toward the path of the ferry terminal at 2 mph. I installed a kicker, and then the next time out, our engine conked out just as we left our slip at the CT River and had entered a swift moving current in the channel that rapidly moved us toward moored boats. I started the kicker and we got out of harm's way. In our Marinaut, I goofed at Point Judith in neglecting to turn on the fuel valve after switching tanks (for those of you who are pilots, you know how many plane crashes occur by people like me who make that mistake, which is why my only experience with airplanes is to be a passenger on them.) Our boat had just entered a swift moving tidal channel flow of six feet wave height, and as Murphy would have it, that is where the motor died out. Murphy happens all the time, so assume the worst when you go out on the water and plan for it. And this not only applies to boating, but also to other aspects of our lives. For example, I was mowing my lawn when I slipped on a hill. In a heartbeat of time I grasped the handle to prevent myself from falling, and my foot went under the mower deck. What saved me from serious injury was that protective flap mandated by law. I never remove safety devices. I'm a rational person, and my rational thought is to let go of the handle if I slip, but when something happens so quickly that there is no time to think--only time to react, accidents happen.
Rich
