things you've tossed off the boat that others think are necessary

[Autumns Wind]

When we moved aboard... WE SOLD THE JEEP, We tossed
a lot of clothes, TV, DVD player, my wife tossed 90% of her shoes, which freed up a ton of space... useless books/mags, ice box, electric wind meter, electric speed sensor, electric stove, toaster oven, boat stereo, cabin lights, all type 3 pfd, decorative pillows, fancy shelves...

But we added, rail mount BBQ, 12volt fridge, safty nets, hanging hamics, portable radio, laptop, solor, all things LED, extra batteries, SSB radio, climbmaster, windvane, auto pilot, Honda 2000...
While we live with less, we have no stress! Cheers

[wsmurdoch]

I removed two bushels of wire that went nowhere and did nothing; left over from at least two generations of removed electricals and electronics. It took some nerve to go clip with the wire cutters, then pull, then clip, then pull... In the end I made no mistakes and got $16 for the wire at the recycling center; almost a case of beer.

[Blue Crab]

Originally Posted by Autumns Wind

When we moved aboard... WE SOLD THE JEEP, We tossed
a lot of clothes, TV, DVD player, my wife tossed 90% of her shoes, which freed up a ton of space... useless books/mags, ice box, electric wind meter, electric speed sensor, electric stove, toaster oven, boat stereo, cabin lights, all type 3 pfd, decorative pillows, fancy shelves...

But we added, rail mount BBQ, 12volt fridge, safty nets, hanging hamics, portable radio, laptop, solor, all things LED, extra batteries, SSB radio, climbmaster, windvane, auto pilot, Honda 2000...
While we live with less, we have no stress! Cheers

I love this post BUT: You guys didn't specify but the time is critical. If you're new at this: no biggie. If this was a couple of years ago ...OK.

[Autumns Wind]

Originally Posted by Blue Crab

I love this post BUT: You guys didn't specify but the time is critical. If you're new at this: no biggie. If this was a couple of years ago ...OK.

we decided after several months of debate among friends and made the move in Oct 2012.

[Blue Crab]

Sounds good. Looking towards more posts.

[Celestialsailor]

I've been full time liveabord now for 6 months. When I rented out the house, I had 2 weekends of selling everything that would not be used on my boat or fit into the closet size storage locker. Now I am slowly downsizing the locker, so everything I need is on the boat. I miss my shop but that's about all I miss. I'm hauled out right now and the lift operator told me the boat was at 17,000lbs. The specs are suppose to be 12,125lbs. But I doubt that is correct. I would guess the factory advertised it on the light side to sell a livelier appearing boat. I would guess it is more around 15,000lbs.

[Jim Cate]

G'Day Celestial,

Don't be too trusting of travelift scales, for they are notoriously inaccurate! But I hear you about boats gaining weight... even faster than I do. Ours weighed 9 1/2 tonnes at launch (by a crane with a supposedly calibrated load cell). I would be surprised if she didn't go well over 12 now with half tanks. And it makes a difference, too!

But it is hard to throw away all that really good stuff ...

Cheers,

Jim

[nimblemotors]

I think I'm tossing the masts, sails, and rigging off mine! That stuff is expensive and very difficult and dangerous to use.
I'm making room for more solar panels.

JackB

[AfterHoursNLCT]

I tossed a drunk blonde gal with black heels off. Took a few hours to get rid of the black scuffs...LL

[Celestialsailor]

Originally Posted by AfterHoursNLCT

I tossed a drunk blonde gal with black heels off. Took a few hours to get rid of the black scuffs...LL

Ha...I never even thought about that, but you're right. I did one of those too. I brought a date to a former boat I had. I had painstakingly restored it and was quite proud of her (the boat that is). Upon entering said vessel, the comment was..."Oh...kind of like camping in a trailer". I let it slide at first and cooked a real nice spaghetti dinner. That's when the other comment came. As I was laying the plates down with the some fancy trimmings, I got..."Oh...is this a standard meal for all your dates". I looked at her and said..."No...the dates I like, I cook steak for. I didn't even put the plate on the table. Instead walked up the companionway latter and pitched her dinner overboard. It finally hit her, she was being a jerk and left while the leaving was easy.

[Auspicious]

What works and what doesn't is a very personal thing. Lifestyle and expectations drive our priorities.

In my opinion this is most apparent in the galley. The way one cooks on land is the way you cook aboard. Change is hard.

I moved aboard in May 2006.

Off the boat:

microwave - always had one ashore, didn't use it much, used it less aboard.

ex gf - enthusiastic sailor, no grip on rules of the road - everything went downhill after she tried to t-bone a dinner boat.

80% of sailing/boat books - most were of limited utility after reading once; some weren't worth that much. I've got about 30" of books I've hung onto.

Delta anchor - replaced, see below.

Coffee press - too much water to clean and too much work - replaced, see below.

Magazine subscriptions - mail is an issue; interestingly the sailing and boating pubs are way behind the mainstream press on electronic delivery. Good news: Good Old Boat just announced electronic subscriptions. SSCA has done for years.

