# Poll: How would you spend $600?



## notacoolkid (Sep 22, 2016)

Good morning,
We received a $600 windfall for Christmas, with the caveat from the source of said windfall that we would get something for our new-to-us Catalina 34MKII. We have thought about a few things--folding steering wheel, dinghy--but haven't made a decision yet. It really needs to be a kind of "statement" purchase versus rather more prosaic necessities like new fenders or a sail cover. What would you get?


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## Minnewaska (Feb 21, 2010)

A slip at a nice destination.

Hard to make equip recommendations, without knowing what you have. Can't get much of a dink for $600.


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## Ajax_MD (Nov 24, 2009)

He has a Catalina 34. You can combine some of your own funds with the gift to buy a pretty nice dinghy.
I like the folding steering wheel thought as well. 

Do you have an autopilot? $600 would cover about half of one.


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## Minnewaska (Feb 21, 2010)

Ajax_MD said:


> He has a Catalina 34.......


Noted that in the OP, but we don't know how it's already equipped.

I think the best advancement in marine entertainment, communication, navigation, weather, reading material, repair research, marina research, anchor alarm, etc, etc, is an iPad. I would never be aboard, without one, again. No idea if the OP already has one.


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## capta (Jun 27, 2011)

One of the most spectacularly useful purchases I've made over the last 5 years has been a set of "stabilized" binoculars. I was so certain they were a con that I had to have multiple assurances that I could return them if I did not like them.
Well, long story short, they are magnificent. Boat names, light sequences, harbor entrances and literally thousands of things I could maybe get a glimpse of before, stand out steadily in my stabilized binos.
And to add to all that, being lighter than traditional binos, one can move up from 7X35 to 10X50 without the problems associated with doing so with traditional binos.
You'd still have a couple of hundred to play with afterwards (leather wheel cover?), but I doubt you'd find yourself happier with any purchase, after using the Stabilized binos.


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## midwesterner (Dec 14, 2015)

Stabilized binoculars? How do they work? How did they achieve stabilization?


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## SHNOOL (Jun 7, 2007)

If the $600 was a gift for your baby... and you want to remember the giver of the gift every time... 
You need to buy something that is to YOU absolutely a cosmetic item (something you might not buy yourself), but one that provides a statement and class that only YOU can define.

An example might be a Teak cockpit table, and cushions (for the partier).
Or a bronze/brass binnacle compass...
Perhaps bronze Barameter, and hygrometer for down below...
Perhaps a nice sextant for those who nod to the proper way to navigate.

Tend towards stuff that is timeless, rather than canvas, or electronics that have a fairly measured lifespan.

Just my $0.02.


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## travlin-easy (Dec 24, 2010)

At this stage of life, I would spend it all on booze, hookers and fattening food, then piss the rest of it away.  Just kidding, of course.

Put it all in a cruising kitty for 2017 sounds like a reasonable way to piss it away.

All the best,

Gary


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## Turnin Turtle (Jun 25, 2016)

What work/upgrade have you been avoiding due to lack of funds?

Do that.


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## Arcb (Aug 13, 2016)

I'm not sure what kind of sailing you do/plan to do or where, but for most kinds of sailing a dinghy is a pretty nice thing to have. You should be able to get a pretty nice, used hard shell sailing/rowing dinghy for $600.


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## MarkofSeaLife (Nov 7, 2010)

$600 would be great! I could afford the deposit on the down payment of the first installment on the new mainsail


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## RegisteredUser (Aug 16, 2010)

https://garhauermarine.com/catalog_process.cfm?cid=40

There's your ticket.
$500 plus shipping and whatever extras


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## capta (Jun 27, 2011)

RegisteredUser said:


> https://garhauermarine.com/catalog_process.cfm?cid=40
> 
> There's your ticket.
> $500 plus shipping and whatever extras


Sweet!
Wish they made one to fit Skipping Stone.


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## Don L (Aug 8, 2008)

notacoolkid said:


> Good morning,
> We received a $600 windfall for Christmas, with the caveat from the source of said windfall that we would get something for our new-to-us Catalina 34MKII. We have thought about a few things--folding steering wheel, dinghy--but haven't made a decision yet. It really needs to be a kind of "statement" purchase versus rather more prosaic necessities like new fenders or a sail cover. What would you get?


I'll just say that a folding wheel is a LOT more useful/nice than people think! Once on anchor/mooring/docked that thing will be nice EVERYTIME you move around in the cockpit. So you n a day when stationary how many times do you move past the wheel?


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## RegisteredUser (Aug 16, 2010)

capta said:


> ......one can move up from 7X35 to 10X50 without the problems associated with doing so with traditional binos.........


Do you realize a diff in good light?


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## capta (Jun 27, 2011)

RegisteredUser said:


> Do you realize a diff in good light?


