Best Money You Spent...

[Mimsy]

I'm not certain where to put this, so I'll put it here in off topic.

When outfitting your boat for cruising what was the best money you ever spent? Other than on the boat itself

On the other hand, what was the piece of gear that was the biggest waste of money?

I'm looking forward to the answers and please- Tell the truth!

[Pelagic]

Best: Fuel... as the price generally goes up

Worst: Nav Software as the price usually goes down for a better product.


But then again...I could be lying

[Charlie]

Best was the autopilot. Worst was the water maker. Reasons -- AP takes a lot of strain off of standing watch allows you to use the head and get a cuppa joe. Water maker never needed it in the cruising that we have done. We have 190 gallons of water and don't go away from a Marina for more then a couple of weeks.

[barnakiel]

Money well spent:

- solar panels
- Bombard dinghy
- Sunbrella cockpit side canvas,
- Mobitronic shorepower charger,
- Garmin handhelds,
- STP Polygrease,
- Lanocote in grease and in spray,
- Gill foulies,
- Polaroid glasses,
- wide brimmed straw hats,
- all leather shoes,
- buttoned shirts in place of T-shirts and polos,
- Nivea sunblock,
- Italian pasta and coffee in Australia.

Money wasted:

- neoprene hatch gaskets,
- coffee in Portugal, Spain and Brasil,
- engine service in NZ,
- Plastimo galvanized shackles,
- s/h outboard.

Out of the two batches I would pick solar panels as our best buy and Spanish / Brazilian coffee as the worst.

b.

[Procyon]

The best: All that's needed for long term cruising.

The worst: Building my mother in law a place next door the following year.

[rebel heart]

Good:
- composting head
- solar panels
- trojan t105 battery bank
- engel fridge
- LED interior / running lights
- walker bay rowing dinghy
- handheld vhf
- marine binocs
- triangle protractor
- nissan thermos

Bad:
- a lot stuff that never went into service
- stuff that clutters the deck and doesn't get used

[skipmac]

Most bang for the buck, most missed when it didn't work (very seldom) was the autopilot.

[hummingway]

Best was probably the solar panels and controller. Worst might be the inverter. It's overkill for my needs (I had one of those "oooo shiney and got pretty lights" moments).

[Bash]

Best? The Eddyline kayaks on the foredeck.
Worst? The Petit Trinidad bottom paint that slimes up ten minutes after the sun comes out.

[Feral Cement]

Originally Posted by barnakiel

Money wasted:

- neoprene hatch gaskets,

Explain, please?

Thx

John

[Feral Cement]

Originally Posted by rebel heart

Bad:
- a lot stuff that never went into service
- stuff that clutters the deck and doesn't get used

Can you be more specific?

Good thread, BTW.

John

[ozskipper]

A late model outboard. Its nice to have reliability again

[Zanshin]

I invested a case of beer to the Sunsail boat handlers in the BVI in exchange for them showing me how to dock and undock boats all day.

[Feral Cement]

Originally Posted by Zanshin

I invested a case of beer to the Sunsail boat handlers in the BVI in exchange for them showing me how to dock and undock boats all day.

Beer is ALWAYS money well-spent. Fact of life.

John

[sailorboy1]

Best - autopilot without a doubt

Worst - POS wheel drive autopilot drive that can not steer without help when you really want it too