Essential gear for circumnavigation

[sailor4life7777]

Hi guys, what are the most essential gear you would need to circumnavigate (not high latitudes)? My list would be good sails including light wind and storm sails, good anchors, sea anchor, vhf, autopilot, diesel engine, chart plotter and GPS, satellite phone or ssb, outboard for dinghy, epoxy for repairs, gale rider, life raft, depth meter, and tools to make any repairs.

Could you get away with having a windvane autopilot as opposed to an electronic autopilot?

I plan to have a laptop and tablet, would a dedicated marine chartplotter and GPS navigation system be advisable as well?

Also what tools would you bring? Would you bring a jigsaw, circular saw, router?

Thank you for your time I truly appreciate all the wonderful members on this forum!

[S/V Illusion]

Originally Posted by sailor4life7777

Hi guys, what are the most essential gear you would need to circumnavigate (not high latitudes)? My list would be good sails including light wind and storm sails, good anchors, sea anchor, vhf, autopilot, diesel engine, chart plotter and GPS, satellite phone or ssb, outboard for dinghy, epoxy for repairs, gale rider, life raft, depth meter, and tools to make any repairs.

Could you get away with having a windvane autopilot as opposed to an electronic autopilot?

I plan to have a laptop and tablet, would a dedicated marine chartplotter and GPS navigation system be advisable as well?

Also what tools would you bring? Would you bring a jigsaw, circular saw, router?

Thank you for your time I truly appreciate all the wonderful members on this forum!

Far more important than any of those things, experience is the first and most essential consideration.

[grantmc]

The list you’re asking for is virtually endless OP. Probably better to consult a few books.

And there are as many answers as there are sailors. And the type of boat and materials she is made of also makes significant difference. The question you asked about tools made me laugh. I think the answer depends on your skills. But take as many tools as you possibly can. The trouble with power tools is that they need power, so add in a gen set. Oh and if you’re going to be routing a decent vice is always handy, plus assorted clamps.

As well as the list itself are the quantities and of course everything needs to be balanced against the space available. I’ve seen a number of boats sailing with a small workshop on board, but of course the owners have given up a significant space for same.

Personally I would very much like mig and tig welders. That would assist me to earn a few boat bucks, but more importantly help people out, especially fixing little breakages.

I get much use out of an old sewing machine. It’s an old singer from the 50s and can sew through anything.

In respect to parts, when you live in a western country you’ve little awareness of how privileged you are. Parts for everything are no more than a courier delivery away. Not so in much of the world, and so you either have at least one or more spares or do much waiting. Especially those parts/kits needed for critical components. Many people/boats get stuck whilst they’re waiting for parts to be sent. Often takes weeks, and if you’re on some little tropical island somewhere deliveries take months. And then when the box finally arrives you find it’s missing some key component or the wrong model or something. Happens all the time. And for those stuck in a marina whilst they’re navel gazing it sure clocks up the money.

Something I've never seen mentioned. Know what you have so you can get replacements. So keep a record of part numbers, serial numbers, suppliers, some good photos for identification. Even trying to convey what you want to someone that doesn't speak your language can be incredibly frustrating for both parties. Oh and an aspect of confusion for Westerners is that the level of service you're used to just isn't going to be found. People assume that the staff will be desperate for their money, they're really not. I think so many rich, rude, arrogant yachties have so often already passed through, desperate for some part or repair, queue jumping and pushing their weight around. Locals, most of whom have never even been on a yacht, just can't be bothered.

And that brings me to time. Time is something that's very different in the tropics. There's a phrase where I am called 'tu its'. After a while everyone that comes picks up some tu its. You have no choice, time slows down. Tu its are round and come in all sizes. It means I/he/she/them might get a round to it tomorrow, but not today. Today it's hot and I just want to sit under a tree looking after my tu its.

If you enjoy diving, then a grab a dive compressor before you leave. Getting tanks filled is often not easy.

Several sets of decent wet weather gear. Doesn’t have to be a flash brand. Go to where commercial fishing people buy their gear, much much cheaper and to be brutally honest, often much better quality but 20% of the price of branded stuff.

I just use a tablet and laptop with open CPN. Still have a depth sounder and small chart plotter, plus several hand held GPS. Being able to use and understand the gear is probably more important. And I still make use of paper charts to gain a big picture.

