10 Things For Your Boat

I read a great article today (see it here) called “10 Things You May Not Have in Your Boat, But Probably Should.” It outlines some essential tools and safety equipment that you may not think to keep at first, but which, as the title of the article tells us, you probably should. I will summarize the list and reasons for each item from the article below.

1. Jumper Cables – We all know what a terrible feeling it is to be stranded somewhere and suddenly have your car not start. Now imagine that same feeling, but you’re surrounded by water.

2. Buoys – Many people these days neglect the old fashioned navigation tools for those that are more technologically advanced. Sometimes, though, it’s nice to have both options.

3. Extra Life Preserver – Having one or two more than you need can’t hurt.

4. Old Fashioned Ice Fishing Depth Finder – This is a pretty specific item, for specific boating activities. Probably not everyone will need this.

5. Rope – This is something you don’t want to need and not have. It serves countless purposes, including tying your boat to the dock, towing someone, or being towed. What you definitely don’t want is to have neither jumper cables, nor rope for a tow.

6. Small Anchor – This is useful for fishing on a windy day.

7. Toilet Paper – Boat ramp facilities often run out of this, so as a back up it’s a good idea to have some of your own.

8. Cable Ties – These are useful for securing things all over your boat.

9. Multi-Tool – While still having everything you need, this item is less cumbersome and takes up less space than a tool box.

10. Quality Side Cutters – Useful for making difficult cuts. Often times your multi tool or whatever cutters come with your tool box might not be quite strong enough.

This was a really useful article, and offers some great ideas. Boating blogs and websites can be a great place to discover information like this.

As someone who just loves boating, I don’t need any sort of futuristic boat design or futuristic gadgets to get me excited about getting out on the water. But interesting, state of the art boats can be very intriguing to say the least. So below, please find a list of some such boats with a brief explanation of each.

The Origami Yacht: This boat has not yet been made. It is still only in the concept phase of development. Still, it is very intriguing. The point of it seems to be to combine both speed and luxury. Depending on which of these boaters want at a given time, this boat can be rigid, sleek, and compact, or it can be folded out (hence the name origami yacht) to enhance the size of the deck. Its sounds like an interesting idea, and I’d be excited to see one of these in action in the water.

Plastiki: This boat is not only innovative, it is also quite funny. Plastiki is made of 12,500 recycled plastic bottles, and even the parts that are not made of recycled plastic are made of other recycled and/or environmentally friendly goods. A boat made out of 12,500 plastic bottles may sound like a joke, but there was no joke about the successful 8,000 mile voyage a crew made with this boat across the Pacific Ocean from San Francisco to Sydney Australia. It even, apparently, made it through a couple of storms along the way.

Luxury Spa Fishing Boat: The Vulkana, a boat that sails along the waterways of the Arctic Circle, looks like an old Nordic fishing boat from the outside. But inside you won’t find nets, hooks, or other equipment used for fishing. Instead you’ll find a spa that includes a Turkish bath, a sauna, and a hot tub. This is certainly not a book you can judge by its cover!

To see more information about these and other interesting boats, visit the Unusual Boats section of boatline.com.