Boat Luxuries

[Sandero]

I suppose some would consider cabin heat a luxury. I don't and it makes for comfort and that can mean safety... I suppose. Wife also hates been cold. I never used it in the tropics... but have frequently in the higher latitudes.

Perhaps a networked plotter in the cockpit would be considered a luxury. When I began my first position fixers... Loran C and then GPS were located in the nav station. As I use the AP almost all the time... having instruments on the binnacle would be a luxury and there was no real estate to mount one forward. The cockpit dash allowed for multiple 4" square data displays including GPS repeaters.

I picked up a Garmin PDA with GPS and blue charts. It was stand alone but it provided a chart display in the cockpit... or anywhere I took it. That was kind of a luxury. Radar should be available in the cockpit. I don't think that a luxury.

A few years ago I picked up a B&G ZeusT7 which I was able to place in a rarely used under the dodger cockpit winch. This was a huge step up from the little Garmin IQ3600, but it's still not interfaced with instruments or radar. When I upgrade the RayC80 to an N2K system with radar, I will have radar and AIS and DDC in the cockpit... not just below. That may be a luxury. But I don't think it should considered such.

A cockpit control for the windlass... or wireless remote might also be considered a luxury. I find this useful when single handing in some circumstances... I can be at the helm and work the chain at the same time.

Self tailing winches are no longer considered a luxury... nor is a windlass.

The Milwauikee w/ winch bit would be a luxury for a younger me... but now with a chronic lower back problem I welcome Mille aboard a necessary crew. She needs are bat recharged.

And so an inverter is not a luxury... nor are various alt charging sources and large batteries. A electrical monitor system, with high output alternator and smart regulator are not a luxury as they might have once been. It's a matter of sizing the system to match your electrical needs. A genset would perhaps be a luxury, but the noise and fuel issue make it a non starter.

Head room and a full sized bed are not luxuries either.... Nor are cockpit cushions and dodger.

[PommyDave]

Originally Posted by Lizzy Belle

(I dated this tall guy - 6.2' - and I never really figured out how that would have worked with him on board long term ... Poor guy had to do boat yoga as soon as he stepped inside.)

M'aam, I love your sense of humour! The mind boggles just trying to imagine the poor guy trying to get comfortable!