Autopilots that don’t use electrickery are best. Typically called self steering they work well, don't complain about being out in the weather nor want food. I have a Flash Harry autopilot and you can program it with a course. Handy as I sail single handed quite often, but I don’t trust it when I’m asleep. Just too many things can go wrong with anything that needs power.

A decent anchor winch is a huge bonus. Pulling up 80 mtrs of chain by hand might sound like a good idea for a fitness freak, but chain just doesn’t fit well with hands and feet. I’d add in a deck washdown pump and hose here too.

Oh and another useful item are mast steps and a permanently fixed and strong boarding ladder. I have a swim platform, and it’s especially useful for landing water and groceries from the dinghy. Getting heavy stuff up/down to a dinghy, especially in a bit of chop, fraught with potential chaos. It’s not much fun watching $300 of booze disappear down to Davie Jones locker. Or worse that part you ordered 3 months ago that finally just arrived slips out of your hands.

And as Illusion said, get heaps and heaps of experience (I think he/she picked up the same hidden message about competence as I do from you post).

Join up at the local yacht club and get in to the racing scene. Get out on different boats. It teaches you about boats and sailing and human nature. If you live in a place like I do where the weather is generally awful then you sail in a some real crap. It’s easy to talk about sailing in 30 knots with heavy rain, but to be actually be in it for a few hours. Not so much fun but like they say, character building. I’d especially encourage putting your hand up to do ocean passages.

So get out and go sailing Sailor4Life.

[SV_Sweet_Ruca]

Start with a good boat

All kidding aside, you have a good list already. The posts above about knowledge and preparation are a great start.

It’s not about the gear, people have done it with very little, so there is no minimum list.

Dashew’s “The Circumnavigators Handbook” would be a good place to start. It’s old, but still a good read.

One convenience I wouldn’t want to go without aboard SV Sweet Ruca is our watermaker and off the grid/dock capability.

You may want to look into the ISAF OSRs for some additional inspiration https://www.ussailing.org/competitio...l-regulations/

[Hesti]

You can for example start here Royal Ocean Racing Club - Race Documents with the World Sailing Offshore Special Regulations. That would be one starting point - there are others as well. Some gear, you may consider you do not need as you are not racing. Then, you will need special stuff for the high north. Starting with the boat selection, possible sheeting at the waterline, ... Then, scenarios of what can easily go worng and how to deal with it to determine what you may want to carry in tools, spares and semi finished material.


Take care not to overload the boat - overloading a boat puts additional stress especially on the rigg. And an overloaded boat doesn't sail well any more.

[ol1970]

There are a lot of more important things to have on the list but a couple of items I have that are fun/useful are:

FLIR night vision Monocular, and a GreatLand rescue laser.

[Ded reckoner]

Another good resource for preparedness is the World Arc circumnavigation website at https://www.worldcruising.com/world_arc/event.aspx . Along the lines of what grantmc suggested, if you have a boat as well equipped as you indicate you want, you might consider creating a searchable file (e.g. spreadsheet) for any existing item, model/part number of that item, quantity, location in boat, and known suppliers.

[DomPerignon]

Your wife

[barnakiel]

I think the single most important thing that one needs are the skills.


Basic sailing skills help a lot. Also basic navigation skills can save you from trouble.


Just as important is a good boat.


It quite obvious too, that a good boat will have, as a bare minimum:


- a decent sail, or sails
- large water tanks (or water cans),
- some cooking devices (unless you eat raw food only),
- basic tools and materials to make simple repairs,
- etc.

Plenty of boat gear is optional (nice to have, bot not truly a must). My favourite piece is a windvane - if the boat is steered with a tiller. It is less important if the boat is fully crewed.

barnakiel

[Benz]

Lots of books.

[Paul L]

Add to list
Good medical kit and some knowledge to use it
Watermaker - required for my type of cruising
Key engine spares
Cash

[sailor4life7777]

Thanks for all the fantastic replies everyone!!

Would you need an electronic autopilot if you had a monitor windvane? Is the windvane very reliable in that it's unlikely to break down (and hence not require a spare or backup?)

I would prefer the windvane to reduce my reliance on electrical system which can potentially break down.

Originally Posted by barnakiel

I think the single most important thing that one needs are the skills.


