Bahamas, Things You Don't Need...

[Sandero]

Originally Posted by CaptsWife

Why do some people need to get their panties in a wad (as someone else appropriately pointed out)? So YOU didn't find it helpful or found it "stupid". So scroll on by. I found it very helpful, as well as some of the comments. New to sailing, myself, but the Captain has a lifetime of experience. That doesn't mean I don't try to learn all I can about as much as I can. Leaving a land life to take up a sailing/cruising life is f-ing scary! The OP brings me comfort as me and the Captain are still debating some of those items (except we're not just going to the Bahamas, so there's a difference).

So all of you who don't like the topic, GET OFF IT!

Many of the things listed you don't need to BE there but you do need to GET there.... and as far as anchoring... sure... you can use nylon rode and anchor by hand.... then when you get hit by a full on storm in the anchorage you thinking may change.

[geoleo]

Originally Posted by Delancey

Well, I image about this time of year there are those out there, as I was a year ago, planning an upcoming first voyage to the Bahamas. This thread is for you. This thread is about things you don't need to go cruising in the Bahamas.

I am inspired to start this thread because of respondents to a recent thread about cruising in the Bahamas who I happen to know a) DON'T OWN A BOAT and b) who have NEVER BEEN TO THE BAHAMAS who seemed to think they know what it is you shouldn't to go to that Bahamas without. If you don't own a boat and have never been to the Bahamas and aren't planning on going anytime soon then this thread probably isn't for you

This thread isn't about things you want or things that might be nice to have. This thread is about the things you don't need. You really don't need much.

As evidence of this fact I cite a couple of twenty something kids on a beat up old POS boat I meet while in the Bahamas. They didn't have squat other than a sense of adventure and some gusto and they had a grand old time and managed to get home safe and sound just fine.

I think those dumb kids could teach a few veteran armchair sailors around here a thing or two. If nothing else about the things you don't need to go cruising and have a good time.

You don't NEED radar.
You don't NEED AIS.
You don't NEED a full keel.
You don't NEED all chain.
You don't NEED a windlass.
You don't NEED solar.
You don't NEED a massive battery bank.
You don't NEED a water maker.
You don't NEED refrigeration.
You don't NEED a staysail/solent jib/storm jib/trysail.
You don't NEED a drogue/sea anchor.
You don't NEED a life raft (I think you do need an EPIRB).
You don't NEED a SSB or SatPhone.

That's my first pass at a list of things you don't need but I am sure it is missing a few things. Many of these things are things most cruisers didn't used to have anyway so shouldn't come as such a shock. Please add your own items you don't need as you see fit.

Anyone without ready cash in the Bahamas is insane

[markpierce]

A cruise ship is most comfortable, providing bed-service, meals, entertainment, and other creature comforts. Unfortunately, most cruise-ship agendas to the Bahamas are very short. One to two weeks is my minimum.

[a64pilot]

Only been on a cruise ship once as a kid, a tiny one by today's standards.
I get the willies thinking how many people there are one one of those things.
It was the SS Bahama Star

[markpierce]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

Only been on a cruise ship once as a kid, a tiny one by today's standards.
I get the willies thinking how many people there are one one of those things.
It was the SS Bahama Star

Try again to see if you would like or dislike, We prefer cruises with lot of at-sea days.

[Taichungman]

I don't need any of the things mentioned so far, except the food, water, beer, shorts, t-shirt, shoes and a pocket full of money.

[Delancey]

Cash. My point precisely.

My wife and I had a great time without any of that stuff on the list except for a reefer and a modest battery bank. We weren't in any way roughing it. Had plenty of money to do whatever we wanted. Stayed in a marina whenever we felt like it. Went out to eat whenever we wanted. Ate whatever we wanted. Made side trips. Hosted some guests and payed all their expenses while on the boat. Invited lots of other cruisers over for dinner. Bought all the $50/case beer we could drink.

Meanwhile, the marina queens are busy making sure their boats have everything armchair experts say you must have to go cruising while at the same time they're getting older. Then their heath fails so they end up going nowhere in their fully equipped boat when they could have been out there sailing without all that stuff. Met a guy like that sailing solo after his wife died that year. Really sad. He was ready to head back to the states and sell the boat and give up. Without his wife it just wasn't as fun as he had dreamed.

What does everything on my little list of things you don't need cost? $20k? $30k? More? Keep that money in the bank.

Purified drinking water can be had in Nassau at $5 for five gallons or $2 a gallon in the out islands. How much water are you going to drink? Or maybe a better question is how much water do you have to drink before that water maker starts to pay for itself? How are you powering it and how much does that cost you? Hope you're thirsty.

