What would you spend £1000 on?

[Chiara’s slave]

cause or effect? Is the reason you always go to marinas that you can plug in! Would being able to go somewhere different add value to your sailing?

whilst I am sure windvanes can be used for marina hopping I am not sure you will see any major benefit unless doing long passages (where the heater would be further up my list) or are consuming too much power with your autopilot.

i am surprised nobody has suggested a code0/genaker/spinnaker. I’m not sure what is needed to do that on your boat -or if technically it meets the “easier to handle” definition but it would certainly be on my list of considerations if all the other things were ticked.

for U.K. sailing I’m not convinced a Bimini adds anything but a full cockpit cover might?

I think nobody has suggested a code zero because it’s out of budget. We are 30ft and would love one.

Bimini, I think you are right. And we’ve just paid about £800 for the aft half of a cockpit full tent. We did have the tubes, and a sprayhood, thats just the material part to zip to the sprayhood and button down around the coaming. It makes a staggering difference, rain, cold, or even in the sunshine we’ve been having.

 

[baart]

Thank you for all the suggestions so far. I think bimini and cockpit cover tempt me the most although our boom is quite low so that may not work. New mattresses certainly add comfort. Maybe a second-hand gennaker could be doable in that budget. Hot water and heating - I am still debating whether we would spend enough time at anchor when cold to justify the expense and with hot water we are quite limited with space for the tank. There is no rush so actually bitcoin might be an option short term

 

[Chiara’s slave]

Our tent.

Our cockpit being 8ft long on the seats, it’s a big space. You can leave the hatch open at night, and whilst it’s not draught free, it does shelter the companionway completely if you’re moored stern to wind.

 

[Blueboatman]

Asymmetric coloured sail . Just so much fun .
£1k deposit and ……?

 

[Porthandbuoy]

A Diesel Fired Hot Air Heater is top of the list for year round comfort.
It-
Makes getting out of bed in the morning a pleasure.
Keeps the boat sweet and dry by elimination condensation, and by extension, eliminates mould.
Dries out clammy sleeping bags.
Gets your oilskins dry after a wet passage.
Makes working on the boat in the winter far more pleasant.

First thing I fitted on my last two boats.

Mind you, both boats were already fitted with an Autohelm.

 

[lustyd]

I have to say if you're not anchoring you're missing out on a lot that boating has to offer. As such I would fit solar, hot water, water based heater in that order. I like my hot air heater, but it doesn't provide hot water for living on anchor.

Of course, if you have a CQR and 10m chain I would start on the ground tackle - that will eat a grand easily but you'll save that by anchoring out more.

 

[lustyd]

Oh, and one of these...

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Wacaco-Minipresso-Compatible-Nespresso-compatibles/dp/B01M4J94WY/

 

[Stemar]

If the budget is strict, a folding/feathering prop.

If it can be stretched a bit (probably quite a bit!) a cockpit tent would probably get the most brownie points as it will give you an extra room and means you're still sitting outside enjoying the view when everyone else has retreated below of an evening. It was the best investment we made on our old boat, even though it was a significant fraction of the value of an old Snapdragon. We couldn't, but if you can sail with the lid on when it's raining, even better.

 

[Dutch01527]

Good point, already have self tailing winches x4, all lines led to cockpit, tiller autopilot, 12v fridge. Thought about heating but we always stop at marinas and it turned out that a simple convector heater does the job and underway we are in the cockpit anyway. For the same reason never got to install a shower or hot water system. We are still resonably fit and aiming to keep it that way
We have good reasonably new electronics. No radar though but so far have not been in a situation where one would be needed.

Upgrading the heads to electric is an option. Also thought about bimini top but not sure if it would work on such a small boat. Windvane sounds tempting not sure if it is possible to get one for that kind of money.

My new boat has quite a few extras already fitted and I added a electric windlass, led lights and wireless ais myself.

Electric toilet. Not a thing I thought I needed but it is great especially with non sailing quests on board. Pretty cheap to buy c.£220 from Force4
AIS on plotter, vhf and ipad. Excellent, a must have for me now
Radar. I hardly use it but will in fog or near shipping lanes
New Axiom plotter. Fiddly to use and poor display. Waterproof android tablet has more functionality and much better display
Electric windlass with remote ( 4x4 winch remote from eBay £20). Great addition especially when short handed.
New dimmable LED lights. Make a massive difference. Super bright dimmable to low warm glow.
Boom strut. Very convenient in many ways

Diesel heater is next on the list.

 

[baart]

I have to say if you're not anchoring you're missing out on a lot that boating has to offer.