Basic sailing skills help a lot. Also basic navigation skills can save you from trouble.


Just as important is a good boat.


It quite obvious too, that a good boat will have, as a bare minimum:


- a decent sail, or sails
- large water tanks (or water cans),
- some cooking devices (unless you eat raw food only),
- basic tools and materials to make simple repairs,
- etc.

Plenty of boat gear is optional (nice to have, bot not truly a must). My favourite piece is a windvane - if the boat is steered with a tiller. It is less important if the boat is fully crewed.

barnakiel

[El Pinguino]

Cordage.... you should be able to replace ever bit of string on your boat.... chafe can be a very sneaky little bugger on a long passage.

Wind vane may suffer damage.... so I wouldn't say that one would replace the autopilot. This works the other way round as well...

[Adelie]

Originally Posted by sailor4life7777

Hi guys, what are the most essential gear you would need to circumnavigate (not high latitudes)? My list would be good sails including light wind and storm sails, good anchors, sea anchor, vhf, autopilot, diesel engine, chart plotter and GPS, satellite phone or ssb, outboard for dinghy, epoxy for repairs, gale rider, life raft, depth meter, and tools to make any repairs.

Could you get away with having a windvane autopilot as opposed to an electronic autopilot?

I plan to have a laptop and tablet, would a dedicated marine chartplotter and GPS navigation system be advisable as well?

Also what tools would you bring? Would you bring a jigsaw, circular saw, router?

Thank you for your time I truly appreciate all the wonderful members on this forum!

What boat, what budget, how many crew (how many kids), what timeline, starting where?

Navigation:
Compass
depthsounder
handheld GPS plottter.
Laptop with OpenCPN, several would be good as long as they each have GPS.
Handheld VHf would be nice.
If you have money then a mounted VHF with AIS receiver and antenna at masthead.

Rigging & sails:
Drifter, if you have a larger budget then maybe a cruising spinnaker, if you are wallowing in money then a CodeZero. Do not get a normal symmetrical spinnaker unless you go with a large crew.
If you have a spinnaker pole bring it, else get some sort of whisker pole.
Main needs to have triple reefing. Halyard for main should be at the same location as the reefing gear, mast or cockpit but don't split them.
Halyards for foresails etc needs to be on mast, not in cockpit. Cockpit halyards is a racing thing so unless you are going with a large crew, on the mast.
Removable inner forestay and running backstays for a staysail would be a good addition. Redundant riggng for the mast in heavy weather is a good thing.
Storm jib or better a storm staysail if you have the inner forestay.

Deck:
Mechanical windvane self-steering is a much better choice than an electronic autopilot. In the long run it's more reliable. The autopilot may seem cheaper on first blush, but for offshore work you probably want to upsize 2 sizes from recommended and then you need to upgrade electrical generating capacity and storage which also costs. Cost is probably similar taking that into account. The down side is you will need to learn how the windvane works with your specific boat in specific conditions.
Tiller. Simpler, more reliable, much easier to repair, especially off the beaten bath. Easier to set up with windvane steering. Advantages of a wheel are that almost anybody can operate one right from the getgo. Short term guests will probably be pretty rare if you are circumnavigating so don't use that excuse. Also they are good at dealing with weather helm problems. If you have significant weather helm, better solve that problem rather than deal with the symptoms. If the boat is really big (50' or so) you probably need to wheel, 40-50' maybe.
You need a dodger for heavy weather and you really want a bimini if you are going into tropical latitudes.

Anchoring:
1 scoop style anchor at least one size larger than recommended for your boat. Main anchor, 125' of chain plus 200' of nylon double the chain diameter.
1 Fortress anchor as large as you think you can handle. Storm/mud/soft sand. Same anchor rode.
1 anchor of a style other than the main anchor, following recommended sizing. Backup anchor. With 1 boat length of chain and 300' of nylon.
1 small anchor Fortress or scoop 1 or 2 sizes smaller than recommended. Kedging anchor. One boat length of chain 1 size under recommended plus nylon double the diameter of the chain, or just skip the chain.
I might put a swivel on the main anchor. None of the others.
Manual windlass. If you can find a working used Seatiger 555 that would be best. If you get an electric windlass, horizontal axis, and very much needs a means of operating manually.
Bow roller and chain stopper for the main anchor.

