What is the more useless thing that all boaters have?

[Nicholson58]

Originally Posted by ontherocks83

There it is. I've been just waiting to see how long it took for that one to come out

Don't need a barometer to see the storm coming.

[Cuttyhunk]

Pillows all over our boat, from previous owners. I counted them last fall as I was winterizing and taking bed linens off. 12 pillows! 3 beds…Only six will remain come spring, and even six seems a lot (I don't want THAT much company!). Also this weird iron wire candleholder thing that I keep forgetting to remove.

I won't fight the misogyny by saying my dear husband is useless…he catches a lot of fish and makes a heck of a breakfast! (and I let him dock the boat, aren't I nice? )

[Mike OReilly]

Geeze, bells are sure taking a beating. I love our fog bell. Perfect for issuing that 2 minute sounding. Needs no power, doesn't have to be pressurized, easy to operate with short-handed crew, and far easier on the ears than horn blasts.

But the thing I used to find most annoyingly useless was large permanent-inflated fenders. Since we anchor out almost all the time, they were huge wastes of space most of the time. Solved this problem by going to inflatable fenders. Now carry twice as many fenders in less than 1/4 the space. Love it .

[Dr. Strangelove]

People with a v-berth stuffed full of sails when all they ever use is the main and the roller-furling jib.

[Mainebristol]

400 pounds of lead left by the po down in the 50 gallon water tank in the bilge. Said it made the boat stiffer. Let's see, fifty gallons of water times eight pounds per gallon,... How can he have failed to do the math? Now I can never use that water tank. I think I win! That lead is actively destructive, and therefore worse than useless!

[glenn.225]

Originally Posted by Dod42

Throw cushions on the bed. Not the pillow but cushions. Wife said they are to look pretty but you go to bed and throw them on the floor. Absolutely no useful purpose. All I can say is next time I'm out I hope they float (or not)

We have those too, but I find them useful for napping in the cockpit.

[shorebird]

our v berth is useless. The chain locker hangs down to low to use the berth for sleeping, so we throw our extra lifejackets, cushions, deck chairs, and what-not there.
Wait a minute, it just occurred to me. Its the MOST useful thing on the boat.

[SkiprJohn]

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

People shouldn't lecture if they are behind the times:

*Under a recent change, a vessel 12 meters (39.4 ft) to less than 20 meters (65 ft) is no longer required to carry a bell on board.

(a) A vessel of 12 meters or more in length shall be provided with a whistle and a bell, [a vessel of 20 meters or more in length shall be provided with a bell in addition to a whistle], and a vessel of 100 meters or more in length shall, in addition be provided with a gong, the tone and sound of which cannot be confused with that of the bell. The whistle, bell and gong shall comply with the specifications in Annex III to these Regulations. The bell or gong or both may be replaced by other equipment having the same respective sound characteristics, provided that manual sounding of the prescribed signals shall always be possible.

I just looked this up on the internet. This was as of Dec 2013. I too thought that it had changed to not require the bell but that above is a cut and paste. Can someone here on CF clarify?

[Bash]

Most useless items?

1. Microwave
2. Inverter
3. Transom shower
4. Cove seats
5. Fishing tackle

[SkiprJohn]

Navigation Rules Online is what I checked and rule 33 has part of it italicized which I believe are either the inland or the international rules but I can't determine which is which.

Maybe some of your folks more in tune with the regs can explain this one.

kind regards,

[SkiprJohn]

Maybe the italicized and or bracketed is inland rules? Check the paragraph at the beginning of the regs describing layout and see if that's what you folks get out of it.

[ReMetau]

Most useless items:

Florida registration sticker.
Everything that was useless to us no longer resides on our boat.

[BandB]

Originally Posted by Mainebristol

400 pounds of lead left by the po down in the 50 gallon water tank in the bilge. Said it made the boat stiffer. Let's see, fifty gallons of water times eight pounds per gallon,... How can he have failed to do the math? Now I can never use that water tank. I think I win! That lead is actively destructive, and therefore worse than useless!

You win except useless doesn't even cover that. It's far worse. What form is the lead in? Any way to remove it?

[thinwater]

I've done my own calculations, based upon what a lighter boat would be worth to me, and decided that stuff costs about $10-20/pound to carry around, depending on where the weight is.

Remove everything useless.

I have a lot more room now.

[s/v Jedi]

Most useless item: any additional hulls :-s