The Cruisers Essentials List

[David_Old_Jersey]

Originally Posted by s/v Beth

OK, this looks like the final addition to the list, since the hoopla has died out.

I have made a link to this post on my website (that hosts my own list - link in my sig ) - as I said, IMO the lists not being identical (and being from different sources) is a good thing .

[rebel heart]

The autopilot argument is a little misleading. To have an autopilot that steers to the wind and has sufficient power in a storm is a big ticket item. Rock an x5 for a grand for motoring and light air. You don't need an amazingly powerful autopilot for benign winds. Two days at forty knots made me appreciate a wind vane. Even at the high side, a hydrovane is about 8k, an x5 is 1k. Under ten grand. Don't need a chartplotter or even an electronic wind instrument. Fully integrated autopilots imply a cost to all the surrounding systems.

[rover88]

I have been aboard sailing the Bahamas now for three months. I found that I was well prepared for life afloat, but neglected necessities for the many hours (and miles) onshore. Add to the list of essentials - good walking sandals, backpack and if you have the room a folding bicycle.

If you are coming to the Bahamas don't forget the most important thing - bring plenty of cash!! Diesel is $6-$7/gallon, dockage (if needed in weather) is $1-$4 / Ft per night and groceries are 50%-100% higher than in Florida.

Tom
SV Island Dancer
Spanish Wells, Bahamas

[s/v Beth]

These are both good points. We haven't covered what a cruiser needs for shore leave. $$ and how to carry it is a discussion on its own. Cash, credit, gold?

[rover88]

My choice is cash. I drew $400 off my debit card in Nassau. Cost for such convenience = $27. Gold is too hard to convert in many places. My safe aboard holds $100 and the remainder is well hidden elsewhere. $20 bills, as larger ones are often hard to break.

Here are a few more things I have found invaluable. Good refrigeration. I simply refuse to have my sundowner at room temperature. Good autopilot (I have single-handed most of the time). Windlass - I'm too old and tired to be hauling an 35lb anchor and 100lbs of chain in 30kt winds. Radar - there have been squalls I've avoided and it made a few night entrances into strange harbors easier. Once my wife joined me I longed for a water-maker and will add that before next year's trip. The KISS wind generator works fantastic when the wind is blowing and the 200w of solar panels put about 70% into my 4 Trojans in good sunlight each day. I have seldom used the Honda 2000 generator, but it's nice to have. Otherwise, good provisions - for a nice meal is most welcome after a long passage.

[Celestialsailor]

Hey Rover...I'm in the middle of my solar project. Are you saying that 300 watts solar would keep up for what you have? Do you have a battery monitor?

[rover88]

Celestialsailor,
300 would probably keep my bank fully charged with good sunlight five hours a day. I only have 200 and it comes close, but the wind generator makes up the difference. Today we have had partial sun and 15-20 knots wind and our bank is at 13.8 volts tonight. In three months I have only had to start the engine twice, each time about thirty minutes with a 90 amp alternator to top off. The reefer draws the most at about 60 amps a day, followed by the chartplotter/radar (I keep the anchor alarm on at night). We are all LED so those draw nothing to speak of. I try and run the inverter only at peak sunlight to recharge the VHF, cameras, computer and such. So, if your house back is about 225 amp/hr reserve per day (4 Trojan T105 or similar) then you should get by with 300W solar. Just to be on the safe side though, you might look at a windgen as well. Hope this helps

[Celestialsailor]

thanx...I have 2, 100 watts running with a 50 watt still to be hooked up. My refer is only 2 cu. ft. and R25 of insulation. I'm predicting around 40 amps a day. I have radar but no chart plotter. My light are electronic fluorescent. I know LEDs are better and I will lean that way later. I had an Air-X on my Ingrid. Damn noisy thing. I like the KISS though.

[rover88]

Celestialsailor,
Boy you are right the Air-X is a noisy bugger. I forgot to mention that my solar runs through a Blue Sky 2000 Solar Boost and I generally get 10+ amps output.

As for chart plotters, if you are going to buck up for one I can highly recommend the Garmin 740s. You can certainly go cheaper but the features of the Garmin are worth the extra.

As for LEDs, we make most of our own out of the strips available on ebay and use the existing fixtures, although I am making nice oak housings when the time permits. One roll at about $45 will do your entire 35' boat.

[David_Old_Jersey]

Originally Posted by s/v Beth

These are both good points. We haven't covered what a cruiser needs for shore leave. $$ and how to carry it is a discussion on its own. Cash, credit, gold?

For travelling outside own country a mix of approaches works well - nothing half as frustrating as having money, but simply not being able to access it!

The advantage of course for a cruiser is that even when the cash stops flowing (unexpectedly) that have a roof over head and food in the cupboard....and can afford to wait.

