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Equipment
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Manufacturer/Model
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Comment
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Bimini
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FP
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Sailing in the
tropics, if you don't fit FP's optional bimini you will want to fit someone
else's.
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Gennaker
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FP / Profurl
/Incidence
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We often sail
downwind in light airs with just the gennaker and make good speed. Its much
easier to manage than a spinnaker and is relatively easy to furl provided
the wind is no more than 20 knots. We wouldn't be without it
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Washing
machine
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Candy
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Great in a
marina where you have access to plenty of water and power
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Forward Cabin
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FP
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We opted for
deck hatches for the forward cabins and for one of the forward cabins to be
fitted with a mattress. We use the other cabin as a storage locker. This
gives us three double berths and one single.
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Sail Lines led
aft
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FP
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We opted to
have the main halyard and reefing lines led aft through blocks to the 4
Lewmar coachroof winches. We mostly still go to the mast to reef or raise
the sail, but its convenient for the other crew member to stay safely in
the cockpit.
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Rope Cutters
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Same
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You never know
if these prevent problems or not.
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Autopilot
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Raymarine
ST6001+ /Type 2 actuator/ 400Gyro computer
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The best
member of crew without a doubt. We couldn't have done this trip without it.
We purchased a slightly larger actuator than we strictly needed and have found
it to be completely reliable.
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GPS
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Raymarine
RN300
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We don't use
the "plotter" function other than as an anchor dragging display.
Interfaces well with other Raymarine instruments. We also bought the
Raymarine Seatalk to NMEA convertor so we can connect to our PC charting
software.
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Radar
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Raymarine
SL70C Plus / 2kw radome
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Great piece of
gear. Well worth getting the colour model as it has better resolution than
the monochrome model and the colours help distinguish between rain squalls
and other targets. We mounted ours in the cockpit and its a great repeater
for other information such as GPS data.
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Forward Sonar
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Echopilot FLS
Bronze
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Not been as
useful as we imagined. It has limited forward range and depth (often about
50m). It uses the same frequency as the Raymarine depth sounder (200khz) so
we can't run both at the same time.
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Depth / Log
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Raymarine ST60
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Depth range is
greater than Echopilot so we typically use this in preference.
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Wind Vane
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Raymarine ST60
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We often
repeat the wind data to the ST60 multi repeater display inside the saloon
cabin.
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Navtex
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ICS Nav6 Plus
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We bought this
because it had a better display than other models we looked at. Navtex was
useful in Europe for weather forecasts in English but we have had no signal
in the Caribbean and Pacific.
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Generator
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Honda EU20i
2000 watt
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Our idea was
to use this as an emergency generator. We haven't used it ourselves but
have loaned it to a couple of other cruisers who needed some power whilst
they made repairs to their boat.
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Dinghy
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Avon Rover 310
(10 foot) Hypalon RIB
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The Avon was
our choice because its hypalon rather than PVC and has a 10 year guarantee.
It has a useful little locker in the bow and a solid double skin floor. It
easily copes with four adults. It also planes more easily than some other
ribs we have seen.
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Outboard
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Yamaha two
stroke 8hp
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We chose
the 8hp for its power to weight ratio, we have been able to go pretty much everywhere
we wanted in it. Spares are available for Yamaha just about everywhere in
Europe the Caribbean and Pacific.
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VHF
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ICOM M502 DSC
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Very nice
display and easy to use.
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SSB
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ICOM M802 /
ICOM AT140 tuner / Glomex 23ft whip antenna / SCS IIe Pactor 3 modem
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This started
to pay off for us on the Atlantic crossing and by the time we crossed the
pacific was on the "must have" list. We mainly use it to keep in
contact with friends when we are on the big passages. We also use it to
receive weatherfax and check in with regular radio nets. Using the Pactor
modem and Sailmail subscription we have been able to send a receive text
emails throughout our cruise.
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Satellite
Phone
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Iridium 9505
phone, base station, data kit and external antenna
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We tended to
use email rather than voice but handy if you need to be contactable well
offshore.
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Music
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Kenwood
PSW9521, 4 x Bose 131 marine speakers
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We chose this
car cd player because it can play MP3 and WMA music files. That means we
can get 10 or more albums of music onto a CDR disc - enough to keep us
amused on most watches.
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Handheld VHF
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ICOM M1V
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Great battery
life and range. Exemplary service from ICOM when we dropped one in the
water and destroyed it.
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Liferaft
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Eurovinyl 6
man Ocean cannister
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The ones
without food packs have a longer service interval.
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Charger /
Inverter
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Mastervolt
Dakkar 2500W/100 AMP with remote control panel
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The remote
control panel makes this unit so easy to use. We probably bought too big a
unit, the 1500W/60amp model would probably sufficed. The reason is that we
have very few 240 volt appliances on the boat and also with only 420 amp
hours of batteries the charger very rarely runs at more than 50amps for
long
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Wind Generator
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Air X marine
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A little noisy
but great output. At anchor the solar and wind gen usually keeps up with
all our daily power needs.
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Solar Panels
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2 x Kyocera
120W panels, 1 x Kyocera 80W panel, Morningstar Pro30 amp regulator
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On a sunny day
we see 15 amps from the panels, along with the wind gen this keeps up with
all our daily power needs, including the 12v fridge, when at anchor.
