things you've tossed off the boat that others think are necessary

[rebel heart]

With all the talk of gear, I've noticed a few things that we personally have scrapped from the boat and so far have suffered no problems from. Curious what else you guys might be doing without that others are buying and installing.

- Microwave. Our boat came with one, we never used it on shore either, gone.

- Ampmeter. It was useful when we were installing new stuff and getting used to the profile of what uses what, but at this point I know by memory and I find the voltage to be much more relevant than amperage. Both are great but really, I don't need it.

- Wind speed indicator / wind direction indicator. I have a "portable" tacktic solar model with the masthead mount so technically I have one although I rarely take it out of it's case and turn it on. I can tell wind direction by looking around and wind speed takes a big back seat to sea state and force levels which is fairly obvious by looking around.

[The Garbone]

Single room AC unit- it was big, heavy, on wheels and could only be run on shore power.

The partition that made it nearly inpossible to get in and out of the quarter berth.

The thing I would like to get rid of but the wife will not let me, that damn dorm fridge, it takes up space, only cools when on shore power (read as never), holds less than a normal cooler and flopps open if you do not tie it shut. One of these days it will be going over the side out past the 3 mile limit.

[motion30]

Ex girl friend

[msponer]

Our boat has also been configured for a different philosphy.

We are planning to toss:
- Genset
- Air conditioner
- Dive compressor
- Water heater
- Wind generator (probably)

And add:
- Windvane
- Series drogue
- Light air sail
- Solar panels
- HAM Radio
- A whole lot of safety details (fire extinguishers, manual bilge pumps (there's none now!), and etc)

But these choices are very specific to our style and situation. The overall goal is to have more time to focus on traveling with the kids, by setting ourselves up with a simpler boat that is less demanding to maintain. If it was just my wife and I, we'd have more free time and be much more willing to maintain a more complex boat.

[Coops]

Electronics, plus an ex wife. They cost more than ex girlfriends.

Coops.

[Kettlewell]

Funny, I agree with all three of your items! Here are a few for me:

1. Pressure cooker. Used it once or twice, but never enough to warrant the space it takes up.

2. Nice jacket and tie--carried one around for years without using it until it got worn from swinging in the hanging locker. Same for the nice shoes. The trick is for your wife to wear something really nice and nobody notices what you're wearing as long as you stand next to her.

3. Folding bikes--almost never used them, though when we did they were very handy. Instead, I can usually find a junker bicycle if we are staying some place long enough, and then I can sell it for about what I paid for it once we leave.

[sailstoo]

The ex-wife...she didn't sail.

The new girlfriend does.

[donegalbreeze]

AH...a great question..... crew that take two showers a day

[rebel heart]

- engine driven hot water heater. we have no hot water onboard, and it's been fine. for showering we use the black bug sprayer model from duckworks.

- folding bikes. as mentioned they're awesome, but holy crap are they cumbersome. we have a paddleboard and two surfboards and at least those you can just toss overboard into the water when you want to use them.

[rebel heart]

- pressurized water. two galley foot pumps, one that's fresh and one that's salt.

[gonesail]

i ended up tossing the whole boat ..

[rebel heart]

Originally Posted by Kettlewell

Funny, I agree with all three of your items! Here are a few for me:

1. Pressure cooker. Used it once or twice, but never enough to warrant the space it takes up.

2. Nice jacket and tie--carried one around for years without using it until it got worn from swinging in the hanging locker. Same for the nice shoes. The trick is for your wife to wear something really nice and nobody notices what you're wearing as long as you stand next to her.

3. Folding bikes--almost never used them, though when we did they were very handy. Instead, I can usually find a junker bicycle if we are staying some place long enough, and then I can sell it for about what I paid for it once we leave.

My wife made a mission out of using the pressure cooker and finally we can call ourselves pressure cooker people, but it's easy to be happy on a boat without one too. We also have a full size family so bigger meals with lots of shelf-stable items (like beans and lentils) have been in the pressure cooker.

For clothes I have one "nice" exofficio shirt and a "nice" pair of jeans. They both can roll up and fit in a locker, and the times when we get invited to someone's home I can show up looking somewhat decent.

Folding bikes, 100% agreement. Great if you have a 70' Nordhavn.

[sailorboy1]

on my last boat - 6 sails because I had no reason to have the orginals and 2 different sets of racing sails on a cruising boat!

[Kettlewell]

We've got a garden nozzle with various spray settings on a hose hooked up in the cockpit that we mostly use for showers, but it is protected under the hard top so we have some privacy. When water is tight you can turn the nozzle to a fine mist that barely gets you wet, or you can take a nice shower. The line runs near the engine room so you get a minute or two of nice warm water, but in the tropics nobody cares about that. I don't think we've used the shower in the head for six years or more.

[SVTatia]

Here it goes:

• Pressurized water – foot pumps only.
• Galley salt water faucet and plumbing – you really have to rinse well to avoid rusting your pots and forks – which totally defeats the purpose.
• Anything related to AC Power - wring, breakers, etc.
• Rail mount gas grill
• Danforth anchors
• Cans of wieners and beans.