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From: woodsdesignssailingcatamarans (no email)
Date: Sun Jun 20 2004 - 18:01:55 EDT
I am new to this list (this is my first posting) - bu not new to
sailing or long distance cruising. I am a UK based catamaran designer
but I have been cruising my 32ft catamaran Eclipse for the last 18
months and am currently spending the hurricane season in the Rio
Dulce, Guatemala. You can see more about me and my trip at the links
below.
http://www.sailingcatamarans.com
http://eclipsecruising.tripod.com
Anyway, I consider the 3 most useless items that one can have are:
1) a sailing dinghy - I only sailed mine once then gave it away. It's
too slow, unwieldy and impractical. I now have a Walker Bay 8ft which
is light and durable with a 2hp outboard.
2) a bicycle. Again I only used mine a couple of times and then gave
it away. Its OK if you are marina based in a safe society, but how do
you get 2 bikes into/out of a dinghy plus yourselves? And where can
you safely leave them when shopping? And don't forget that by
implication everywhere is uphill from the boat!
3) a washing machine. Now, to be honest I've never had one of these,
but I don't like washing clothes even at home. When tropical cruising
you don't wear much so don't wash much. We can always find a laundry
or a "woman who does" in any port. A washing machine is usually
voltage and frequency dependant so one can't assume it will run on
shore power. Europe is 240v and 50 hz, US is 110 and 60, some places
are 110/50 etc. And of course it uses a lot of water.
What I do like is an umbrella (or a parasol) instead of a bimini, a
wheel barrow (or fold up 2 wheel cart for shopping, carrying propane
tanks etc) and some big fans for the tropics. The marina here
(Marios) can't really cope with air conditioning units as there isn't
enough power and the circuit breakers keep tripping. In any event in
3rd world countries power supplies tend to be erratic at best. We can
use 2 fans from one small inverter.
I do have a water cooled fridge and wouldn't be without it (I tried
that for 6 weeks last summer after losing all my electrical items
after being hit by lightning). Equally I wouldn't be without my
autopilot (10,000 miles without a problem until the lightning strike)
or gps.
I only have an outboard (it charges at 8amps, but can only be used
when we are motoring along) and 4 50W solar panels but they cope with
all my electric needs.
Two other points. I'm very impressed with someone who can repair a
dropped sextant.
The only Barient winches I know of that have had shafts break were
small ones made over 20 years ago.
I hope people find this message useful and I look forward to reading
more of your thoughts.
Thank you.
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