Starting equipment for new boat

[baz]

I'm wanting to create a list of items that make practical sense to start with for our new R-25. Obviously items are acquired overtime but wanted to get advice from more experienced boaters as to what a good starting lists would be.

The new boat comes with a comprehensive Coast Guard kit (life jackets, lines, fenders, Fire extinguisher, Medical kit, etc)

I suspect we need in addition

1. Small marine/brass clock, barometer etc
2. Binoculars (what type, specs at reasonable cost)
3. Nav maps or books for Puget Sound area
4. Useful additions for the Garmin 5212 Nav system
5. Spare fuel containers (metal or plastic)
6. Clothing items such as an all weather jacket for each of us
7. Any special cleaning products for the boat's materials such as the fiberglass, teak and wall/ceiling liners
8. Spare bulbs for the interior/exterior
9. Suitable boating shoes
10. Pots, pans etc that can be used with the Wallas stove (do we need anything special for this stove?)
11. Boating gloves (maybe -- just don't know what makes sense for this)
12. Need a USA flag to fly presumably. 😉
13. Folding deck chairs for the cockpit
14. Plastic bucket and cleaning deck mop etc
15. A big costly item presumably will be a dingy for getting ashore at times (recommendations welcomed -- should I go with new or used?)
16. and so on 🙂

 

[henrym]

1. Small marine/brass clock, barometer etc.

Don't waste your money on #1 as the cheap ones won't cut it as they are usually made in China. A $15 Casio waterproof digital watch is much better and more reliable than some yachty looking overpriced wall clock. For barometer information - your VHF weather channels will give you the current barometric pressure etc.

2. Binoculars (what type, specs at reasonable cost)

For 30± years I have relied upon my trusty old 7X50 Fujinon waterproof binoculars. Fujinon 7X50's have such fantastic optics, you can see in the dark with them. Due to a boat's motion, 7X50 is about the most powerful regular binoculars you want on any type boat. That is until the R-25 entered on our boating scene. With the forward helm location, the motion of the choppy water at cruising speed in the R-25 rendered my 7X50 Fujinon binoculars all but useless due to image vibration. Solution, retire the 7X50 Fujinon binoculars to looking at space shuttle launches 60 miles away and night viewing of the moon.

Enter, Fujinon's 12X32 image stabilized waterproof binoculars. Now, when I look through them it is like the R-25 is still sitting up in the boat lift at its home dock. FYI, Fujinon pioneered the first image stabilized binocular system that is now used under license in most other makes.

So, my suggestion is to take your hard eared bucks that you might have blown on the yachty looking clock and barometer and add it to you binocular budget and get a decent pair of image stabilized binoculars. When it comes to binoculars, cheap binoculars will give you nothing but cheap unacceptable results... I trust other TugNuts fill you in on 3-16.

Henry

 

[j&lgray]

Well, this is going to be a huge thread with so many ideas and from some great boaters and we will continue to contribute to this as it develops. There are other threads on this site that hold some of this information, so you do not have to wait for this thread to develop.

Laurie and I are writing a book on comfortable cruising in a trailerable powerboat and we have over 100 ideas and they keep coming. We hope to publish the book in the near future.

Anyway, A couple of our ideas:

Binoculars for both the Pilot and the Navigator. When one sees the Gray Whale, the other can see it to.
Boat Hook- if you have it with you, you won't need it.
Manual Bilge Pump- a lesson learned the hard way for us- again, you have it with you, you won't need it
Fenders- we love the round, ball type ones because they can deflate and they do not scratch the hull like some do-get four, two for each side-you have to be ready to change your docking plans on the fly
Bow and Stern lines for both sides of the boat-the braided kind are easier on the hands and coil nicely and they come in a variety of cool colors.

