What totally useless item do you have on the boat besides yourself?

[KenMcCulloch]

For me it's a toss up between the Bimini and associated string but without a frame (it's a sad story) and the Navtex which has not worked since the incredibly stupidly designed antenna gave up the ghost. We may find the funds to fix that, this year.

 

[cavitation]

I am sure everyone has something. You think you may need it or you will be able to find a use for it at some point but now it has been on your boat so long you don't want to get rid of it.
We have a long thin roll of white material. don't know what it is for and it has always been there. We have never found a use for it but I live in hope. It has been everywhere with us.
What useless item do you carry.. you never know, someone may be able to suggest a use?

WIFE !

 

[pvb]

I've got a fishing rod holder on the boat - never used. Just like the canvas boom tent. Or the full cockpit cover. Or the assorted bits of plastic piping (should come in handy one day...). Or the spare lifejackets I found last week, under the forecabin berths, which dated back to a boat we owned 40 years ago! Sadly, they were perished and were despatched to the recycling bin.
.

 

[bitbaltic]

Already dealt with the one useless set of things- the cockpit cushions. I hate cockpit cushions. Why a previous owner thought British summers merited a full set of the damn things I will never know. The interior is small and the cushions are huge. after two seasons of shoving them unsatisfactorily behind bulkheads I have removed them to a cupboard at home (where frankly I also begrudge them house space) just in case one day I ever sell the boat. That isn't going to happen, so next season they will probably end up on eBay or the dump.

 

[MoodySabre]

A log and a salad spinner.

 

[affinite]

Fishing Rod
Im in the Med
Sailing Boots
Im in the Med
Tom Cunliffe English Channel Pilot
Im in the Med

 

[jimi]

Sun cream ... I'm in the UK

 

[Searush]

Telescopic Spinnaker pole, it's seized up again but then I haven't used it in 15 years, so maybe it's not that surprising.

 

[JumbleDuck]

When I bought the boat I got two nice stainless flasks for easy access to hot drinks in the night watch. I would have done better to remember that (a) I always hog the nightwatch and (b) I don't like hot drinks. They've never been opened.

 

[West Coast]

Not wanting to start any anchor discussions, but for the past 10 years, I have carried a 35lb non genuine CQR on board, which came with the boat, trying to convince myself it would make a useful kedge. It will be going onto eBay shortly, likely replaced with a fortress or similar

 

[Birdseye]

leaving aside the stuffed cat ( dont ask) I reckon the most useless thing is the vase for flowers.

 

[Nikia]

A snooker cue........................no I'm not joking, it's a long story :sleeping:

 

[Nikia]

A snooker cue........................no I'm not joking, it's a long story :sleeping:

Oh, nearly forgot, and a spirit level.

 

[CAPTAIN FANTASTIC]

My 3rd Anchor.

 

[Nostrodamus]

My 3rd Anchor.

You have only got three!
You need to get more... just in case

 

[[70521]]

What totally useless item do you have on the boat besides yourself?

Nothing!

I've spent all winter clearing the boat out of junk even the 2013 tide tables are off her, she came with tons of the stuff that the last owner thought they needed.

Two reasons for this:

a) I am an engineer; every item needs to earn its place; and

b) I am a mountaineer; you carry everything and I was taught after a trip tip out your rucksack and make three piles

1. Stuff you used and needs washing
2. Stuff you used and does not need washing
3. Stuff you did not use

Look carefully at the last item and consider not packing it next time.

I do the same on the boat.

 

[chrisb]

A Paguro 3000 compact generator .

 

[john_morris_uk]

Hmm - we use our compass all the time.

Perhaps we are doing something wrong?

However I will nominate the end fitting I rescued off the spinnaker pole that I broke two years ago. Its doing nothing but I can't bring myself to throw it away.

 

[JumbleDuck]

Compass

I'm puzzled. Is that because you never care which way you're pointing or because you have something else which gives you that information when you need it?

Years ago I was helping a pal deliver his boat from the south coast to the Clyde. After a couple of days someone said they thought I was steering the wrong course. No, I said, I'm using the magnetic compass because I think the (very expensive brand) fluxgate one is wrong by about five degrees. Oh how they laughed. Oh how they weren't laughing by the time we reached the Clyde and the error had reached sixty degrees.

 

[john_morris_uk]

I'm puzzled. Is that because you never care which way you're pointing or because you have something else which gives you that information when you need it?

Years ago I was helping a pal deliver his boat from the south coast to the Clyde. After a couple of days someone said they thought I was steering the wrong course. No, I said, I'm using the magnetic compass because I think the (very expensive brand) fluxgate one is wrong by about five degrees. Oh how they laughed. Oh how they weren't laughing by the time we reached the Clyde and the error had reached sixty degrees.

The several comments naming the compass confused me as well. How on earth do people know which way they are going?

Please don't say 'use the plotter' as steering a course using a GPS and COG is a complete pain in the backside. The lag in the response time mucks everything up when you are steering manually.