# Need Help Outfitting for Cruising. :)



## PsychedChicken (Feb 8, 2011)

Hello Everyone. My husband and I have been working towards running away on a sailboat for years. We have owned numerous smaller vessels and finally upgraded.
We kind of stumbled upon an Ericson 35 Mk II. It was an EXCELLENT deal so we jumped on it. It has been sitting a little while and will need some work, but the more we look at it, the better we realize it is. 

It is going to be our first cruising vessel. We are in Florida and are hoping to take it all around the Bahamas, Caribbean, and further eventually. However I am looking for any and all advice for outfitting her for cruising. 
It already has a running inboard diesel, small galley (stove/oven and sink) and water tanks (25gallons).

Also and lists (or links to lists) of things we should keep on the boat at all times. Or that you just recommend having on hand....

Looking for any advice, stories, etc... 
If you have something you think I should know or just want to tell me but isnt relevant to this post. Feel free to message me.


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## jimgo (Sep 12, 2011)

Welcome aboard! Congratulations on your recent addition.


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## PsychedChicken (Feb 8, 2011)

Thanks! 
Im looking forward to seeing what there is to see out there.


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## mark2gmtrans (May 14, 2013)

I would look into a small watermaker, if you have not already thought of it. It will make it a whole lot nicer, more showering and so forth.


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## utchuckd (Apr 4, 2010)

#1 on my list would be adequate ground tackle. Properly sized anchors and rode are the first and best line of safety, imo.


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## mark2gmtrans (May 14, 2013)

Also and lists (or links to lists) of things we should keep on the boat at all times. Or that you just recommend having on hand....


MONEY...hehe, but seriously set up a separate account, maybe two, with debit cards for the boat, I have one that has a visa and one a mastercard, debit cards. When you have to go pay at the bank when clearing into port or exiting to get the zarpe you are going to not want to have to use your main bank account for that on the off chance that someone might try to use it. You set up the accounts, and use online transfers as needed to replenish the accounts.


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## Donna_F (Nov 7, 2005)

Welcome to SailNet. Here is an article on recommended tools:

http://www.sailnet.com/forums/her-sailnet-articles/21064-putting-right-tools-board.html

If you look through the threads in this cruising forum, you'll find a lot of useful advice and lists.

Good luck.


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## PsychedChicken (Feb 8, 2011)

Thanks!!
Lucky, Im not too worried about anchors. My husband has QUITE the collection. However, chain will be another story.
We have been looking into a water maker, and I'm stashing money aside for one, its definitely something I want aboard. 
I had never even thought about the money situation either... well thought about it like that at least. 

I really appreciate all the input.


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## mark2gmtrans (May 14, 2013)

One thing that will always be true, you will find something was forgotten that was a no brainer when considered in hindsight. The best way to avoid that being a huge issue is to start with a sort of shakedown cruise that lasts long enough to help figure out the issues, and does not take you too far from places the issues can be dealt with in a reasonably inexpensive way.

Also, you may want to check out http://www.noonsite.com for information regarding the clearance procedures, and so forth, they list by country and have great information. You probably already know this, but I thought I would throw it out there just in case.

I am currently stuck on land, between boats, working in the west Texas oilfields and missing the ocean more than you can imagine, so while I am here I enjoy at least being halfway able to be involved in sailing, by posting and talking with others. I have learned a bit over the years, but I am not a super sailor, probably will never be, because I make to many stupid human mistakes LOL.

Mark


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## PsychedChicken (Feb 8, 2011)

Soo... I received some "feedback" in the chat about not including a picture of the new boat...

It needs some clean up, but here she is. Thats my husband on the boom.


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## mark2gmtrans (May 14, 2013)

PsychedChicken said:


> Soo... I received some "feedback" in the chat about not including a picture of the new boat...
> 
> It needs some clean up, but here she is. Thats my husband on the boom.


It looks like it should make you guys a nice boat and will be very enjoyable. Congratulations.


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## sailvayu (Feb 3, 2013)

Remove and inspect/replace the chain plates. A boat this age this is a must do before heading out. Also have a rigger check over the rest of the rig. If you have not had a survey you may want to find a good sailboat surveyor and have them look it over. I am sure you will get a list then. May need the survey for insurance anyway. Read Read Read there are a lot of good books on this out there. Good luck and hope to see you out there in a couple of years!