Electrical generation and storage:
Main engine, stock alternator with added smart regulator. A high capacity alternator will set you back about $1k, will require a serpentine belt to work right, ie. more money, really only needed if you have a large AGM battery bank.
As many solar panels as you can mount. Separate panels on both sides of the dodger. Separate panels on both sides of the bimini. Panel on arch across the stern. Each panel gets it's own small MPPT controller, slightly more expensive but produces significantly more power since shading on 1 panel doesn't restrict power produced by the other panels. Also if one controller fails you don't lose all generation, redundancy.
In order of preference I would get Flooded Lead Acid (FLA) batteries or Gel batteries for house use. Flooded are the best bang for the buck but need some maintenance, ie. watering. If you have poor access to your battery compartment or know you will not be good about maintenance then Gels. Gels will last a little longer than FLA but cost 50-100% more for a given capacity. AGMs have a lot of good qualities (can be discharged very fast, vibration resistance, no maintenance, can be charged/discharged in odd positions) but you don't need any of those except maybe no maintenance. On the downside they initially cost about the same as Gels, get less life than FLAs, really want to be charged to full every cycle, and need to be charged at high current initially (see high capacity alternator above).
Small AGMs might be useful for using a trolling motor or small electric outboard on the dinghy.
If you are considering electric propulsion for the mother ship then Carbon Foam batteries or lithium starts to become reasonable. If you are on a budget you aren't going to go electric unless the mothership's main engine is already dead and you are trying to DIY a replacement.
I would put all the batteries in a single bank, for various chemistry reason's you will get more power out of it that way. The only exception is you might have a single separate battery for main engine starting. Then you need to figure out how to keep it charged separate from the house bank. Easiest would be a 30W solar panel and PWM controller. There are various ACRs or echo charges or whatever that cost money and ad complexity. If you want total simplicity start off the house bank. Your house bank should be pretty large so starting off of it shouldn't be a problem unless you've run it way down. If that happens, turn off all other uses, let it sit for 10min then hit the starter. If that doesn't do it keep one of those small LiFePo emergency car jumping batteries.
If you are going to spend sometime in places or season with low insolation (high latitude off season or the Med in winter(?)) you might want a wind turbine.
A hydrogenerator isn't very good bang for the buck. Only produces well on large boats making good speed (>5kt).

Dinghy:
There's a basic question you need to decide hard or inflatable.
Inflatable is way more stable, stores more easily below deck. Major downside is that rowing is real tough. There are stories of folks having the outboard die on the way to the beach and being blown out to sea because the couldn't row against the wind and waves. Also more of a theft target.
Hard is less stable, not unstable per se, but takes a bit more care. Rows way better, motors much better with a smaller engine, an 8' dinghy would probably get on a plane with one person using a 4hp outboard, 2.5hp might even do it depending on the dinghy and person. Needs to be stored on deck. Nesting or folding dinghies can alleviate this issue. Some sort of foam or inflatable collar can improve the stability.
Always carry tools for the outboard and oars no matter how short the ride is to shore.
You might want dinghy wheels to get the boat up the beach, especially if you get a large one.
Next major question is do you want to plane or not. 2.5-6Hp if not, 8hp and up if you do.
Electric drive if that's the way you want to go. Torqueedos are nice but really spendy. I would get a large saltwater trolling motor and
a couple small AGM batteries. This is where their vibration resistance is useful. I might mount a 75-100W solar panel over the stern of the boat to keep the dinghy batteries charged without dragging them back and forth to the cockpit or running wiring out the dinghy.
Keep a small anchor and 100' of nylon line on the dinghy at all times.

Main engine:
If the boat comes with an Atomic-4 that's fine, it's not a nice as a diesel but is probably a lot cheaper up front. Gas is not quite as safe as diesel on board but it is not unsafe, anybody that doesn't feel that gas is safe should probably feel that propane for cooking is also not safe. An outboard will work fine as the prime mover on boats up to about 32-35' too. If the mothership doesn't have a lot of sail area (let's say SA/D<16) then you are probably going to motor more and a diesel becomes more compelling due to the better fuel economy.
Propeller: I prefer to maximize my sailing, to that end I would choose a boat with a lot of sail area for it's size and to aid the sailing I would get a folding propeller. In very light winds fixed prop is at a moderate disadvantage compared to feathering or folding. In light to moderate winds fixed is at a big disadvantage. In moderate to heavy winds fixed is a slight disadvantage. The added drag of a feathering prop is almost not measurable. The drag of a folder is un-measurable, but that is not why I would prefer it over the feathering, cost is. A new folder is about half the cost of a feathering prop, used the difference is even bigger. The folder is not quite as efficient motoring as a feathering prop, but my goal is to sail. Backing folders tend to be significantly worse. If I bought a feathering or folding prop for the boat, I would keep the existing fixed prop as a backup.