For me:-

Cash - not just "hard" currency, but local stuff as well.
Credit Card(s) - If someone clones, skims or steals it then only a PITA, not a complete disaster, plus for some things only a c/c will do (i.e. hire car). The "insurance" when buying over the internet or anything else that is delivered after payment is also nice. For worldwide acceptance VISA is my no.1 pick, then MASTERCARD. Both ideal.
Debit Card - Sometimes using own money (and being able to check the balance is useful), just don't put more in that account than you could afford to lose (monthly automatic transfers in).
Local Bank Account - especially with a debit (ATM) card attached. If (when!) you do have problems far easier to sort out when you can walk into a local bank (even if not your own branch). Again, think carefully before putting life savings in!
Travellers Cheques - Ok, so they are old school! - but they work, and are easy to count (and the modern day equivalent is a pre-loaded card - care on the T&C's, especially on expiry if not or only partially used).
Internet Banking - plusses is that easy to see your money and to transfer around / make payments and minuses is that security can be a problem, not so much if not using Internet Cafes but WIFI also not 100% bombproof. Again, don't need to have it on your entire life savings - hell, don't even need to have only 1 bank "back home"....which is my favoured approach (Internet Banking just so useful).
Telephone Banking - the time to set up is before you leave, not so much for doing the regular stuff but for when things go wrong. Otherwise risk being told (politely!) to foxtrot oscar.
Gold - unless where you are visiting is full of gold shops (and buying and selling is common from local demand - i.e. in Thailand) then I would forget about it as "money". Even for somewhere like Thailand I wouldn't bother (not to say that I have not been involved with folks who have helped me out of the odd cashflow problem by selling / pawning there own gold - but there were alternatives, mostly involving not drinking for a few days - or a week ). And of course some places (like Thailand) have different Gold standards, not to say that folks won't take "Foreign" gold (hey, it's gold!) but that could be reflected in price.

Main use for gold in Thailand was "Back in the day" - for exchanging for freindly female company .

Diamonds - More western focused, but can also p/ex those for "freindly female company". But flowers iz cheaper .


FWIW I always used a mix of the above (except the last one ) and in latter years dropped the credit cards (for me too hard to keep a track of my spending - but to be fair, that could be collosal and I was usually loaded ....possibly those were linked).

Money just like boats, having options is nice. and sometimes essential.

[rover88]

David makes some good points, especially about the ease of ordering parts or supplies online using a credit or debit card. Paypal (as bad as I hate them) is another place to store a bit of cash for those internet purchases.

40 years ago I bought a Rolex Submariner. I bought it because I wanted it, but justified the $700 price as an "insurance policy" for my world travels. I would tell friends, incredulous that I could spend so much on a timepiece, that I could get stranded anywhere on this globe and always hawk the universally recognized Rolex for airfare home. Fortunately the watch is still on my wrist - still providing that insurance policy and pretty decent timekeeping.

In the end i think the best advice is the same as you would get from your investment broker. Diversify and don't put all your eggs in one basket.

[s/v Beth]

If we were to get down to a universal currency, though- what would it be? In my travels in Latin America- no contest to the dollar. But other places (as you have mentioned) other things may be more useful.
Assuming you have financial control, I'm thinking one or two credit cards (Visa, MC) would be the most useful. It is currently what I use, probably because it is just easier and I can get them replaced quickly. Now do we need a safe? Hmmm- Or just a spot in the boat that will never get discovered?
Somebody mentioned not putting your valuables in one place, to avoid a complete robbery. Anybody take this advice seriously?

[Sailor g]

Originally Posted by David_Old_Jersey

Credit Card(s) - If someone clones, skims or steals it then only a PITA, not a complete disaster, plus for some things only a c/c will do (i.e. hire car). The "insurance" when buying over the internet or anything else that is delivered after payment is also nice. For worldwide acceptance VISA is my no.1 pick, then MASTERCARD. Both ideal.
Debit Card - Sometimes using own money (and being able to check the balance is useful), just don't put more in that account than you could afford to lose (monthly automatic transfers in). .

I'm thinking about getting the credit cards you can buy & load with whatever denomination you want. The even sell the cards in grocery stores so I can get as many as I need and only put $500-$1000 on each so it won't hurt as bad if hacked. I have places to hide a small card or even add money to them online so never have much aboard and use as I go. Not sure how it will work exactly but it's sounding like a good idea.

[Celestialsailor]

Originally Posted by rover88

Celestialsailor,
Boy you are right the Air-X is a noisy bugger. I forgot to mention that my solar runs through a Blue Sky 2000 Solar Boost and I generally get 10+ amps output.

As for chart plotters, if you are going to buck up for one I can highly recommend the Garmin 740s. You can certainly go cheaper but the features of the Garmin are worth the extra.

As for LEDs, we make most of our own out of the strips available on ebay and use the existing fixtures, although I am making nice oak housings when the time permits. One roll at about $45 will do your entire 35' boat.

I have the Blue sky 2512. Works great but I wrote the company and gave them crap about the cheesy electrical box that houses it. Geeez!...at least they could do is offer a SS one for marine applications.

[jgbrown]

Originally Posted by s/v Beth

If we were to get down to a universal currency, though- what would it be? In my travels in Latin America- no contest to the dollar. But other places (as you have mentioned) other things may be more useful.
Assuming you have financial control, I'm thinking one or two credit cards (Visa, MC) would be the most useful. It is currently what I use, probably because it is just easier and I can get them replaced quickly. Now do we need a safe? Hmmm- Or just a spot in the boat that will never get discovered?
Somebody mentioned not putting your valuables in one place, to avoid a complete robbery. Anybody take this advice seriously?

When were you there? I decided to rely on the USD as my backup, and found that I had big problems exchanging it in many areas, especially in larger denominations or in smaller towns. I got down to just enough to put gas in my tank, but not enough for food or a place to sleep more than once. Next time I will add a disposable credit card hidden away as a backup. I am a big fan of adding a small inside pocket in my pants, I had one inside on my hip, they were actually just unused armor pouches in my riding pants, in future I plan to add one to the inside of a pocket.
I had one piece of ID 1 20$ 1 100$ and the equivalent of 20$ in local currency. It saved me some major headaches. Adding a disposable CC could be even better.