CDs & DVDs - everything ripped to electronic media and originals stored ashore.

Storage hammocks - never could get them to work for me - I don't like orange and apple juice dripping on me in my bunk.

Retained

Vacuum sealer - a change from my life ashore but I wouldn't sail without one.

Pressure cooker - another change for me but I love mine and use it regularly.

Battery monitor - way better than an ammeter and a much better indicator of charge state than a voltmeter.

Generator & A/C - after you have it, way less expensive to use for charging batteries than the main, and there are times and places when A/C is nirvana.

Spinnaker - love my 1.5 oz asym and shopping for a .75 oz sym.

Hot water - I tend toward cooler climes and a warm shower, no matter how brief, is a pleasure.

Pressure water - lifestyle choice

12V boat except TV and stick blender - The only things I turn on the inverter for are TV and blender. We like movies, and the stick blender replaced the food processor and bar blender I used ashore.

Rail mount gas grill - big griller ashore and still do aboard.

2 x iPhone, iPod Touch, iPod Classic, iPod Nano - I'm a techy geeky guy. Lots of nav stuff on the iPhones plus easy check on e-mail and SMS. iPod Touch is low energy way to run movies (including training on boat systems) on watch. 160 GB Classic and Nano are mostly for music and movies on watch.

Marine SSB and ham radios - my experience with sat phones is not good. I stick with tried and true radio for long range communications, weather, and communications at landfall.

Espar diesel heater - replacement for OEM Webasto. Good stuff.

Baby wipes - great water saver offshore

China and crystal - Two place settings of family china and Riedel stemless are great at anchor. Underway we use the plastic stuff but living aboard does NOT have to be camping.

Added over the last seven years:

New gf - somewhat less enthusiastic but much less prone to running into things.

Spinnaker - almost, but not quite. Light air chute is this year's Christmas present to myself.

Rocna anchor - Two actually. Any of the current generation spoon anchors beat the bejeepers out of the older designs.

Percolator - economic, reasonably fast, and good coffee.

Originally Posted by onestepcsy37

we have a rail mounted gas grill. the admiral insisted we needed it. but we never barbecue at home so why barbecue at sea? i've used it once in the past five years. and it got so greasy i took it ashore and washed it in beach sand. but i'll keep it as a 'backup' stove in case the main stove goes bad.

admiral also thought we had to have a pressure cooker. (she read those 'cruising wife' books). we never used one at home. we haven't used it at sea yet either, but it is the largest deep pot we have so maybe it will come in handy some day.

Which illustrates my point above - you're going to cook pretty much the way you did ashore. Don't let the books tell you what to do.

Originally Posted by SVTatia

Gas grill is great sometimes, but only if you eat meat

I don't agree. Lots of roasted and steamed veg work great on the grill, especially in warmer places where getting the heat out of the boat is a good idea.

Originally Posted by David_Old_Jersey

......It's all about choices based on own needs and experiances (and simply wants ), so no one else can tell you what "you" need (and everyone changes at least some of their own ideas anyway over time)....

Right - so get off the dock and go sailing. Build a few months into your plans a few months after you leave to adjust. Why spend money on stuff you spend money and time ripping out?

Originally Posted by barnakiel

I am trying to toss off at least one old item for any new item onboard.

I agree. Most people get to the point where they realize that something old has to come off for every new thing brought aboard.

[savoir]

My coffee press gets used every day so there's no way it's getting tossed. Agree on the microwave. Mine came with the boat but now gets used as a bread locker.

[senormechanico]

Originally Posted by Celestialsailor

As I was laying the plates down with the some fancy trimmings, I got..."Oh...is this a standard meal for all your dates". I looked at her and said..."No...the dates I like, I cook steak for. I didn't even put the plate on the table. Instead walked up the companionway latter and pitched her dinner overboard. It finally hit her, she was being a jerk and left while the leaving was easy.

GOOD FOR YOU !!

Steve

[savoir]

Originally Posted by Celestialsailor

Ha...I never even thought about that, but you're right. I did one of those too. I brought a date to a former boat I had. I had painstakingly restored it and was quite proud of her (the boat that is). Upon entering said vessel, the comment was..."Oh...kind of like camping in a trailer". I let it slide at first and cooked a real nice spaghetti dinner. That's when the other comment came. As I was laying the plates down with the some fancy trimmings, I got..."Oh...is this a standard meal for all your dates". I looked at her and said..."No...the dates I like, I cook steak for. I didn't even put the plate on the table. Instead walked up the companionway latter and pitched her dinner overboard. It finally hit her, she was being a jerk and left while the leaving was easy.

At last I finally get what that song was all about, you know

" Summertime . . . and the leaving is easy ".

[Superdave501]

I threw off 40 years of working my ass off 40 years of doing the right thing instead of what I wanted to do and I've now thrown off any Worry for what I do in the future I'm going to hang onto my hopes to take life as it comes to enjoy the Fairwinds handle the the bad ones and look for new horizons