Galley:
If the boat comes with a working propane stove, stick with that. Make sure it has a solenoid shutoff, a manual bypass for the solenoid and the propane bottles are not stored in a spot open the interior of the boat.
If the stove is garbage or on it's last legs then you can think about going electric. I would go that way myself but that's a separate thread so I won't go into it further here.
If you need to heat the boat, diesel drip heater, simple, ultimately reliable, cheap, and you can cook on it.
Water: You need to have enough tankage. With a watermaker you need enough for your longest passage to a for sure water source, bare minimum is 1/2gal/person/day (30 day passage, 2 people is 60gal). Do not let the tank levels drop until you have a 10d reserve, top it up daily with the water maker. If the watermaker packs it in you can still make it. If you don't have a watermaker then you probably want 2 or 3 times that tankage and you will want to work on rain catchment schemes.
If you have an inverter a breadmaker uses about 35Ahr at 12v to make a loaf of bread, and an electric teakettle is almost 100% efficient turning battery power into hot water. A microwave is only about 45% efficient.

Tools:
Lots of hand tools.
12v cordless drill, jigsaw, sawzall. Maybe a 5-1/2" circ-saw if I had lots of room.
Corded: sander, dremel tool, maybe a 5-1/2 circ, maybe a really small router,
Drill guide. Crecent wrenches, standard and box end wrenches SAE & metric. Pipe wrenches, old style torque wrench (the new style clickers are subject to inaccuracy due to corrosion), socket wrenches (SAE & metric), chisels, several sizes of square, yard stick, 100' tape, lots of screw drivers, 1 or 2 hand planes. Bolt cutter big enough to cut your anchor chain (which should be big enough for shroud turn-buckles), hack-saw, small hand saw, back saw, flush cut saw. Rivet tool and pop-rivets.
Large stocks of stainless bolts, washer, fender washers, nuts, nylocs; bronze wood screws.
Small stock of stainless flat bar and aluminum square tubing and thing aluminum plate.
Stock of 1x2 wood and 1 or 2 1/2- or 1/4-sheets of 2 or 3 thicknesses of ply, depends on storage space.
Small shop vac, preferably cordless of same type as tools above.
Medium sized vice mounted to a board that can be secured somewhere in the cockpit.
Various clamps.

[sailor4life7777]

Wow this was an amazing and very helpful response, thank you so much!!!

Originally Posted by Adelie

What boat, what budget, how many crew (how many kids), what timeline, starting where?

Navigation:
Compass
depthsounder
handheld GPS plottter.
Laptop with OpenCPN, several would be good as long as they each have GPS.
Handheld VHf would be nice.
If you have money then a mounted VHF with AIS receiver and antenna at masthead.

Rigging & sails:
Drifter, if you have a larger budget then maybe a cruising spinnaker, if you are wallowing in money then a CodeZero. Do not get a normal symmetrical spinnaker unless you go with a large crew.
If you have a spinnaker pole bring it, else get some sort of whisker pole.
Main needs to have triple reefing. Halyard for main should be at the same location as the reefing gear, mast or cockpit but don't split them.
Halyards for foresails etc needs to be on mast, not in cockpit. Cockpit halyards is a racing thing so unless you are going with a large crew, on the mast.
Removable inner forestay and running backstays for a staysail would be a good addition. Redundant riggng for the mast in heavy weather is a good thing.
Storm jib or better a storm staysail if you have the inner forestay.