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## Sea Dawg (Jun 26, 2012)

Follow someone who's also living your dream and you'll see what's important and what's not. These folks have a lot of experience and fascinating to see what you can do if you just do it....
Matt & Jessica's Sailing Page | Experiencing the world while it's still large


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## Lucky dog 2 (Apr 28, 2012)

Welcome, we have E35II, 1973. Definitely remove the chain plates. Both sides the bulkhead were rotten. You may have remove a wood cover plates. Check the stern plate...worth putting more fiberglass matt over it. Use white rubber mallet and do a sounding on every inch of the deck. There is a history rotten cores due to leaky deck fittings. That why we got a "great" deal on ours. The windows are known to leak. It has 40 year the caulking dries out. Do you have Atomic4, is it mid engine mount?

We have website...if you haven't found it yet. EY.o Information Exchange - The Front Page

ml


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## xort (Aug 4, 2006)

25 gallons of water? Pretty small. We're barely happy with 120.

Watermakers? Can't run them in dirty water, they need power, require running regularly or will need to be pickled and take up space. Ours may be for sale soon! Great for offshore sailing but questionable for coastal cruising.


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## TQA (Apr 4, 2009)

25 galls is too little water capacity. Water is luxury on a cruising boat. My minimum parameter was 150 galls on my boat hunt. 

Nix on the watermaker you can buy a heck of a lot of water for $5000


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## mark2gmtrans (May 14, 2013)

TQA said:


> 25 galls is too little water capacity. Water is luxury on a cruising boat. My minimum parameter was 150 galls on my boat hunt.
> 
> Nix on the watermaker you can buy a heck of a lot of water for $5000


I would say that you can get a very good system in the 200 gallon per day range for about $2,000.00 and when you are cruising it will draw about 7.5 amps, which your solar panels should recharge without an issue. You want to spec one that produces more than you would ever use in a day and run it for about three to five hours a day max, when needed. You can also run it anytime the engine is running.

You do not have to buy but about 2000 gallons of water in total to pay for it. You can always drink your own water and if you run a 50 micron prefilter and a 5 micron input filter it will work in nasty looking water or even brackish or river water.

Study it and see and if you do not like it then you can say you do not want it. I like them.


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## ebs001 (May 8, 2006)

While it's true watermakers are expensive they allow you freedom to cruise to remote areas that otherwise will be inaccessible. We use about 6 gallons a day. I don't know how but that's what it worked out to be. That will mean lugging a 5 gallon gerry can daily which is a little over 40lbs. Water is not always available in places for example the remote anchorages in the Bahamas which is anywhere other than communities which have marinas.

For some reason watermakers are advertised in gallons per day. I have found that to be deceptive. Who needs 200 gallons per day? In my opinion the way to look at it is how much water do I need per day and how long are you willing to spend making it. The with the Katadyn 40, the 40 gallon per day sounds like lots but it will take 4 hours to make that 6 gallons. I have the 80 but if I had known what I know now I would have bought the 160.

Another major consideration is electrical power. Battery capacity - daily amp hour consumption - and means of charging -solar, wind and mechanical.

Food storage. Refrigeration/freezer. We have a small built-in refer but carry an Engel 45 which we use as a freezer. This allows us to be away from stores for weeks at a time and we eat very well. 

Dinghy, this is the family car when cruising so you need a good one with a decent size motor. Sometimes it's necessary to go a fair distance or the currents are strong.

A full cockpit enclosure. about 90% or more of your time is spent not moving and the extra space is well worth it. Also when underway and its raining it can be pretty unpleasant without shelter.


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## mark2gmtrans (May 14, 2013)

ebs001 said:


> While it's true watermakers are expensive they allow you freedom to cruise to remote areas that otherwise will be inaccessible. We use about 6 gallons a day. I don't know how but that's what it worked out to be. That will mean lugging a 5 gallon gerry can daily which is a little over 40lbs. Water is not always available in places for example the remote anchorages in the Bahamas which is anywhere other than communities which have marinas.
> 
> For some reason watermakers are advertised in gallons per day. I have found that to be deceptive. Who needs 200 gallons per day? In my opinion the way to look at it is how much water do I need per day and how long are you willing to spend making it. The with the Katadyn 40, the 40 gallon per day sounds like lots but it will take 4 hours to make that 6 gallons. I have the 80 but if I had known what I know now I would have bought the 160.
> 
> ...


