Cruising Catamaran Shopping List: What Should I Put on it?

[Geminidawn]

Originally Posted by dana-tenacity

Medical kit

Good Catch!

[oscar]

AIS.

About $250 will get you a receiver that will either plumb into a chartplotter if that's the way your going, or into a laptop with USB GPS receiver $65 (which would be an EXCELLENT backup to your handheld) running free charting software on free downloadable charts.

Just under $1000 will get you ACTIVE class B AIS so that you show up on their screens as well.

I have sailed offshore with passive AIS giving me consistent 20nm warnings about LARGE ships about to run me over. I will not leave home without it.

[multihullsailor6]

Tool box.
Spares.
Life Vests / harnesses with lifelines (and jackstays if not fitted).
Anchorlight (if not included in your nav light position).
Anchoring bridle.
Torch light.
weather gear">Foul weather gear.
Fishing rods and tackle.
AM/FM/SW radio (legal requirement here) and cd player plus cds.

[Geminidawn]

Thanks guys! Some good points!
I was just speaking to a friend of mine who is a delivery skipper and he was saying that on long passages under constant sail be prepared for the same wear and tear on your gear in one month of hard going as you'd see in five years of weekend recreational sailing, chafing in lines, rigging and badly stowed gear is constant and something you have to be constantly on top of.
Good tightly packed stowage, a rigging and sail repair kit with spares a must.

[captain58sailin]

You might want a solar panel in case you need to charge batteries.

[captain58sailin]

I wouldn't bother with fishing poles, but I would pack a few hand lines, and other fishing gear. Some books.

[Canibul]

a Kindle.

[captain58sailin]

Sorry I forgot about those things, I'm an old man, with old school ways. I did see one in the airport it looked interesting.

[sandy daugherty]

Large stock of Alkaline batteries for your handhelds, and a couple sets of rechargeables and a solar charger.

That said, you will be less vulnerable to nav errors if you have a GPS chart plotter, and the charts for it will be a lot less expensive than the minimum set of paper charts, but you will want at least large scale paper charts (and a way to keep them dry) for the trip.

Water maker; either a minimalist hand pumped version (desperado conditions) or some other, with the accompanying electrical complexities. You will need a gallon per day per crew just to stay alive. Jerry cans would crowd you off the boat, and a watermaker can mean less weight.

You definitely want an AIS receiver and a DSC vhf radio, to hail those big dark lumps in the night. AIS will give your their name and MMSI number, and a DSC radio will hail them regardless of their frequency choices.