Uh, 3 times more magnification and the diameter of the objective lens?
Do I get a gold star?


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## RegisteredUser (Aug 16, 2010)

Don0190 said:


> .......Once on anchor/mooring/docked that thing will be nice EVERYTIME you move around in the cockpit. So you n a day when stationary how many times do you move past the wheel?


Not to drift this thread...
I see removing the wheel as the easy solution when staying put a while.
Then there is...nada....
I've been on boats with folders and while it does open up some access routes, it also impedes others.


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## RegisteredUser (Aug 16, 2010)

capta said:


> Uh, 3 times more magnification and the diameter of the objective lens?
> Do I get a gold star?


Iridium Star.
I misunderstood the bino stats.
I need to get a decent set.
Mistakes can be expensive.
Thx.


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## Faster (Sep 13, 2005)

Second the rigid vang suggestion.. you'll enjoy it for years, assuming, as minne was trying to say, you don't already have it.


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## capttb (Dec 13, 2003)

Got weatherproof cockpit cushions ?
Catalina


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## Squidd (Sep 26, 2011)

travlin-easy said:


> At this stage of life, I would spend it all on booze, hookers and fattening food, then piss the rest of it away.  Just kidding, of course.
> 
> Put it all in a cruising kitty for 2017 sounds like a reasonable way to piss it away.
> 
> ...


I gotta go with Gary on this one...

I didn't even read the rest of the suggestions...


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## LakePirate (May 10, 2008)

If your boat doesn't already have one I would go for a Stackpac and Lazyjack system.


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## aeventyr60 (Jun 29, 2011)

travlin-easy said:


> At this stage of life, I would spend it all on booze, hookers and fattening food, then piss the rest of it away.  Just kidding, of course.
> 
> Put it all in a cruising kitty for 2017 sounds like a reasonable way to piss it away.
> 
> ...


Sounds about right, no kidding.


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## zeehag (Nov 16, 2008)

my last 600 buck windfall was donated to colimilla, colima, mx, for roofs for homes after hurricane patricia. 
if i were to receive another, i would put it toward a haulout or genoa repair or other emergency pending. boats are emergency issues waiting to happen. 
save it and use wisely.


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## basssears (Nov 8, 2010)

Can't tell where you're located so may not apply, but "heat" of some sort (that would get you close to a Dickenson bulkhead heater).

VHF with all the bells and whistles including AIS receiver?

Engel cooler to use as a standalone freezer?

Solar panels?

WiFi / 4G hot spot setup with external antenna (if that sort of thing is important to you :eek )

Used windlass (if you don't already have)

Stereo with switchable cabin / cockpit speakers?

If you can't come up with anything, loan me the $6 and I'm sure I can :wink


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## eherlihy (Jan 2, 2007)

Stainless rail mounted BBQ Grill


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## Skipper Jer (Aug 26, 2008)

I'm with Gary on most of the items he mentioned. The exception is the hooker. How many bottles of Captain Morgan can one purchase for $600.00?
Maybe an AIS transponder?
Then again maybe have some stainless steel business cards made with your boat's name and contact information engraved upon said steel.
If you made the card thick enough it could work as a screw driver, bottle opener, knife, saw, ect. Kinda like this:
http://8knives.com/product/outdoor-...r-knife-screwdriver-saw-pocket-survival-tool/


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## capttb (Dec 13, 2003)

“I spent most of my dough on booze, broads and boats and the rest I wasted.” 

― Elmore Leonard


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## troy2000 (Apr 7, 2013)

SHNOOL said:


> If the $600 was a gift for your baby... and you want to remember the giver of the gift every time...
> You need to buy something that is to YOU absolutely a cosmetic item (something you might not buy yourself), but one that provides a statement and class that only YOU can define.
> 
> An example might be a Teak cockpit table, and cushions (for the partier).
> ...


I second that motion. Not saying you should get silly, but indulge your boat and yourself with something classic and special - something a little beyond what you'd normally look at when you're being 'practical.'


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## gptyk (Mar 20, 2013)

capta said:


> Sweet!
> Wish they made one to fit Skipping Stone.


Call em up. Garhauer makes lots of custom stuff. Great prices. Lots of stuff for Catalinas, but not exclusively so.

I love my rigid boom vang. (Got the entire upgrade kit from Garhauer )

For the OP, if you don't have a decent vang, this is a great suggestion.


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## Don L (Aug 8, 2008)

I spent over half that the other stocking the freezer! Means I have steak plus!


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## greg.rosine (Feb 23, 2018)

I would put toward an electric windlass


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


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## kmacdonald5 (Aug 16, 2011)

travlin-easy said:


> At this stage of life, I would spend it all on booze, hookers and fattening food, then piss the rest of it away.
> 
> Gary


Exactly. Why waste it?