Deck:
Mechanical windvane self-steering is a much better choice than an electronic autopilot. In the long run it's more reliable. The autopilot may seem cheaper on first blush, but for offshore work you probably want to upsize 2 sizes from recommended and then you need to upgrade electrical generating capacity and storage which also costs. Cost is probably similar taking that into account. The down side is you will need to learn how the windvane works with your specific boat in specific conditions.
Tiller. Simpler, more reliable, much easier to repair, especially off the beaten bath. Easier to set up with windvane steering. Advantages of a wheel are that almost anybody can operate one right from the getgo. Short term guests will probably be pretty rare if you are circumnavigating so don't use that excuse. Also they are good at dealing with weather helm problems. If you have significant weather helm, better solve that problem rather than deal with the symptoms. If the boat is really big (50' or so) you probably need to wheel, 40-50' maybe.
You need a dodger for heavy weather and you really want a bimini if you are going into tropical latitudes.

Anchoring:
1 scoop style anchor at least one size larger than recommended for your boat. Main anchor, 125' of chain plus 200' of nylon double the chain diameter.
1 Fortress anchor as large as you think you can handle. Storm/mud/soft sand. Same anchor rode.
1 anchor of a style other than the main anchor, following recommended sizing. Backup anchor. With 1 boat length of chain and 300' of nylon.
1 small anchor Fortress or scoop 1 or 2 sizes smaller than recommended. Kedging anchor. One boat length of chain 1 size under recommended plus nylon double the diameter of the chain, or just skip the chain.
I might put a swivel on the main anchor. None of the others.
Manual windlass. If you can find a working used Seatiger 555 that would be best. If you get an electric windlass, horizontal axis, and very much needs a means of operating manually.
Bow roller and chain stopper for the main anchor.

Electrical generation and storage:
Main engine, stock alternator with added smart regulator. A high capacity alternator will set you back about $1k, will require a serpentine belt to work right, ie. more money, really only needed if you have a large AGM battery bank.
As many solar panels as you can mount. Separate panels on both sides of the dodger. Separate panels on both sides of the bimini. Panel on arch across the stern. Each panel gets it's own small MPPT controller, slightly more expensive but produces significantly more power since shading on 1 panel doesn't restrict power produced by the other panels. Also if one controller fails you don't lose all generation, redundancy.
In order of preference I would get Flooded Lead Acid (FLA) batteries or Gel batteries for house use. Flooded are the best bang for the buck but need some maintenance, ie. watering. If you have poor access to your battery compartment or know you will not be good about maintenance then Gels. Gels will last a little longer than FLA but cost 50-100% more for a given capacity. AGMs have a lot of good qualities (can be discharged very fast, vibration resistance, no maintenance, can be charged/discharged in odd positions) but you don't need any of those except maybe no maintenance. On the downside they initially cost about the same as Gels, get less life than FLAs, really want to be charged to full every cycle, and need to be charged at high current initially (see high capacity alternator above).
Small AGMs might be useful for using a trolling motor or small electric outboard on the dinghy.
If you are considering electric propulsion for the mother ship then Carbon Foam batteries or lithium starts to become reasonable. If you are on a budget you aren't going to go electric unless the mothership's main engine is already dead and you are trying to DIY a replacement.
I would put all the batteries in a single bank, for various chemistry reason's you will get more power out of it that way. The only exception is you might have a single separate battery for main engine starting. Then you need to figure out how to keep it charged separate from the house bank. Easiest would be a 30W solar panel and PWM controller. There are various ACRs or echo charges or whatever that cost money and ad complexity. If you want total simplicity start off the house bank. Your house bank should be pretty large so starting off of it shouldn't be a problem unless you've run it way down. If that happens, turn off all other uses, let it sit for 10min then hit the starter. If that doesn't do it keep one of those small LiFePo emergency car jumping batteries.
If you are going to spend sometime in places or season with low insolation (high latitude off season or the Med in winter(?)) you might want a wind turbine.
A hydrogenerator isn't very good bang for the buck. Only produces well on large boats making good speed (>5kt).

