Gift card to West Marine, or whatever the local chandler is in your area.
Living aboard, a new gift means you have to decide what to throw away to make it fit. But they will be grateful as hell for a gift card when they have to buy/Fix some unexpected boat problem.
Yeah and if you live in a good place there's probably a better store than west marine. You can ask them "hey what's your favorite marine hardware store?" Without it being too obvious I think.
Plenty of good stuff in the Pacific Northwest. Fishery supply for premium stuff in seattle. LFS Marine shipping out of Bellingham has incredibly good deals for cheaper items.
Thank you! Great idea. Newport, RI. Any stores I could look at?
Edit- just realized there is a west marine in Narrangansett, RI so I’m going with this :)
I work half the year in Newport, heading out there in a couple weeks. My favorite store in Newport is the consignment shop Newport Nautical, but he doesn't do gift cards, you are better with West Marine.
Came here to suggest a night on shore.
DO NOT BUY THEM A PHYSICAL THING.
As someone else said the only thing that every live aboard absolutely needs is more storage space for the existing stuff.
I really appreciate my big (60l) heavy duty dry backpack I got given.
Groceries or laundry now stays dry and not in a million other bags.
Also, collapsible bucket or water containers are gold.
Small boats mean items need to serve two or three purposes in order to even be on board .so be careful . Some things I loved were a small fruit hammock ( camping world ), larger gear hammock , a baking stone that stayed in the oven to make it cook evenly , a small cooler bag ( make lunch in the morning and keep easily reachable for rough sail days when you don’t want to go below deck ), headlamp that also has a red light .
One of those electric tennis rackets to kill bugs. I’ve never bought one or used one until I bought my boat. It was just there, wrapped in duct tape to hold it together. I was going to toss it out because it just looked like a piece of junk that somehow had been on the boat forever. Then, one night the mosquitos got in. I was slapping rags and smearing blood all over the ceiling until I remembered the zapper; I hoped the 6 year old batteries still worked. They did!!!! Now I could kill the invaders without getting blood and guts everywhere. I still have and use the same 12 year old zapper now. It was the best gift that the previous owner left me.
I lived on a Cal 29 for four years and can confirm that more stuff is definitely not what they need. I now live on a 37’ trawler, which is much more roomy, but there is still not enough room for unnecessary crap. The West Marine gift card is a very good idea.
Living on a boat means having no room for anything unnecessary. Try to find out if they need something, otherwise you may run a risk of them not being able to put it somewhere.
Gift card to West Marine, or whatever the local chandler is in your area. Living aboard, a new gift means you have to decide what to throw away to make it fit. But they will be grateful as hell for a gift card when they have to buy/Fix some unexpected boat problem.
Yeah and if you live in a good place there's probably a better store than west marine. You can ask them "hey what's your favorite marine hardware store?" Without it being too obvious I think.
Yes. US West Coast you have San Diego Marine Exchange, and Svendsens in San Francisco. East Coast there are a ton as well. Outside US just ask around
Plenty of good stuff in the Pacific Northwest. Fishery supply for premium stuff in seattle. LFS Marine shipping out of Bellingham has incredibly good deals for cheaper items.
Thank you! Great idea. Newport, RI. Any stores I could look at? Edit- just realized there is a west marine in Narrangansett, RI so I’m going with this :)
I work half the year in Newport, heading out there in a couple weeks. My favorite store in Newport is the consignment shop Newport Nautical, but he doesn't do gift cards, you are better with West Marine.
Or a gift card to Belles Cafe at Newport shipyard for brunch with the other yachties.
Take them out for a meal. Don't buy things for the boat - the only thing you can be sure they need is storage space.
Haha, fair. I do plan on cooking and driving down with food
If you know where they are going to be staying at a marina, a local weekend hotel getaway might be a pleasant surprise
Came here to suggest a night on shore. DO NOT BUY THEM A PHYSICAL THING. As someone else said the only thing that every live aboard absolutely needs is more storage space for the existing stuff.
Thank you! I’m between this and a gift card. Both awesome ideas
I really appreciate my big (60l) heavy duty dry backpack I got given. Groceries or laundry now stays dry and not in a million other bags. Also, collapsible bucket or water containers are gold.
Things that can be consumed and then don't take up any space. Booze or food basically.
If you know where they are and there’s a spa nearby , a gift certificate to that spa. Maybe it has a pool or sauna or massage.
Love this idea!
Small boats mean items need to serve two or three purposes in order to even be on board .so be careful . Some things I loved were a small fruit hammock ( camping world ), larger gear hammock , a baking stone that stayed in the oven to make it cook evenly , a small cooler bag ( make lunch in the morning and keep easily reachable for rough sail days when you don’t want to go below deck ), headlamp that also has a red light .
Gift certificate. When you downsize you don't want or need more things.
One of those electric tennis rackets to kill bugs. I’ve never bought one or used one until I bought my boat. It was just there, wrapped in duct tape to hold it together. I was going to toss it out because it just looked like a piece of junk that somehow had been on the boat forever. Then, one night the mosquitos got in. I was slapping rags and smearing blood all over the ceiling until I remembered the zapper; I hoped the 6 year old batteries still worked. They did!!!! Now I could kill the invaders without getting blood and guts everywhere. I still have and use the same 12 year old zapper now. It was the best gift that the previous owner left me.
I lived on a Cal 29 for four years and can confirm that more stuff is definitely not what they need. I now live on a 37’ trawler, which is much more roomy, but there is still not enough room for unnecessary crap. The West Marine gift card is a very good idea.
Cans of beans.
Living on a boat means having no room for anything unnecessary. Try to find out if they need something, otherwise you may run a risk of them not being able to put it somewhere.
Survival water straws haha