1. We bought Howard Miller brass clock and barometer and put them up on the dividers between the storage area over the helm. They look great and weren't too expensive. The 4" ones looked the best for us but are not the easiest to find. They don't have to be the most accurate. Not having a clock that everyone could see was a real pain.
2. Binoculars - Waterproof, 7x50. We bought Boat US by CStar. Nothing fancy. You won't use them as much as you think you will.
3. Nav charts a definite. Get the widest area you can afford. They are not too expensive. By chart books as a backup. You never know when something will bring down your GPS.
4. I have the Raymarine but I am desiring the Radar antenna really badly right now. Especially if you plan night sailing.
5. Spare fuel containers, carried them, never had to use them. Figure if I need a bit more diesel I will use the diesel from the Wallas stove since we make sure that stays full. Never let it get below 1/3 full and you will not have to worry about it.
6. You stay nice and toasty in the boat and don't really get wet outside. We just have some rain ponchos and sweatshirts.
7. All Fabric Refresher, rain fresh is great for refreshing the fabric and Resolve Multi-fabric for cleaning the walls and fabric. We finished off all of our teak and use swiffer wipes to wipe off the floors. Star Brite products work really well for general cleaning (fiberglass, fenders, eetc.) and I have found no reason to buy the more expensive stuff.
8. Carry a couple of spares but that is it. In 3 yrs. none have burned out. More important to have spare oil filter, fuel filter, air filter, belts, anodes, etc. You can't find them when you need them.
9. We wear sandals until we get in the cabin then it is barefoot. Can't stand the cleaning that are required becasue of dirty shoes.
10. We've been using regular, good quality pots and pans, with no problems. Don't be cheap here.
11. We use rubber tipped (the palm and fingers are all rubber with a knitted cloth back) gardening gloves from Wallmart and they work excelllent! Just a quick wash and drying in the sun and they are ready to use again.
12. Flags are fun! We got a custom flag from nauticalproducts.com with the boats name on it to fly under our U.S. flag.
13. We picked up $14 stadium chairs from Walmart. They fit well in the starboard storage area in the cabin and come with a carry bag. Make sure you put them away when you are done as they rust after a while if you leave them out all of the time. You can get fancy and expensive chairs but these chairs are just as comfortable to me.
14. We buy our brushes and buckets at Wallmart. They are used for cleaning cars but we have found the quality and cleaning ability to be the same as the fancy marine stuff.
15. We got our dingy from Aquamaxdirect.com (8.5. foot long) and our davits from EZ-LIFT Inflatable davit system ($139.99 at affordableinflatable.com).
16. ...
Hope this helps...
Doug K.
Nauti Dream