City water at a marina in Nassau is free, at a marina in the out islands RO water is $0.40 a gallon, at some of the settlements it's free. Over +110 day period we filled up our tanks for doing dishes and taking showers like five times, so five hundred gallons. That plus max half gallon per day drinking between the two of us. Usually less. All told we paid less than $200 for drinking and tank water and never were thirsty or dirty. How much did you say that water maker/solar panel/battery bank/generator set up cost again?

AIS? Radar? Here's a thought, pick your weather and cross the Gulf Stream in favorable conditions. Guess what? You just saved, I don't know, at least $4-5K? Is that stupid?

Stupid is crossing the Gulf Stream in conditions that require AIS, radar, storm sails, or a life raft when you could just wait for better weather. Stupid is dragging three hundred feet of chain you will never use around with you in the Bahamas where, if you play your cards right, you never have to anchor in more than 6 to 10 feet of beautiful white sand. Stupid is anchoring in coral heads in the Bahamas. If you're anchoring in coral heads in the Bahamas you're doing it wrong. Very wrong.

Frankly, I sometimes wonder if people who feel like they have to have things like radar and all chain to feel comfortable going to the Bahamas wouldn't be better off investing in some sailing classes to develop some better seamanship skills. You know, learn some stuff about things like navigation, weather forecasting, how to pick an anchorage, etc.

[Navicula]

I learnt this year that one needs a 70 gallon bladder to lay in the bottom of the dinghy and fill it with water and a 12 volt pump to pump it into the tanks.......I also learnt you need a good pair of foot wear that can always be wet......and yes I definitely need that 20hp high speed dinghy.........as for the dont needs......I didnt need all the toilet paper we brought

[Group9]

Originally Posted by geoleo

Anyone without ready cash in the Bahamas is insane

You can't have too much cash in the Bahamas. I don't think there is a single ATM between Nassau and Georgetown (at least not one I ever found).

[Matt Johnson]

These "dock queens" you're looking down on, are they planning for just the Bahamas or more?

The list would be much better from someone that has cruised with all the "unnecessary" items you listed, and to see which things they would leave off next time... we had everything on the last boat, and if we were staying just in the Bahamas, a few on your list would have been left off (radar) our new, but other items like solar and AIS would not. To be objective, you have to experience them to understand what you're missing.

Matt

[AKA-None]

In my admittedly limited experience if you have it you use it

[Madwand]

Originally Posted by Delancey

You clearly didn't read the many replies written to you.

A watermaker pays for itself the first time a 55 year old doesn't have to hump 8 5 gallon jugs of water across town and through a harbor in however many trips that takes. Or if you're not a "dock queen" who stays attached to a marina water hose all the time. I hear some islands don't have water on them at all. You mentioned cash. I'll gladly pay $5000 for a watermaker to be sure I have water when I want it. I drink a lot more than a 1/2 gallon of water a day in the heat in my 50s.

That same cash...that's why I'll be 55 when I finally get to go, because I worked and earned enough money to buy the things you're whining about and be comfortable. And as MJ said, many of the people you talk bad about are not stopping at the Bahamas. They're actually gonna go somewhere.

[Group9]

I've been to lots of places in the Caribbean. I don't ever plan on going past the Bahamas again. If I want to experience wall to wall boats, I'll just go to Georgetown.

[RTB]

Originally Posted by Delancey

This thread isn't about things you want or things that might be nice to have. This thread is about the things you don't need. You really don't need much.

You don't NEED radar.
You don't NEED AIS.
You don't NEED a full keel.
You don't NEED all chain.
You don't NEED a windlass.
You don't NEED solar.
You don't NEED a massive battery bank.
You don't NEED a water maker.
You don't NEED refrigeration.
You don't NEED a staysail/solent jib/storm jib/trysail.
You don't NEED a drogue/sea anchor.
You don't NEED a life raft (I think you do need an EPIRB).
You don't NEED a SSB or SatPhone.

Pretty much covers it, except I'll add no autopilot. Two of us on board doing 2 hour watches for the overnighters.

We do have a fridge, and have added solar since our first trip to the Bahamas. Ditch the fridge and you can ditch the solar panels. Or have a Honda EU 2000i companion for charging, which is all we had when we left Texas in 2012. We also have 100' of chain for our 35# Manson Supreme, but no windlass. I'm 65 and can easily haul that.

Just have a boat that won't sink under you, A decent dinghy, and some dollars for cruising permit, food, and occasionally water. Our cheapest months cruising were in the Bahamas.

Ralph

[JPA Cate]

Here's a few more things you don't NEED, but may want:

A chart plotter (you can use paper charts and sextant and tables for fixing your position)

GPS

We have some friends who circumnavigated, finishing around 1987, with only paper charts, sextant, and tables. Their only electronics was a depth sounder, and one could even use a lead line.

I prefer having GPS, and electronic charts, but as written above, about all we really need is water, food, and shelter, and a sense of self esteem.

Ann