Joe Coons
Each year I've offered suggestions for holiday gift givers and list-makers that will provide for more safety, fun, and comfort aboard Members' boats. Here are this year's:
First on everyone's list (if you don't already have them), should be one of the newly-USCG-approved comfortable, inflatable life jackets for each regular crew member. A big gift in dollars ($90 - $120 each), they could mean an even bigger gift in a loved one's life saved. I wear mine whenever in rough seas or alone.
A great convenience are four or six cam-cleats for mounting on the top outboard edges of your boat to hold fenders in the proper place. They make life easier for the crew.
New braided dock lines are always welcome, especially for sailors, who too frequently risk damaging a halyard when it's used to secure to a dock. For sailboats, get two lines 10 feet long, for bow and stern, and two lines 2/3rds the boat's length for springs. For power boats, make one of the bow/stern lines 15 feet.
A great stocking gift is a supply of cocktail napkins with a nautical design: most boating stores carry them. The brass candle-lamps such as sold by some chandleries and REI are great aboard a boat for a romantic dinner, or low-voltage lighting.
The new battery combiners will help a boater who fights low batteries. Call me at 739-1528 and I'll help you pick one.
A great convenience for any boater is a good canvas tote bag with secure straps. We have two, and use them for every trip, it seems. Embroider them with the boat's name!
A soft-padded, six-pack size cooler that can carry beverages yet be stowed easily is always handy.
If the boat doesn't have a GPS yet, there's no excuse for not diving into this new technology! Starting at about $140, and so much better than they used to be, they're amazing!
If you have a laptop computer, get the new software for charting and navigation. My favorite is Nobeltec's Visual Navigation Suite. It will change your cruising life.
For the racing sailor, a gift certificate for new gloves or even rain gear is welcome, of course.
For any boater, a good boating book is fun. My favorites are Chapman's Piloting, Calder's Boatowners Mechanical & Electrical Manual, Gerr's The Nature of Boats, and books about the Northwest's great cruising grounds. Or, get a new set of charts from Nanaimo to Olympia by procuring the Maptech Chart Kit Region 15, a wonderful spiral-bound set of charts in terrific detail. Get the cover, too. Total about $100.
Please give our advertisers the chance to sell you any of this . . . And have a wonderful holiday!
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Last updated 12/4/99 by SCR