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Sextant
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Frieberger
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I was going to
learn how to use this but it hasn't been out of the box yet.
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Binoculars
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Fujinon
Mariner 7x50 with compass
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Nice bright
image and light enough that you can use them over a long period of time
without fatigue.
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Anchors
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Spade 20kg,
Bruce 20kg, Fortess FX32, dinghy folding grapnell
60m 10mm chain, 50m 22mm
multiplat, 100m 18mm three strand for kedge.
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The spade
anchor has been fantastic. We usually snorkel on the anchor and it is
nearly always well set at the first attempt. We would probably go for a
little more chain to avoid using the multiplat rope as its harder to use on
the windlass - 75m of chain would probably suffice. The fortress is used as
a kedge but is a bit bulky to deploy from the dinghy, buying again I would
consider an aluminium spade for a kedge. The dinghy grapnel has saved our
dinghy from floating off a beach and being damaged on dinghy docks it also
enable me to rescue one of our bikes from the bottom of the harbour. People
keep cutting the grapnel rode with their dinghy props - so we are on our
third grapnel. The Bruce hasn't been used.
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Parachute
Anchor / Drogue
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Para-anchors
18ft parachute anchor, 100m 22mm braided line, 20m bridle, para-anchors
drogue
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Never used
them, hope we never will.
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Medical Kit
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Category A
offshore medical kit
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We both
attended the MCA First Aid and Medical Care courses (7 days) and bought the
prescribed medical kit. It has given us some confidence to have it aboard.
To date we have only used some antibiotics, asthma inhaler and plasters.
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Bicycles
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2 x Dahon
Helios 8
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All aluminium,
8 speed folding bikes. Really nice when you can use them. Have been best
were we have been in a big marina such as Tenerife and Gran Canaria. They
have suffered from some galvanic corrosion.
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Laptops
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2 x Dell
Latitudes
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We carry two
laptops, being all to aware how fragile they can be. We make extensive use
of electronic charts - Maxsea - and need to have a standby system. We also
use the laptops for watching DVDs, web browsing, email, and weather faxes.
Internet connectivity is by GPRS card, 802.11 wireless or taking the laptop
into a web cafe.
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EPIRB
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McMurdo
Precision 406 GPS
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We bought the
GPS version, very common model amongst our friends. Ours was recalled for a
software upgrade but at least this gave us a new battery.
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Gas Bottles
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12.5 kg
Butagas
13kg Butane
9kg propane
2.5kg Campingas
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We started our
trip with a 2.5kg Campingas bottle and regulator. They are readily
available in Europe, are easy to handle and are expensive. We then upgraded
to a 12.5kg Butane cylinder we we exchanged and refilled all the way to
Tahiti. In Tahiti it was cheaper to get a new (and very similar looking)
13kg cylinder rather than refill our existing one ! In New Zealand all the
gas seems to be propane so we have purchased a new cylinder and regulator.
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Antenna
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R & R
Panama VHF DSC / FM radio / TV / Cell phone
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The idea was
that this multi function antenna would replace several others and leave the
masthead uncluttered. We have used all the features except for cell
phone and it works well.
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Danbouy
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Plastimo IOR
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Everyone in
Europe has these, but they are expensive and poorly designed.
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BBQ
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Magma charcoal
BBQ
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Great for
smaller BBQs for up to 4 people. Nice range of accessories.
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Radar
Reflector
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Echomax
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It has
surprised us how small the radar image is of other yachts. We have no
direct evidence of how effective this product is but the manual is
encouraging :)
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Bug Screens
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Goiot
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These screens
snap into the standard hatches to keep out insects. They let you keep a
breeze in the boat without worrying about being bitten. They are cheaper to
buy direct from the manufacturer than from FP, but note that the front
round deck hatches have a custom made bezel fitted and you will need to cut
the Goiot standard screens to fit.
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Gas Detectors
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LPG Detector
Carbon Monoxide Detector
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The CO
detectory runs on a small pp3 battery but the LPG detector uses 12 volts
and a surprising amount of power - around 0.3 of an amp
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Jerry Cans
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8 x 20lt
Diesel
1 x 10lt Petrol
2 x 20lt Water
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We carry
300lts of diesel in the boat tanks and have rarely needed to use the
reserves, but has been reassuring to have. The water is for putting into the
liferaft in an emergency.
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Lifejackets
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2 x 225N
3 x 150N
2x 100N
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We bought
Crewsaver hammer auto inflate lifejackets and added 3 way harness tethers
and strobe lights.
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Seat Covers
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Custom
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We had seat
cushions, bases and backs made for the outside seating area. They make it
much more comfortable, but you need to store them indoors when the weather
is really wet.
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Fans
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6 x Hella Fans
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We found the
fans were a great benefit and certainly helped in the warmer humid places
like Samoa and Panama.
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Water Filter
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Seagull
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This is a
really clever, but quite expensive, water filter, It not only takes
chlorine and bad tastes out of the water but also many bacteria and even
virus.
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Watermaker
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Aquabase 12v
50liters/hour
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We didn't
switch this on until we got to the Caribbean ! In the Pacific it made all
the difference to our cruising and allowed us to spend us much time in
remote anchorages as we liked. It also meant we didn't have the laborious
job of carrying water back to the boat in the dinghy.
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