Equipment

So this posting will probably be boring for most, but maybe interesting for those of you (Bradfords and Sojkas at least) who are sailors.

Now that we’ve been at it for a month or so, I feel like I’ve got some pretty well formed opinions on what equipment we need and what we can live without. So, here’s what I wish I’d known before I left:

Top 5 things I use all the time:

The autopilot. I’d been torn between a windvane and the autohelm before we left, and I’m sure now that the autohelm is what we’d pick if we had to have one or the other. Much of the sailing we’ve been doing is in light air (I’m talking really light – like our speed through the water is a knot or less), and the windvane wouldn’t work. We’ve run into sailors that have both, and none of them use the windvane except as a back up. The arguments I’ve heard against the autohelm haven’t held up: it uses power, it’s loud and it’s not as reliable. Power hasn’t been an issue – it’s been using about 1.5 amps after I’ve tuned in the settings. It’s not loud enough to bother me, and I’ve read about plenty of issues with windvanes too. Don’t get me wrong – I’d love to have both, but again if I had to chose, I’d take the autohelm every day of the week. Just bring along spare parts!

Solar. We have a 215W panel which is exceeding our needs – it produces about 100AH per day which is about 30AH more than we need, so we usually have the fridge on for a few hours, which has been a nice luxury. Our alternator charges at about 40A when it’s warm, so we’d be running almost two hours a day without the panel (and not using the fridge). At 0.5 GPH, we’d be burning about $4/day in diesel. I spent $1,000 on the solar set up which means the ROI works out to less than a year. That’s a pretty outstanding return. Add in the quality of life improvement in not having to run the engine and it’s double worth it.

Ham Radio (including the HAM license). I check in with the HAM nets every day. So far as I can tell, we’re one of a very small handful of “marine mobiles” checking in – the vast majority of people on the nets are land based and have internet. That means that we’re mini (ok, micro) celebrities, and we’ve got a whole team of informal weather routers. Even full access to internet wouldn’t work as well. I’ve also been using winlink in place of a Pactor modem, and so far the email access has been flawless (and free).

Chartplotter at the Helm. I’ve heard debate about using a PC vs. helm mounted dedicated chartplotter. The PC uses about five times the power, is more difficult to see from the helm (ok, I guess we could mount a waterproof screen up there… still doesn’t help with the power consumption though) and is completely incompatible with water. It also knocks around when we’re underway, so I want it stowed. The chartplotter is the single most used piece of equipment with the possible exception of the autohelm.

Battery Monitor. I know rough approximations of your state of charge can be made using just a voltage measurement, and I know that the net meters aren’t perfect. But having a 90% accurate idea of our state of charge puts my mind at ease, and lets us use the batteries more fully without worrying about it. Conversely, if we’re getting low, I know and we can manage power accordingly. This was an impulse buy of mine, but it’s one of the instruments that I check constantly. I’m sure we could live without it, but I’m glad we don’t have to.

Honorable mentions on the must have list: Radar – we’ve used it a handful of times, and I can’t imagine how I would have felt without it. Pelican cases for everything – we don’t have them for the computers and it stresses me out. The one we have for the camera has already saved us once. Binoculars – get used daily and are great. Dragging alarm – helps me sleep, wouldn’t leave home without it. Fridge – we only run it for a few hours a day, but cold drinks are great. Could we live without it? Sure… but happy it’s there. Sat phone – It was a last minute addition, but the free texts have been fun. It’s nice to have a backup to the HAM, and it’s nice to feel like we could call if we needed to.

So, the top 5 things I thought we needed that we don’t use:

AIS. It’s a fun toy, and I can see it being useful as part of the suite of instruments on a well found boat, but outside of the US, I’ve found that LOTS of VERY big boats aren’t broadcasting. So, it doesn’t really make me feel much better, and we’ve been turning it off a lot of the time to save power. It’s kind of fun sometimes, but I’d much rather have the radar than AIS. I thought we needed it before we left the dock, but now I wish I’d saved the money.

Lots of sails. We have too many – a 120 genoa, a 150 for Mexico, a working 90, a storm jib and an asymmetric spinnaker. If I had it to do over again, I’d leave the 150 and the 90 (we have the 120 hoisted as our working sail). There isn’t really a scenario where I’d switch out the 120 for the 90 (maybe I’m just lazy – but a reefed 120 works well enough until I’d be looking for the storm jib anyway), and between the storm jib and the drifter, we’ve got it covered if we have a blow out. The 150 is pretty redundant to the spinnaker, and it’s harder to set. They take up a lot of room.

Bigger batteries. We’ve got 215AH batteries, and I thought we needed more. Really though, you’re either meeting your power needs or your not. If you’re not, you have to supplement one way or the other (read: run the engine) and having a smaller bank just means that we have to run the engine more frequently for less time rather than less frequently for more time. Either way you have to generate exactly what your deficit is (in theory – the solar’s been so effective that we have yet to turn on the engine for the sole purpose of charging). I s’pose that bigger banks could get us out of a pinch if the solar failed (or it was cloudy for an extended period) AND the alternator failed, but I’m not too worried about the “double fault” scenario.

Jerry cans for Diesel. I reserve the right to change my mind when we cross the pacific. However, for costal stuff, we NEVER use the engine. We used a total of 16 gallons getting down the 750 mile coast of Baja, and 12 of those 16 were used to high-tail it out of a dangerous anchorage before a blow came through. We have a 42 gallon tank, and the 10 gallons extra we’re carrying seems pretty unlikely to be needed. You just have to be comfortable not being in a hurry, which seems like the point.

The Windlass. I know not everyone will agree with me here, and some people will find it necessary, but I never use it. I like hauling up the chain by hand – it’s hard work, but I don’t get as much exercise as I’d like on the boat anyhow. We’re living the easy life, and pressing a button to raise the anchor just seems… TOO easy. I literally have yet to use the windlass for anything other than moving chain in and out of the anchor locker. If you’re young and healthy, just man up and pull.

I was going to do a top five things that I wish we had and don’t, but there’s really only one: a watermaker. We’re great about water conservation, and are averaging about 25 gallons a week, which means that our 100 gallon tanks last a month. Even still though, we end up having to worry about how much water we’re using, and more importantly when and where we’ll be able to fill up next. I can’t imagine how nice it would be just to have water show up magically in our tanks. We couldn’t have afforded it, and ultimately, all things considered, I still wouldn’t have bought one but I understand the appeal now. If we keep the boat after this trip, it will be the one and only piece of gear that I’d be really excited to add. The idea of taking a fresh water shower even just every few days sounds luxurious as hell.