Dinghy:
There's a basic question you need to decide hard or inflatable.
Inflatable is way more stable, stores more easily below deck. Major downside is that rowing is real tough. There are stories of folks having the outboard die on the way to the beach and being blown out to sea because the couldn't row against the wind and waves. Also more of a theft target.
Hard is less stable, not unstable per se, but takes a bit more care. Rows way better, motors much better with a smaller engine, an 8' dinghy would probably get on a plane with one person using a 4hp outboard, 2.5hp might even do it depending on the dinghy and person. Needs to be stored on deck. Nesting or folding dinghies can alleviate this issue. Some sort of foam or inflatable collar can improve the stability.
Always carry tools for the outboard and oars no matter how short the ride is to shore.
You might want dinghy wheels to get the boat up the beach, especially if you get a large one.
Next major question is do you want to plane or not. 2.5-6Hp if not, 8hp and up if you do.
Electric drive if that's the way you want to go. Torqueedos are nice but really spendy. I would get a large saltwater trolling motor and
a couple small AGM batteries. This is where their vibration resistance is useful. I might mount a 75-100W solar panel over the stern of the boat to keep the dinghy batteries charged without dragging them back and forth to the cockpit or running wiring out the dinghy.
Keep a small anchor and 100' of nylon line on the dinghy at all times.

Main engine:
If the boat comes with an Atomic-4 that's fine, it's not a nice as a diesel but is probably a lot cheaper up front. Gas is not quite as safe as diesel on board but it is not unsafe, anybody that doesn't feel that gas is safe should probably feel that propane for cooking is also not safe. An outboard will work fine as the prime mover on boats up to about 32-35' too. If the mothership doesn't have a lot of sail area (let's say SA/D<16) then you are probably going to motor more and a diesel becomes more compelling due to the better fuel economy.
Propeller: I prefer to maximize my sailing, to that end I would choose a boat with a lot of sail area for it's size and to aid the sailing I would get a folding propeller. In very light winds fixed prop is at a moderate disadvantage compared to feathering or folding. In light to moderate winds fixed is at a big disadvantage. In moderate to heavy winds fixed is a slight disadvantage. The added drag of a feathering prop is almost not measurable. The drag of a folder is un-measurable, but that is not why I would prefer it over the feathering, cost is. A new folder is about half the cost of a feathering prop, used the difference is even bigger. The folder is not quite as efficient motoring as a feathering prop, but my goal is to sail. Backing folders tend to be significantly worse. If I bought a feathering or folding prop for the boat, I would keep the existing fixed prop as a backup.

Galley:
If the boat comes with a working propane stove, stick with that. Make sure it has a solenoid shutoff, a manual bypass for the solenoid and the propane bottles are not stored in a spot open the interior of the boat.
If the stove is garbage or on it's last legs then you can think about going electric. I would go that way myself but that's a separate thread so I won't go into it further here.
If you need to heat the boat, diesel drip heater, simple, ultimately reliable, cheap, and you can cook on it.
Water: You need to have enough tankage. With a watermaker you need enough for your longest passage to a for sure water source, bare minimum is 1/2gal/person/day (30 day passage, 2 people is 60gal). Do not let the tank levels drop until you have a 10d reserve, top it up daily with the water maker. If the watermaker packs it in you can still make it. If you don't have a watermaker then you probably want 2 or 3 times that tankage and you will want to work on rain catchment schemes.
If you have an inverter a breadmaker uses about 35Ahr at 12v to make a loaf of bread, and an electric teakettle is almost 100% efficient turning battery power into hot water. A microwave is only about 45% efficient.

Tools:
Lots of hand tools.
12v cordless drill, jigsaw, sawzall. Maybe a 5-1/2" circ-saw if I had lots of room.
Corded: sander, dremel tool, maybe a 5-1/2 circ, maybe a really small router,
Drill guide. Crecent wrenches, standard and box end wrenches SAE & metric. Pipe wrenches, old style torque wrench (the new style clickers are subject to inaccuracy due to corrosion), socket wrenches (SAE & metric), chisels, several sizes of square, yard stick, 100' tape, lots of screw drivers, 1 or 2 hand planes. Bolt cutter big enough to cut your anchor chain (which should be big enough for shroud turn-buckles), hack-saw, small hand saw, back saw, flush cut saw. Rivet tool and pop-rivets.
Large stocks of stainless bolts, washer, fender washers, nuts, nylocs; bronze wood screws.
Small stock of stainless flat bar and aluminum square tubing and thing aluminum plate.
Stock of 1x2 wood and 1 or 2 1/2- or 1/4-sheets of 2 or 3 thicknesses of ply, depends on storage space.
Small shop vac, preferably cordless of same type as tools above.
Medium sized vice mounted to a board that can be secured somewhere in the cockpit.
Various clamps.