 

[henrym]

Round fenders are great, but rather worthless when you are up against a piling dock as they will roll off the piling. Unless, you use two of them in conjunction with a wooden plank fender board (however, round fenders with a fender board do not work very well together. I would suggest having at least one (easy to rig in a horizontal position) cylindrical fender on board for such situations.
Henry

 

[K7MXE]

I guess I have a couple of thoughts on this subject. A hand held VHF radio is handy at times.
The best foul weather gear you can afford just in case. And don't go cheap on the binoculars,
I have the Steiner 7x50 Commander Marine jobs and they do a very fine job for me. Gloves
are very handy when that anchor/mooring line is caught by the current and you don't want to
let go of it and its eating away on your skin.
My fenders are well worn now having lock walls do a number on them so I guess I do not worry
any more on how they look. I have six. Can not say I like the round ones because they move
around a lot.
Do not forget the navigation stuff either, gotta know where your going if it be charts,
tools to use the charts, plotter or gps or what ever. I have a AIS and think if one does
any amount of cruising around commercial vessels it is a good thing. It uses your MMSI
information to let you be seen by commercial vessels on their chart plotter screens and
you the same.
I do know keeping a list of needed things as they arise is good as I forget things real easy.
Bob Heselberg Eatonville Wa

 

[johnniethek]

A name for the boat and a few hundred dollars to hire a graphics expert to create applicable text for your boat. At a minimum you will want the name over the swimstep, but perhaps on both sides of the bow, as well.

 

[rt11002003]

If one documents the R-25 then the transom must carry the hailing port name. Not sure if there is room for both on the R-25. The transom on our Albin was large enough for both the hailing port and the boat name.

I carry the hailing port name on my R-21 EC's transom and boat name as far forward on the bow as possible without offending the state authorities. I got registration numbers and name from a local sign shop; they have a good variety of fonts, sizes and colors. They can even automatically size numbers and letters to fit the space you have. They're easy to apply with the boat on the trailer. Special graphics are more expensive and you probably won't find them in a sign shop.

Look in the galley to the boat "Lois H" to see what I'm saying about having the name forward on the bow.

Gene

 

[sparky]

See The Album for Starry Night. On the second page I have the stern graphics shown. First page has the bow shot

I paid a lady in Gig Harbor WA to go to the factory and put the graphics on the boat before it was shipped out to Virginia. Jeff Messmer recommended Margaux and we could not be happier. And to have the boat show up with the name already on was so nice. :roll:

Sparky

 

[baz]

See The Album for Starry Night. On the second page I have the stern graphics shown. First page has the bow shot

I paid a lady in Gig Harbor WA to go to the factory and put the graphics on the boat before it was shipped out to Virginia. Jeff Messmer recommended Margaux and we could not be happier. And to have the boat show up with the name already on was so nice. :roll:

Sparky

Yep - Jeff also gave me Margaux's contact info and I've Emailed her.... but that was last Thursday and have not heard back from her yet. I'm also hopeful she can get to our R-25 before it leaves the factory in Kent prior to Jul 15. I've sent her the boat's name and the IoM logo we want painted.

BTW - Can I ask what you paid for Margaux's art work -- maybe you can IM me or Email me at "barrysharp AT me DOT com". Thanks... 🙂

 

[RDragon]

I used a guy by the name of Brad Baker from Portland. The folks from C-dory website highly recommended him and I will keep that recommendation up!!! He was easy to work with and came up from portland and applied all the graphix etc. I have a picture thanks to Mac, but am too stupid to input it! :?

Brad's e-mail is: cohodesign@gmail.com

I think I figured the picture thingy out....maybe? :geek:

 

[bbrh842]

Regarding folding deck chairs for the cockpit:
I bought the EXPENSIVE stainless deck chairs from West Marine.
Thought they would last forever.
They are VERY heavy.
But even worse, their inards are made of partical board.
Water will inevitable get into the cushions, the partical board will swell up, and the seat will collapse.
Mine lasted about a year.
I replaced them with aluminum director chairs from the local sporting goods store.
I think they cost about $24 each.
Very light.
Some of the screws and rivets are made of plated steel, a magnet sticks to them.
These fittings will eventually rust and the chairs will need to be replaced.
Cheaper to replace a $24 chair once a year than a $169 dollar chair.
That's my opinion.

