Most and least useful bit of equipment

[lumphammer]

We are a year and a half away from leaving the cold and windy shores of the UK to head south where we hope it will be a lot hotter.

Apart from the obvious (boat, sails, engine etc) what is the most useful item you have that makes the boating life more pleasant?

What do you wish you had left behind?

 

[jordanbasset]

Lots of useful items, difficult to pick one but would go with the ecology water filter. Probably least useful was Navtex, only because it is easy to get upto date weather info now with the internet

 

[tri39]

Aquire well insulated fridge. Windlass. Solar panels. Reliable engine of adequate power.
Easily reefing systems inc Self tacking staysail if poss. Generous ground tackle. Bimini.
cockpit chart plotter.
Leave behind excess weight which covers a broad spectrum!!!
Leave behind a property in the UK.

 

[Poignard]

Most useful thing is a cook.

 

[multihullsailor6]

Useful:
-Mosquito netting on the saloon door and on the opening hatches.
-Make sure you have good cross ventilation through the boat, i.e. air "in" at the front and "out" at the stern with dorade vents and good quality solar ventilators
- At least 6 rubber mooring line dampers (like Forsheda)
- Check that your fridge with a freezer can take "tropical" climates like the newer Waico ones. Or have a fridge with a keel cooler.
- AIS
- Think about your communication / internet wishes and needs: unlocked dongle, wifi antenna ...
Useless:
- Everything non-essential I haven't used in the last two years gets dumped!

 

[Csail]

Electric windlass and heating.

 

[GrahamM376]

Many boats/people arriving for the first time in hotter countries are ill prepared. The fridge for instance may work well in the UK but what about in 30-40 degrees for weeks on end? Do you have the battery capacity to keep it going and the means to charge?

Gantry and tilting solar panels, bimini, sun awning, mosquito nets for all hatches, 12v fan or two.

Spares tend to be more expensive and, because of language difficulties harder to source. Engine spares and filters, heads service kits, light bulbs, etc. Nuts and bolts as imperial threads and metric fine generally not available in places like Portugal. Good toolkit essential.

If you anchor rather than use marinas, good ground tackle is essential. There's a big difference in anchoring for the odd night when the forecast looks good at home to being on anchor as a norm, whatever weather gets thrown at you.

The list of what to take is endless and I can't think of anything I would have left behind.

 

[Baggy]

Its been said a million time.. and its true

A Wire Coat Hanger...

 

[seastar777]

Its been said a million time.. and its true

A Wire Coat Hanger...

Why?

 

[simon barefoot]

Fishing rod.
(No! Not the reason for the coathanger!!)

 

[Conachair]

Electric windlass and heating.

With you on the windlass - great bits of kit. The heating, well, only in that it's useful as a pointer that you're much too far north

As for the rest in no particuar order..... aries windvane I couldn't live without. Sun cover from radar arch to mast was great back when the boat was in a hot place, ipod and podcasts through cockpit speakers for a bit of music and radio 4. Permamently rigged preventers each side for the main on camcleats made life easy, even in light airs to lock the boom in place.


On the list for next time is a deck pump which can switch between sea water & fresh, wash the fish bits and anchor crud off then freshwater rinse on deck. And a little small pole to pole out the staysail for downwind windy. Would love an alil nesting dinghy, with a poycarbonate bit in the floor to watch the fish ignoring your bait.


Least useful, dunno, most of it must have been thrown out by now But on a philosophical note, least useful is the idea that you are in control and knew what you are doing

 

[Palarran]

My watermaker has been the best investment so far. I love lots of fresh water.

 

[blenkinsop]

Make sure your sun awning which hopefully goes from stern to mast and completely covers the cabin, has curtains Ie side pieces. The tropical sun is still very hot as it goes down and you will need something between you and it until at least 5pm. We had ones that zipped on so you could edremove them if you want, they were a sort of nylon mesh so still let the breeze through.

 

[david36]

Other than obvious basic boat kit that every reasonable cruising boat will have, I would nominate the most useful items as 12volt fans preferably Carfamo (?) from Canada, if you can recover from the shock of the price, a Nature Pure water filter from General Ecology, an on-deck grill of some type, good mosi nets and a range of bimini/boom tent sunshades for all eventualities. Least useful has been a fold up trolley, intended for gas bottles/fuel jugs etc and a sextant.
Fair winds.

 

[duncan99210]

Folding bikes - must have during the winter, not so much used in the summer. Cobb bbq.

Be ruthless during the winter, review the contents of your lockers and throw away anything that you haven't used that year....

 

[KellysEye]

Most useful - 1. wind vane and 2. watermaker. We don't carry anything that isn't useful.

 

[Roberto]

Not really "equipment", but the I must say the piece of equipment I use the most is the Leatherman tool.

I am not a fan of multifunction monsters "the only thing they cannot make is coffee", but as I was offered the Leatherman as a gift, I passively placed it on my belt when on the boat... years later, I realize that I have probably disassembled and reassembled the whole boat with only that little tool, and it has never left the belt since.
It is not absolutely necessary, I must have three serious tools for each of the "functions", but the Leatherman is surely the handiest IMHO

I also kept the original receipt, 25y guarantee, I had it refurbished twice during the last 10 years, and sending it again in the near future.

One must not try to get into a plane, a Police Office or Tribunal with that thing on the belt though

 

[Mad Pad]

Wire coat hanger +1

 

[Blueboatman]

Good sun hat
That coat hanger again
£3 or €3 wind up torches
Chocolate Hobnobs ( international currency of bribery)
Duct tape

 

[Richard10002]

If I had my time again, and the money, I would have the following:

New Generation Anchor - this would have saved much money, and much heartache.
Well built bimini
Water maker
Generator
A much better dinghy.
550Ah of battery power, rather than 220Ah and something like a Sterling or Adverc alternator regulator system.
Solar panels
Aircon (powered from the generator)
Kindle 3G

You can't isolate any one thing as the most important, but the following were very handy:

Mobile Internet access by a variety of means.
Yachtmaster prep. and passing the exam
Chart plotter at the helm
Bow thruster
Electric windlass
Very visible markings on the anchor chain, along with a chart showing the chain length at each mark.
2 LED lanterns to hang as anchor lights fore and aft. Not only did it save battery power and make me more visible, it was also easier to identify the boat when returning from ashore at night.
Sugar scoop stern with ladders - great for getting on and off the dinghy. Great fro swimming and scuba diving.
Preventers for the boom.
Sterling amp usage monitor.
iPod and good sound system
Extensive tool kit and spares.

There's more, but it's late