Gift Idea For Somebody Retiring, Selling All Belongings And Sailing The World...

[acfixerdude]

The dean of my college is retiring, selling everything and then sailing the world with his wife until his money runs out - what a great way to retire!

Anyhow, a student organization I belong to, along with another, are planning on getting him a gift in appreciation of his service and dedication to the college. Rather than something very common like a plaque or something mundane, I'd like to make sure he gets something he can bring with him on his ship and appreciate on a daily basis.

As I've never sailed and don't know much about sailing in general, I figured I'd ask ya'll what you thought might be a good idea for a gift. A plaque is fine if its nautically themed but I'd rather see him get something different, maybe accompanied with a plaque.

Hit me with your best ideas

Thanks!

[Camp Director G]

Weems and plath make a lot of beautiful stuff. I won a W$P chart weight at a boat show and love it. You can have it engraved. The one I got is a compass chart weight. Very nice and possibly useful. Lots of people use mainly GPS for navigation, but if they're doing a circumnavigation, they'll be looking at plenty of charts. Also, look around the W&P site. They have tons of things that could make nice gifts. If you want to go all out, try a bass sextant for old-school star navigation (Some are reproductions are not officially calibrated, and are not intended to be used for navigation, but are still very cool,. Some are intended for true navigation - check with the seller to make sure of the kind you're getting. I doubt it would matter which one he got, since he'd be navigating with real electronics, but you can decide. The sextant would help someone learn how to do star-based navigation and that's pretty great. I think he would love it. Some can be engraved. You could always get him a very good set of binoculars or something more useful, but I think the sextant might be a good choice.
Chart weight: Engraveable-Home-and-Office
Brass sextant and box: Admiral's Brass Sextant 12" - NauticalDecorMart
or here: http://www.nauticaldecormart.com/nau...ood-box-large/
spark

[downunder]

Depends on how much you have to spend.

A very appreciated gift that would be used a lot.

The Marine Stiener Commander binoculars come in a wooden box that could have a plague glued on. Not cheap but last a lifetime with 30yr warranty,
waterproof to 10m with compass,etc.

Commander XP 7x50 C | Steiner -- The Binocular-Specialists

[Pelagic]

These Globes are great for planning … (and dreaming)
Gorgeous Large Porcelain Semi Precious Stone Encrusted World Globe | eBay

[Boracay]

For the man who has everything on a boat what about a Garmin quatix GPS watch?

For $449 may fit the budget. Probably not engraveable.

[noelex 77]

A good knife
Engraving a message would be a nice extra touch and then you don't need the plaque.
Rigging Folders Gen 2

[David Chrissy]

There is an excellent book called, The Ocean Almanac by Robert Hendricks " Being a copious compendium on Sea creatures, Nautical lore and legend, master mariners, naval disasters and myriad mysteries of the deep" He is of an age to appreciate the prose as well I think.
Another idea, Mr.Walker while crossing the Atlantic on the Queen Elizabeth(or Mary) saw that all the bottles fell in bad weather so he made a special whisky in a special bottle called "Swing" works well onboard Shady Lady at least. Good luck till your turn !

[Teknav]

A luxurious nautical hat; the one with the brass "ports". A pair of comfy "boat shoes", by Sperry. He will be using both, everyday! Happy retirement! Mauritz

[David_Old_Jersey]

Get him FREE Membership of:

The International Buckeeters Squadron!

and a bucket to give with it (can always find a home for another bucket onboard ).......could even get it engraved .

Of course for anything else, would depend on the amount collected - a sailors knife would be at the cheaper end and a decent sextant at the other......both could get engraved.

He won't need a sextant (and odds on that he doesn't have one already - easy enough to check, just ask how he will be navigating....GPS (Satnav!) only or also with a Sextant).....but one of those things many folks have on their "to do list" for "some day" when have time.....care that they come in all qualities and prices. A decent s/h version better than a real cheapy new one.

[zeehag]

a back up gps.

[HappyMdRSailor]

Find out what boat he has and get a half model for mounting on a bulkhead (wall) in his boat...

[lorenzo b]

He will need a bathing suit and teeshirt for when someone comes over.

[Syserenity]

I retired and am worldsailing. If I´d had gotten a present I´d had appreciated a book about the stars and constellation for celestial navigation, some book about nice routes "Jimmy Cornell - World cruising routes" etc.

[Group9]

Originally Posted by zeehag

a back up gps.

That's what I was going to suggest. Something like a Garmin E-Trex. I'm alwasy amazed at how many boaters don't carry a simple back-up handheld GPS. I used to sleep with mine with the anchor drag alert set.

[acfixerdude]

I appreciate all the ideas guys! I will chat with my orgs and see what everybody wants to do.

Feel free to keep posting ideas if you have them