Cruisers Wrist Watch Recommendations

[bvander]

A different take. Why where a watch at all?
Took mine off 12 years ago haven't missed it yet. Have a clock in salon, time on chartplotter and if really necessary a clock on phone. You be surprised how accurate you can get estimating time by just watching sun position. One less thing that can get you hung up in the rigging.
After all your cruising.

[bvander]

Originally Posted by chuckr

and remember what time sundowners start

If you cast your eyeball to the west, when sun is two fingers above horizon it's time to crack open the rum. Recommend using crew member with largest fingers.

[bvander]

Originally Posted by rebel heart

- keeping a log book
- knowing when the various ssb / vhf nets are
- knowing when the days that fresh produce arrive in any given small town
- meeting up with friends for anything
- knowing how long you've been underwater for when diving
- knowing how long to keep something in the oven or on the burner
- waking up early to an alarm so you can get out of an anchorage and around a bend before sunrise when the wind starts kicking

And beyond all of that if you're not in the polar regions you can do some fairly quick and accurate location finding just armed with an accurate clock. Mine also has a barometer with a small bar graph so I can see trend lines.

Even just sitting around listening to Jimmy Buffet in some anchorage anyone on the water would be well served with an accurate timepiece. And for the small increase in cost you can have one with very helpful features like tides, moon phases, and a barometer.

Funny that I can do all of this by using ships clock and my cell phone and casting my eye at the sun, all not having a watch strapped to my wrist. I think there are a lot off folks who can't break free of the landlubber's frame of mind.

[uncle stinkybob]

Originally Posted by bvander

Funny that I can do all of this by using ships clock and my cell phone and casting my eye at the sun, all not having a watch strapped to my wrist. I think there are a lot off folks who can't break free of the landlubber's frame of mind.

so if I sail and have a watch I'm still a landlubber? I must be because I don't know, and clearly your a very salty dog indeed.

[a64pilot]

As a Landlubber myself I ditched the watch years ago, I didn't see the point, not since I'm always carrying this phone, I look forward to ditching that.

[groundtackle]

Nothing to do with sailing or being salty but I broke my watch strap the day I retired and haven't bothered getting it fixed. That was 2 1/2 years ago. Don't really miss it.
Nick


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[SV DestinyAscen]

My current and last watch is a citizen Eco drive in stainless. My daughter bought it for me when the Casio generic died. Nylon Zulu watch band so I can wear it on the inside of my wrist.

Why do I need a watch? I kept good logs, and it was a backup navigational system. Also important to adjust to local time to get to offices, stores, catch ferries. GPS is wonderful and keeps time like atomic clock signal clocks, but if you chastise people whntdon't keep celestial navigation up to date but call watches landlubber tool.... Well okay .

[bvander]

Originally Posted by uncle stinkybob

so if I sail and have a watch I'm still a landlubber? I must be because I don't know, and clearly your a very salty dog indeed.

Not at all. Just implied that needing to keep such close watch of time is a vestige of the landlubber frame of mind. It's hard to break. Go without a watch for a month, be hard to wean of of it at first, but after a month you won't miss it.

[uncle stinkybob]

Originally Posted by bvander

Not at all. Just implied that needing to keep such close watch of time is a vestige of the landlubber frame of mind. It's hard to break. Go without a watch for a month, be hard to wean of of it at first, but after a month you won't miss it.

I haven't worn one for 20+ years. I just don't get the correlation between wearing a watch and sailing skill or experience. And frankly I get tired of reading useless post's that do nothing but promote oneself while denigrating other's. But perhaps that's a topic for a different thread.

[Steven UK]

Too many posts to read them all but I have a garmin quatix and it's awesome, I guess it's even better if you have garmin electronics on board. It's a bit big to be partying in though.

[Paul Elliott]

I've worn a Timex "Expedition" on my wrist through multiple ocean crossings. There are different versions of this watch, but I have one with a big illuminated clock dial that I can read without putting on my glasses. I like wearing it because it helps me be on time for sailing watch changes. I don't carry my cellphone when I'm 1000 miles from shore; when I leave the dock I put the phone, my wallet, car keys, and loose change in a zip-loc bag and stow it in the chart table.

[Sandero]

Watches are mostly jewelry or ornament... and hardly needed these days as clocks are everywhere. Actually I take off the watch (solar powered Citizen) when I am at home. My dog knows that when I put the watch on... I am going out... and that interests him. My last Citizen is all black and hard to read though elegant / cool looking.

[conachair]

Originally Posted by Paul Elliott

I've worn a Timex "Expedition" on my wrist through multiple ocean crossings. There are different versions of this watch, but I have one with a big illuminated clock dial that I can read without putting on my glasses.

Same here, really useful. Single handed I use either a 10 or 5 minute timer depending on area as a reminder to have a really good look around plus an hourly timer to do a log entry.

[mottseng]

Originally Posted by uncle stinkybob

I haven't worn one for 20+ years. I just don't get the correlation between wearing a watch and sailing skill or experience. And frankly I get tired of reading useless post's that do nothing but promote oneself while denigrating other's. But perhaps that's a topic for a different thread.

Really haven't answered OP's question and who cares if you wear a watch or not. This post could be considered useless.

[bvander]

Originally Posted by uncle stinkybob

I haven't worn one for 20+ years. I just don't get the correlation between wearing a watch and sailing skill or experience. And frankly I get tired of reading useless post's that do nothing but promote oneself while denigrating other's. But perhaps that's a topic for a different thread.

I don't think there is any denigration, but if my posts came across as that I apologize.
The point I and a few others are trying to make is that a watch is not mandatory if cruising and if you have lived most of your life on a min to min schedule it can be a release to letting a watch go.
Western society today is fixated on time, in 1 to 2 generations this thread will repeat itself but discussing what wearable social media wrist wear is a must have to be connected. I think my answer would be the same, try none.