Now that we live onboard our sailing boat fulltime, I like to use the best tools and equipment for regularly occurring jobs, as opposed to the easiest and cheapest things you might choose for your weekender boat.
I take my time and consider if it fulfils my strict criteria to be allowed to take up space onboard, when space is always so precious on a boat. We take everything we have with us as we sail around the world. No back-ups, no extra storage facility, no garage back home to relegate those lesser used items, that start to overtake your boat so easily.
I always try to ask myself –
- Is it absolutely necessary?
- Can it be used for more than just one purpose (dual or multi purpose)?
- Does it take up a lot of space or drain the battery power significantly?
- Does it enable you to do a job yourself without paying someone else to do it for you?
- Is it damaging to the environment or our health?
- Is it made of breakable material? Does it need special wrapping to stop damage?
- Will it last? Is it a good quality product that won’t have to be replaced in a few months or when you have no access to shops or internet delivery stops. Will the marine environment cause it to disintegrate without a lot of care and maintenance?
These questions should be applied to 95% of the stuff you pile onto your boat, and if they don’t tick at least four boxes when you ask your latest piece of equipment, “should you come home with me”, then maybe don’t buy it, accept it as a gift, barter for it, or give it a home. Cruisers often have treasures of the bilge sales and swaps to try to alleviate this exact problem, and all will tell you, however big or small their boat is, that they have too much STUFF onboard.