 

[bbrh842]

Rain-X
Do not get the stuff that is a mixture of window cleaner and Rain-X.
Get pure 100% Rain-X.
You can get it at the auto parts store.
Use it on the front windshields.
It works 10 times better the windshield wipers.
I never use the windshield wipers since I discovered Rain-X

 

[baz]

Rain-X
Do not get the stuff that is a mixture of window cleaner and Rain-X.
Get pure 100% Rain-X.
You can get it at the auto parts store.
Use it on the front windshields.
It works 10 times better the windshield wipers.
I never use the windshield wipers since I discovered Rain-X

I never thought of Rain-X. Excellent idea as I've had good results using it for my car's windshield. THANKS for the tip. 🙂

 

[Tom Ray]

A sealed container of drinking water, in case you don't come home when you thought you would...

 

[rt11002003]

I opened my last one yesterday.

 

[henrym]

Try RejeX, it is like Rain-X on steroids. It lasts much longer.
Henry

http://corrosionx.com/rejex.html

-------------------------------------------------------

Rain-X
Do not get the stuff that is a mixture of window cleaner and Rain-X.
Get pure 100% Rain-X.
You can get it at the auto parts store.
Use it on the front windshields.
It works 10 times better the windshield wipers.
I never use the windshield wipers since I discovered Rain-X

I never thought of Rain-X. Excellent idea as I've had good results using it for my car's windshield. THANKS for the tip. 🙂

 

[tuggin aweigh]

Tug Nuters--
Before making an inflatible purchse I would appreciate some input from other R25 owners.
We are considering purchasing either a
1) West Marine RU-260 with a 4'6" beam length 8'6", wood slats, 16" diameter tubes or
2) West Marine SB-275 with a 4'11" beam, length 9' marine grade plywood floor.
Should the additional 6" on the SB-275 with the R25 having a beam of 8'6"?

We looked a zodiac-are they worth the additional cost? Are there other brands we should consider?

We will also be purchasing an outboard. We were told that Tohatu and Mercury come off the same assembly line. Any recommendations on these brands or others. The outboard must have an internal tank.

My wife and I are not large people- together we may tip the scales at 260#-so weight and agility of launching, entering and exiting the inflatible has not been considered.

Thanks. 🙂

Frank and Pam Mathon
Tuggin Aweigh

 

[Dene]

I'd add a durable, used laptop for secondary chartplotting purposes. We keep ours on-line at all times, with Nobeltec and Marinetraffic.com in the background. The latter helps you know where the big boys are, in particular ferries.

-Greg

 

[j&lgray]

Frank,
We also did a process to find an inflatable. We had a Zodiac with a wood floor for 10 years that we used with our 24 foot Bayliner cruiser. We loved it because we rolled it up and put it away for the winter. It was 8-6 long and fit us nicely. We put a 4 HP Evinrude on it and it took us everywhere that we wanted to go.

For the Ranger, we wanted a hard bottom dingy because we could beach it on the rocky beaches in the Pacific Northwest and it would row very nicely (which the Zodiac did not). It does not roll up but that is not an issue with us now. We bought a 8-6 long dingy because anything longer would interfere with docking and who needs the bother of worrying if the dingy is going to hit the dock before the fenders do! This is the link to what we bought:
http://www.endurance-marine.com/servlet ... 28RIB+S%29
We have been very happy with it! Also the price point was within our budget ($ 1,700) and we ordered the mounting davits at a considerable savings to what else is on the market. Absolutely no regrets!

If I were you, I would put a 2 HP air-cooled Honda on it; powerful, reliable, light weight and has a self-contained fuel tank. It is a four-stroke engine. Very nice, smooth and good engineering.

 

[baz]

Frank:

Did you purchase the mounting davits for your dingy from Endurance Marine ? Thanks... 🙂