Equipment
Goodies! I have always been font of toys – surfboards, snowboards,
cars, etc – and man, can you buy a lot of big-boy toys for a yacht
(needless to say who wrote this section). And the beauty of it all,
you can sell them to the misses with the argument of safety! The
rest is covered by “convenience” which is high on her list, so who
is to blame?
Now that I think of it, it’s actually true. More than 90% of the
equipment has a direct or indirect safety function, or makes life
certainly a lot more convenient. Not only plain safety equipment
such as a life-raft and flares add to safety; normal sailing gear
such as a reliable autopilot is a necessity when sailing short-handed.
And yes, many people cruised years without a fridge or a shower,
but these little things are very pleasant to have (drinking warm
beer – bah).
There is one catch though, you shouldn’t get dependent on all this
stuff as we all know what happens with toys, they break down. Your
first line of defense is spares and a well-assorted toolkit combined
with some basic equipment knowledge. Complete failures are initially
overcome with full backups or at least acceptable alternatives.
Example is the windvane which can replace the electrical autopilot.
Since there comes an end to the spare parts you can carry and the
equipment you stow on your boat, you also have to be prepared to
do without a great deal of at least the electrical equipment. What
if you get struck by lightening and find everything with a print
plate fried?
One last thing. Do you know these boat advertisements stating “she
is ready to sail anywhere in the world”. Well, we partially fell
in love with Espiritu because she was so well-equipped but you might
want to pay attention to the *-marks, which stand for newly bought.
To some extent because they were absent, in some cases because we
wanted to upgrade to new equipment. Our budget stated a large sum
marked as “miscellaneous”, which seemed hugely exaggerated but was
still not enough when we added the final bill.
So here we go, per category:
       
Item |
Brand |
Description |
Engines |
| Main engine |
Yanmar |
4JHE 44 hp diesel engine – natural respiration, no turbo |
| Outboard engine for dinghy* |
Johnson |
8 hp |
Tanks |
| Diesel |
|
350 liter |
| Water |
|
500 liter |
Electricity |
| Generator |
HFL |
diesel, 6 kva, 220v |
| Solar panels (4) |
|
Charging the batteries, charging 5Amp per hour |
| Battery charger* |
Tantrex 20 |
In case the solar panels are not sufficient |
| House battery* |
|
200Ah lead-acid |
| Engine battery |
|
120 Ah lead-acid |
| Generator battery* |
|
80Ah gel* |
| Inverter |
|
12v – 220v, 800 Watt |
Steering |
| Chain/wire steering wheel |
|
With skeg-hung rudder |
| Emergency tiller |
|
Directly on rudder post |
| Autopilot* |
Ray Marine 6000 |
Directly mounted on steering quadrant |
| Tillerpilot* |
Plastimo |
Connectible to windvane |
| Windvane* |
Windpilot Pacific |
Directly wired to emergency tiller |
Safety |
| Life-raft* |
CSM |
4 persons |
| Lifevests / harnesses (2)* |
Hutchinson |
Self-inflatable |
| Tethers (2)* |
|
|
| Running jack-stays* |
|
From front to aft |
| EPIRB* |
|
|
| Flares* |
|
4 of each kind, in total 20 |
| Horse boys* |
|
With stroboscope (2) |
| Fire extinguishers * |
Kidde |
2 kg dry chemical (4) + 5 kg (1) |
| Fire blanket* |
|
|
| Electrical bilge pumps* |
Rule |
1100 and 2000 gallons per hour (2) |
| Bolt-cutter* |
|
To cut the stays in the event the mast comes down |
   |
  |
   |
| Communication |
| Mounted VHF radio* |
ICOM M402 |
|
| Handheld VHF radio* |
ICOM IC-M1V |
|
| HF radio* |
ICOM IC718 |
With AT130 tuner |
| Satellite telephone* |
Iridium |
|
| Navigation |
| Wind direction & speed |
B&G |
|
| Log |
B&G |
|
| Depth sounder |
B&G |
|
| Boat GPS |
B&G |
|
| Handheld GPS |
Gamin |
GPS 76* |
| Radar |
Raytheon |
R10X |
| Sonar* |
Echopilot |
FSL Bronze, downward & foward! looking |
| Compass |
Plastimo |
130 (outside) & Silva type 70 (inside) |
| Binoculars |
|
|
| Laptop |
IBM |
Thinkpad 1500i |
| Deck |
| Winches |
Barient (all self-tailing & 2-speed) |
Genua (2x32), Main sheet & Gennaker (3x27),
Halyards (2x24),Centerboard (1x22), Reefing lines (1x17) |
| Electric anchor winch |
|
|
| Anchors |
Bruce 20kg (1), CQR 20kg (1), Danfordt 20kg (1) |
|
| Dinghy |
|
4 persons, inflatable with V-shaped polyester bottom |
   |
  |
   |
| Household / galley |
| Galley (4 burners) and oven |
Broadwater |
|
| Fresh water pump* |
Jabsco |
|
| Microwave |
|
|
| Purifier with carbon filter |
|
|
| Aft head |
Jabsco |
Manual pump |
| Forward head* |
Jabsco |
Electrical pump |
| Forward shower* |
|
With electrical discharge |
| Deck shower |
|
|
| Warm-water heater |
|
220v |
| Freezer / fridge |
|
220v, water cooled compressor with eutectic holding plates |
| Fridge compressor* |
Danfos |
RD50, 12v water cooled (backup) |
| Air-conditioning |
|
220v, water cooled |
| Bread machine* |
Princess |
|
| Yogurt maker* |
EasiYo |
|
| Barbecue |
|
|
   |
  |
   |
| Scuba diving |
| Dive compressor |
|
Coltri 2,8 CFM |
| Tanks (4) |
|
|
| BCD’s (3) |
|
|
| Regulators (3) |
|
|
| Wetsuits (4) |
|
|
| Masks (3) |
|
|
| Fins (2 pairs) |
|
|
| Snorkels (2) |
|
|
| Dive torches (2) |
|
|
Dive computers
|
|
Suunto (2) |
| Other |
| Radio / CD player |
|
|
| TV / DVD player |
|
|
| Fishing rod |
|
|
| Hammock |
|
|
|
