Top 10 Tuesdays: Top 10 Gifts for Cruisers

The manner of giving is worth more than the gift. 

 ~Pierre Corneille, Le Menteur

It's Christmastime! Not sure what to get your favorite sailor or cruiser?  Here are some items that we currently have, use, love and think would make great gifts for the cruising sailor.  I have added approximate prices so you can stay within your budget...

1. Hand-Bearing Compass ($30-$200)- every serious cruiser should have one on board.  These are great to have handy and we have the one I linked to.  These are NOT the same as your ships compass and serve a different purpose.  Typically, a hand bearing compass is used to measure the direction of sighted objects relative to the user (like another ship, for example).  The steering compass tells you where you are going, the hand-bearing compass tells you where you are. For more on when to use your hand-bearing compass read Don Casey's article on them here.
2. Dry Bags ($19.99 - $60.00) We have a ton of different brands of dry bags in our boat in sizes that range from tiny to jumbo.  Our spare sheets and linens are stored in dry bags, our spare hats are in dry bags, and they have been great.  I particularly love the Sealine brand of bags because they are super rugged, clear (so you can see the contents) and very easy to use.  They come in handy all the time - especially when doing dinghy runs back and forth to land.  I would recommend getting at least two sizes: large and small.  I use the smaller size almost as a purse when we go ashore, and the larger is great to transport towels, a radio, and whatever else to the beach.  They also rinse off super easy if they do get wet and/or sandy.
3. Kindle - ($79-$199) I love my Kindle.  I don't think I would have ever considered an e-reader if we didn't live on a boat, but being that I read as much as I do and the fact that books take up a significant amount of space on the boat, I decided to give the e-book a try.  We love our e-readers! They are easy to use, hold a charge forever, and read just like a real book.  Combined, Scott and I have about 150 books stored on our e-readers (which would never fit on our boat otherwise) so we never have to turn to the trashy romance novels that seem to be the standard at book swaps.  Of course, we still have a large array of 'regular' books as well (the e-readers are not great for reference books, cook books, how-to books...etc) and if you prefer to get your sailor the real thing, here are some books I recommend.
4. SPOT Tracker ($150) - Are you worried about your sailor heading off to sea? 'SPOT notifies friends, family or an international rescue coordination center with your GPS location and status based on situation and need - all with the push of a button'.  It relies 100% on satellite so it will work where phones will not, it's rugged, and simple to use.  Our friends and family love following us on SPOT and so will you! 
5. Sailor Bags ($24-$89) - we love our sailor bags and use them every. single. day.  We have the small messenger bag, I use the medium tote as my main "purse", we have two extra large duffles for when we travel and I just ordered a backpack as well.  They're functional, durable and stylish.
6. Stainless Steel Multitool ($50-$80) - we both have one of these and use them ALL THE TIME.  Believe me, you cannot have too many tools on the boat.  We keep these in our nav station for easy use - and when we are sailing, we keep one strapped to the binnacle so that it's handy in a moments notice.  We love them.  Just make sure to keep them lubed up with WD-40 or something similar because eventually, even stainless will start to rust and cease up.
7. Moosejaw Crazy Creek Chair ($44) - space is a premium on a boat and these little chairs take up barely any!  They are super comfortable and we'll take them to the beach, to a cruiser's barbecue or throw them up on the bow and relax in them as we watch the sunset with a glass of wine in hand.  Not bad at all!  
8. Waterproof Camera/Camera housing (varies) - lots of cruisers LOVE the Olympus Tough Brand of camera; they are shock-proof, water-proof and take excellent photos (I have a Canon D12).  BUT, if you don't want to spend $300-$400 on a new camera, why not look into waterproof housing for your existing camera?  I have a waterproof case for my Canon and I love it. Do some searching online and I'm sure you'll find one to suit the brand you have.
9. Subscription to Chris Parker weather ($195-$295 p/y) -  We love our subscription to Chris Parker.  His very thorough weather reporting has greatly assisted us in getting here safely from the USA.  This gift only makes sense if you know of a cruiser who is leaving to cruise to the Bahamas or Caribbean and because it's a yearly 'subscription', it's best to start it close to when they leave.  Weather prediction is an imperfect art, but having Chris Parker on our side has certainly assisted us in deciphering the weather when making decisions on passages. 
10. Durable reusable water bottle ($15- $30) - We use the Nalgene brand of bottles and love them, but there are many, many more out there!  What is great about having these aboard is that we can see how much water we're drinking, we don't mix up bottles (ours our different colors), they are spill-proof, we don't need to mess with glasses and ours fit perfectly in our cockpit cup holders.  We love ours and highly recommend anyone who will be living on boat to invest in one for themselves.

If you have something that you think would make a great addition, by all means, let us know in the comments!  Happy Holidays everyone!

Love,

Brittany & Scott