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## paulinnanaimo (Dec 3, 2016)

I'd like to invest in Smackdaddy's book about multi-hulls.


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## Knot Again (Apr 26, 2016)

36” Lewmar folding wheel is $575. I ordered one last week. 

Went to Defender this morning planning to get a Triton2 display for my nav station. Found I could get a 7 inch Simrad MFD/chartplotter instead for $40 more ($599). So I did! 

Both under $600.00


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## MarkofSeaLife (Nov 7, 2010)

Hoover's. 


But without the chicken wings.


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## Don L (Aug 8, 2008)

Hope that was Hooters because Hoover would be something different


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## MarkofSeaLife (Nov 7, 2010)

Don0190 said:


> Hope that was Hooters because Hoover would be something different


Now my spell Checker has a moral corrector?

Woe


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## zeehag (Nov 16, 2008)

my latest 600 usd windfall took down my poooor overused mizzenmast. seems a 200 usd job of mast removal is over 1000 usd here so i had the boom crane come to my slip. why pay more.....is only a 200-250 usd job for 600 usd, so far...hahahahaha and i still have another to pull for maintenance and repairing. 
oh yeah. there is a mast repair guy here does thai cedar masts...... best thing since chopped caviar. hope he aint pricey. 
if he is reasonable he w ill have 2 sticks and 4 horizontal spars including spreaders and my triangular spreader for mizzen to make. horizontales i want perota/huanacaxtle wood, clear coated.


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## Minnewaska (Feb 21, 2010)

zeehag said:


> ......seems a 200 usd job of mast removal is over 1000 usd here so i had the boom crane come to my slip. why pay more.....is only a 200-250 usd job for 600 usd, so far..........


I thought these things were generally less expensive there, Zee. Not so, or is this an exception.


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## zeehag (Nov 16, 2008)

Minnewaska said:


> I thought these things were generally less expensive there, Zee. Not so, or is this an exception.


this is exception. i am in gringoville, and the pimps, aka ****** shop owners, are most greedy. is why i didnt use lift or yard for my work. i hire the underpaid workers, not the pimps. seems we got a combination of ****** pricing and mexican pricing. there is a huge difference. i stay away from yards as much as possible due to the ****** wallet rape pricing. i will be using mexican yards in the other side of mazatlan, where shrimpers keep their boats, when it is time to haul out. this side is pricing selves out of business. yet there are still gullibles falling for this extortion system here. is sad, because these tasks need not be so high in pricing. 
my workers are less pricey as i donot pay pimps, and they are appreciative for the opportunity to actually earn money without being oppressed by ****** shop owners.

at this point i am grateful for the boom crane and my workers. saved me 20,000 pesos. at 18.5 to one usdollar.


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## ianjoub (Aug 3, 2014)

> Poll: How would you spend $600?


Dinner out and a nice bottle of wine with my wife?


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## RegisteredUser (Aug 16, 2010)

ianjoub said:


> Dinner out and a nice bottle of wine with my wife?


Nope.
Throw in a little extra for 200 .50 cal...


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## MarkofSeaLife (Nov 7, 2010)

ianjoub said:


> Dinner out and a nice bottle of wine with my wife?


Do I have to go out with your wife? 
Can't I just drink the wine and imagine an argument?

:wink


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## ianjoub (Aug 3, 2014)

MarkofSeaLife said:


> Do I have to go out with your wife?
> Can't I just drink the wine and imagine an argument?
> 
> :wink


The 3 of us can have dinner and wine together, but that is all the sharing I do.


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## aeventyr60 (Jun 29, 2011)

MarkofSeaLife said:


> Do I have to go out with your wife?
> Can't I just drink the wine and imagine an argument?
> 
> :wink


You'd probably have a better time with a six pack and a playboy magazine..:laugh


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## sailing11 (Mar 14, 2018)

Get a generator


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## thelibrarian (May 3, 2018)

Awesome sails with the jolly roger or something on them.


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## SeaStar58 (Feb 14, 2018)

MarkofSeaLife said:


> Do I have to go out with your wife?
> Can't I just drink the wine and imagine an argument?
> 
> :wink


Are you going to win or loose the imaginary argument? Since this is fantasy I suppose winning is the dream. :wink


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## MarkofSeaLife (Nov 7, 2010)

SeaStar58 said:


> Are you going to win or loose the imaginary argument? Since this is fantasy I suppose winning is the dream. :wink


How dare you be so stupid to think I am so stupid to think I could ever win an argument with a woman? Why do you think I am single?

:wink <-- I trained for that black eye.


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## vpo3 (Aug 22, 2006)

Paint.


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## Frank_R (Jun 11, 2020)

A nice new IR Thermometer!


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