I agree, the first watermaker I bought was too small for long range cruising, it took too much time and too much current over that time to do what I wanted it to do. The second one I bought was a unit rated at 200 gallons per day, and did well. I put in two solar panels, the windcharger system, and rarely had to run the engines to charge the house batteries, when I did I made water, charged batteries, made radio transmissions, and did my housekeeping with the vacuum while the engine was running. I installed a 175 amp alternator to handle the load, and it did just what I designed the system to do, and did it without a strain.

Cruising in blue water and island hopping in the Caribbean, or coasting South America, Africa, or even the Med would, to me, not be easy without the water on board to be able to do it comfortably. I used a little over 30 gallons a day with three to four persons aboard the last time I went for an extended cruise. I have been looking at the energy efficient systems, like Spectra and some others, and I am very impressed with them. The key seems to be getting good pre-filtration, and using the fresh water flush on a schedule so you preserve the membrane, and keep little dead sea critters from clogging it up or ruining it, the membrane traps the micro organisms, and you get clean water, but you need to flush them with fresh water to keep their little dead bodies from mucking up the system.

Just like every other system on board I have redundancy planned. I have one of the manual, hand pumped water makers, it can make about 2 gallons in an hour of pumping the silly thing. I have it just in case of an emergency, I hope I never have to use it, but it is in an abandon ship bag with some other stuff I never want to use like the EPIRB. If you have a dinghy, or life raft, you need an abandon ship bag ready to go, sealed, water tight, and light weight to throw in it in the horrible case of your vessel capsizing at sea. It just could be that this would save your life and the lives of the members of your crew. How many cruisers have lost their boat and suffered horribly in a life raft, well I do not know, but I do not want to join them. If I should lose my vessel, I certainly want to know that I am prepared and can make it for more than three days in the life raft. If I go overboard without the EPIRB, the bag, or the raft...well I am going to be screwed if I am alone, but that is why we always do our best to practice safety, especially when we are alone. Prepare for the worst and pray it never happens.

I know I spend a lot of money on things that others say are not totally necessary. I also know I am not like many others, when I get back on the water this time I will be living on my boat for a minimum of two to five years, no house, no car, and no bills for electricity, water, and sewer, but if I lived on land I would spend over $2000.00 a year on just household water, not bottled water, the tap water. Where I live my water bill, not including the trash and sewer is routinely over $200.00 and goes as high as $300.00 per month. Maybe this is why I plan to spend the up front for a well thought out and well designed water maker system, because I know water is not cheap in most places.

If you have sailed the BVI, Bahamas, and Atlantic coast of South America you know that away from the crowds it is hard to find good, clean water for your tanks, and you are oh so right about those heavy jerry cans. It is bad enough having to lug ten of the five gallon diesel cans back to the boat in the dinghy, heft them over the rail, and lash them down, after making the first trip to fill the tanks. Ask any long range cruiser, read their blogs, ask them how much fun those cans are to wrestle with in a choppy anchorage. Yes, when you are sailing in the Chesapeake Bay, or the Great Lakes, or even cruising coastal Florida, or the Gulf of Mexico and never more than 10 hours from a great US marina then the watermaker sounds very unnecessary, when you are making for Tahiti from Colon Panama, well it might be more desired. Catching water from your sails sounds workable, but if it does not rain it is going to suck to be you.


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## PsychedChicken (Feb 8, 2011)

A watermaker is definitely on the list of necessities. Even if I get one now and am rarely in a situation where it is "needed", I will need one in the long run. Eventually I will be upgrading boats again, and it would be nice to already have a good watermaker that I like, that I can just put on the new-er boat. 

Also, I had not thought of an abandon ship bag. Glad you brought that up. Were going to get our boat on the hard in the next few months and get her surveyed as well. Then we'll have a better idea of what were dealing with


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