What's your fave/most useful gadget for liveaboard?

Companionway doors rather than washboards.

Saltwater wash down pump with outlet in the cockpit and one on the foredeck (for cleaning off the anchor). The one in the cockpit is great for showers, good pressure without guilt, followed by rinse down with fresh water in a pump-up pressure bottle - a garden weedkiller or fertiliser spray works well. Damn good shower with only a pint of freshwater expended. Only works in tropical climes, of course.

Good dinghy/outboard combo and handling system for it. Vital.

Easy access from water to boat.

Not gadgets, perhaps, but things that make long term cruising more pleasurable.
 
credit card, wifi connection/booster, swmbo partly home-based to fly in with boat bits. Oh, and violin with electric pickup and battery-powered amplifier. Yeah, you're right, you were here first in this anchorage, but i'm happy here, thanks..
 
DecaDance said:
As soon-to-be liveaboards, Chris and I have been shopping for stuff needed to kit out the yacht. We've had so much fun as it makes our new life feel that much more real.

For space saving / multi-purpose devices I got rather excited about a chopping board that you put over the sink with a collapsible sieve built in, and Chris was chuffed to bits and pieces about an insulated thermal mug you can plug into the 12V. We also can't wait to use the sun showers. Sad, but true!

Maybe they'll turn out to be white elephants, but it made me wonder what you already-liveaboard guys treasure the most...? And why?

:)
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What we treasure most? Our boat Cygnus! There are of course, other things. Our Cobb cooker, the microwave, our multifuel stove, our bow cabin and most of all, the friends that we've made in the last 10 years of being L'abourds. Having an open mind is not bad either! Enjoy your new life aboard..
 
pressure cooker, vacuum sealer, stick blender, good knives, good freezer, good fridge.

2 x Rocna anchors, one electric winch, chartplotter/radar.

SSB/Pactor, Ubiquiti Bullet wifi bridge.

Comfortable mattress and great aft cabin.

The sea, the sky, the wind, and dolphins at the bow.
 
A must have

A portable air conditioning unit. If you can afford it get one that can be reversed. A total life saver in July/Aug I got mine (not reversible tho) on ebay for £45
 
MoodyNick said:
A decent boat to start with, I should think !! You can spend all the money you want on gear and gadgets, but if the boat isnt suitable then they are all a waste.

erm .... and on that note .... anybody looking for a Moody 44?
Click to expand...

Might be worth posting the price of your yacht. Good Luck
 
A high quality water filter plumbed in at the galley. No more lugging bottled water or stale/odd taste from water taken from the tank and sourced from less than ideal places. My wife believes that ours is the best thing that we have EVER bought for the boat - so it must be good.
Fair winds all.
 
More votes for Samsung Junior Microwave, pressure Cooker, wok and dutch oven. Pushpit mounted BBQ. I note that there has been much interest in laundry, well I have a motor sailer and I can dry clothes undercover in the cockpit. An aft cabin with full size bunk. Porta start (battery in a bag) Mini vacuum cleaner and vac storage bags for clothes. Allband receiver, mine is a secondhand Kenwood jobbie
 
Useful bits

Pressure cooker, steamer, good knives, green Lakeland bags
Electric tennis bat type mosquito killer (works every time)
Bread maker (only uses 9 amps total to make and bake)
Solar Panels, towed generator for long passages
All plastic washing machine
Wifi booster antenna
Our windvane steering (Windpilot Pacific plus)
Ikea slats under beds
good fans in all cabins
good pots and pans
Travel type kettle for use in marinas or with invertor (saves gas)

We have been cruising since 2002 but have now come home and will be selling up, sad but new challenges ahead.
 
In order, as I fitted them:-
1. A good fridge - I fitted the ASU unit in the existing but un-insulated icebox and insulated that.
2. An Adverc smart charger, with a 90 amp, then a 110 amp rated alternator, (had to re-wire the loom for the extra current), with a third battery in the bank.
3. A pressure cooker and a stove with 2-burners, grill and thermostatic oven control and flame-failure all round.
4. An in-line charcoal filter to the galley-tap.
5. Wind and PV power
6. Wind and electric autopilots.

Subsequent additions - ceramic knife set, vacuum-bagger, MPPT controller and more PV panels (replacing the wind), solar/12v NiMH cell-charger, up-market solar light as riding light.
 
Useful Things

- Wind vane (I bought an Aires. First purchase after I bought the boat and still the most useful)
- Canvas companionway cover
- Mast steps.
- Good stock of Plastic Padding marine epoxy.
- Two of those little hoses with a ball in the end (Super Pump).One for fresh water and one for diesel.
- Claw grabber for retrieving bits from the bilge.
- Spring scales to make sure you gas bottle is properly filled and to avoid excess baggage charges.
- 12v chargers for camera, computer, Ipod etc.
- Mooring snubbers
- Anchor chain claw hook.
- Fitted cover for inflatable dinghy.
- Mirror on telescopic shaft for seeing where you can't see.
- Lots of plastic hose in various sizes to protect mooring lines from chafe.
- Duck tape and plastic hose to put on any stay, shroud, mast or spreader that might rub against a sail.
- Lots of electrical tape.
- Lots of cable ties in various sizes.
- Inglefield clips.
- Cockpit VHF speaker.
- Lube oil extractor.
- Lots of waterproof/airtight plastic storage boxes in various shapes and sizes to fit in lockers and store vulnerable goodies.
- Silica gel sachets for use with plastic boxes.
- Mosquito screens for all windows hatches and companionway.
- Lots of Y10 or equivalent oxalic acid stain remover.
- Spare O rings for FW and Diesel filler caps.
- UV mesh to protect windows and hatches.
- Glue that does not let go in hot weather.
- Johnson baby oil to lubricate the heads pump.
 
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