We probably do, I agree but we have a teenager on board that needs access to the shore more than we do and marinas are part of the deal to have him sailing with us. We basically go where the skateparks are have seen most of them along the south coast

Oh, and one of these...

with that I am increasing the budget to £1055.90

If the budget is strict, a folding/feathering prop.

already have one

A Diesel Fired Hot Air Heater is top of the list

I do get the point about heating maybe I am limiting myself with the places we go to and times we use the boat.

Now with the cockpit tent do you have standing head room there? In our case it would require some clever engineering I think. The boom is quite low and the mainsheet traveller is in the middle of the cockpit. Don't know if it can be done, will investigate.

 

[Chiara’s slave]

Your lad could take up paddleboarding, that would increase your number of stop off points.

 

[RogerJolly]

I have to say if you're not anchoring you're missing out on a lot that boating has to offer. As such I would fit solar, hot water, water based heater in that order. I like my hot air heater, but it doesn't provide hot water for living on anchor.

Of course, if you have a CQR and 10m chain I would start on the ground tackle - that will eat a grand easily but you'll save that by anchoring out more.

Interested in the water based heater. What would that be please?

 

[baart]

Other things I don't have yet :

AIS transponder, only have a receiver not sure if it is a top priority
Electric windlass but the chain locker on Hunters is really small so might not be possible to fit one in.

we have led lights (not dimmable though) and boom strut. Sails-wise we have 135% Genoa, small jib and older main but in a good condition, so far covered all the conditions we experienced. Could do with a gennaker I guess.

What would you say would be the crucial investment then for our upcoming two week trip to Netherlands and back next year?

 

[Tranona]

Now with the cockpit tent do you have standing head room there? In our case it would require some clever engineering I think. The boom is quite low and the mainsheet traveller is in the middle of the cockpit. Don't know if it can be done, will investigate.

Cockpit tents (and biminis) are always difficult on smaller, older narrow sterned boats that were never designed to have such things. All you can do is take some measurements and talk to an experienced cover maker. I have just had a sprayhood and cockpit cover made by Kemps and we sat down and discussed the possibilities before deciding on the design. On my last boat Tecsew did the canvas work and again we discussed ideas and they used a 3D system to model the possibilities. Personally, having had a bimini when i had a boat in the Med, would not bother here, particularly with a smaller boat as the constraints far outweigh any benefits.

 

[Mudisox]

Sprung mattresses on the key sleeping berths:

made2measure mattress - boats

Get the sprung wooden slats from IKEA. Cheaper and make a great difference in comfort as well as keeping the mattress dry and free from condensation.

 

[Stemar]

AIS transponder, only have a receiver not sure if it is a top priority

Unless you're going cross channel as a minimum, I reckon receive is enough. There are already far too many yachts transmitting along the south coast and cluttering up my receiver, when all I'm really interested in is the big stuff. 50 yards is plenty of clearance for for almost any non-commercial craft, but I want to know what that big sod is up to so I can keep out of his hair.

BTW, can I make a plea for people to turn off their AIS transmit when they're parked up? My AIS goes mad whenever I get within range of a marina!

 

[doug748]

Other things I don't have yet :

AIS transponder, only have a receiver not sure if it is a top priority
Electric windlass but the chain locker on Hunters is really small so might not be possible to fit one in.

we have led lights (not dimmable though) and boom strut. Sails-wise we have 135% Genoa, small jib and older main but in a good condition, so far covered all the conditions we experienced. Could do with a gennaker I guess.

What would you say would be the crucial investment then for our upcoming two week trip to Netherlands and back next year?

If you don't have one already, for your trip..

I am not fond of cockpit enclosures but a simple overboom cover is an excellent thing for harbour use, some ideas here:

Functional Boom Tents for Boats - Tecsew

You don't need anything fancy or as huge as some of the examples above, a rectangle of any reasonably waterproof material will do. Putting seams on it and tabs at the corners (for lines to the guardrails etc) takes a couple of hours on a sewing machine. It sits on top of the boom and is secured aft to the backstay and forward to the boom or mast. Your low boom can be lifted on the topping lift.

For less than £100 quid it can keep you dry in rain, cool in sunshine and stow very small in two minutes.

.

 

[baart]

For a simple boom tent I bought thick tarpaulin on amazon and it works great. Also use it as a cover for the winter ashore.

 

[Wansworth]

What about a drone to increase your sons enjoyment and get photos of the boat

 

[lustyd]

Interested in the water based heater. What would that be please?

Just an Eberspacher Hydronic. These heat water instead of air and either use radiators or heat exchangers (little radiators with fans) to heat the boat. The big bonus is they can also be plumbed in through the calorifier to heat hot water without using the engine, and in winter can heat the engine before starting. Larger boats use these as there is less heat loss going from one end of the boat to the other with insulated water pipes, and it's more flexible on placement of heat exchangers.

As I said, we have an Airtronic which I love to bits, but Hydronic would be my preference going forward.