As a full-time live-aboard, you learn to make some sacrifices. You ultimately become your own little island so you must learn to ration your supplies, especially if you are doing offshore cruising to remote places. For example, you shouldn’t be taking 30-minute showers because your water tanks simply won’t sustain it. And you become more creative with food prep because it’s not always possible to obtain all the ingredients normally available in a land-based life.
However, there are a few extras that I like to have on board to make cruising life a little more comfortable. Are they necessary? Absolutely not, but if you are new to cruising or appreciate some creature comforts, this list might be of some interest to you.
FRESH BREAD
Everyone loves the smell of fresh bread, right? Sailing through the islands in high season you will often find the shelves bare in the local supermarkets while the mail boat is en route or delayed by weather. Sometimes you’ll find a loaf of bread already moldy by the time you get it home because it was on said mailboat for days…waiting out bad weather.
Learning to make bread from scratch is a game of its own. It absolutely takes some practice, as it can quickly turn into a sticky hour, with your galley looking like a tornado blew through because you left a hatch open and your flour blew up in your face and ended up in every crevice imaginable. If that hasn’t happened to you least once while trying to make fresh bread aboard a boat I am impressed!
That brings me to item number one that you don’t necessarily need but will LOVE to have; a bread maker. We like the Neretva. I was skeptical at first about owning a bread maker on board because it’s another appliance to store and is it really necessary? My answer is YES! Instead of getting sticky and making a mess in your galley with flour everywhere, you simply put all your ingredients in and hit go. Three hours later, you’ve got fresh bread that smells amazing. The only issue? You may make the rest of the anchorage jealous…and hungry!
FIZZY WATER
Who doesn’t love their fizzy water or carbonated beverage on board? Whether to mix with your rum for a sundowner, or simply have a refreshing drink when the sun is beating down, here’s a gadget that will add some zest. The problem with traditional soda in cans is storage space. How much space do you want to take up with cans of Sprite and Coca-Cola when stowage is limited?Cans also seem to be getting thinner and thinner these days. You can imagine the sticky disaster that awaits if you hit a wave funny and your cans bang around and split open. Ask me how I know this.is not a fun thing to have to clean up.
Our solution has been a Spärkel machine—a carbonator that does not need C02 cartridges. A traditional soda stream machine is great when you are in a location where you can easily exchange or buy new C02 canisters but in the Caribbean, that is not easy to do.
The Spärkel machine uses a combination of sodium bicarbonate and citric acid, when that mixes with water,it creates C02 and carbonates your water. The bonus is you can actually infuse your water with local fruit like papaya for a healthy option.
SURFACE AIR SUPPLY
Who has ever run aground, or run over a dinghy painter, or simply needed to clean the waterline? Answer: everyone. There are two types of sailors: the ones who have run aground, and the ones who will.
Not everyone has SCUBA gear on board, and if you do, do you have a compressor to refill your tanks? Are you able to free dive and hold your breath long enough to clean your keel or check for damage, and ensure good anchor holding?? When it comes to underwater maintenance and repair, being able to breath underwater comes in very handy.
The next item that you don’t necessarily need but will love to have is a surface-air supply. There are a few different brands available but I am going to speak about the DiveBlu3 Nomad underwater breathing apparatus. It has a 30-foot hose attached, so you can easily clean your hull, free a line from your prop or simply enjoy beautiful reefs up close.
DiveBlu3 gives you an introductory course about diving when you purchase one of their products, which teaches you the safety aspects of diving as well as how to use this handy device. DiveBlu3 runs off a lithium battery that you can charge on board. It gives you approximately an hour of underwater time.
As a certified diver, I would strongly recommend using a professionally built surface air supply. Some cruisers we’ve met have attempted to make their own with a standard compressor and hose, but this is not as safe, as you may end up breathing harmful oils and chemicals. If you are going to build your own, please consult a dive professional for advice before you begin.
GETTING COMFORTABLE
The sun is setting and the sky is turning a beautiful shade of pinky purple. You are sitting up front on the deck of your boat watching as you sip your sundowner with friends, but you soon get uncomfortable sitting on hard fiberglass. There are many seating solutions like hard-to-stow bean bags available to make your life more comfortable, but which product do you go for?
The Westmarine-style folding chairs that everyone seems to have, look good at first until they start rusting and won’t fold down or up anymore. Or how about bean bags? Everyone loves a comfortable bean bag, although what do you do when a squall comes out of nowhere and now your cockpit is taken up by very large bean bags that you swore looked smaller in the store. How about camping chairs that are dual purpose for on deck and the beach? Oh wait, they rust as well, and if you use them on the beach you end up with sand all over the place.
The best solution we have seen is the Bote inflatable chairs. They give you a comfy seat just like a bean bag. They don’t rust or fall apart and they collapse down to almost nothing making storage super easy!
What are some of the extras you have on board that you don’t necessarily need but love to have?
In case you don’t have a ton of $$ Start with an “oil-less” compressor! Install intake air filter AND on discharge an ‘oil catch’ inline filter; then a disconnect between filter & your airline to your regulator. Many variations all over the planet!
Do your math & remember you are still breathing at depth; scuba rules still hold!