Things we DON’T need in the lower latitudes
While much of our blog’s posts as of late have dealt with new equipment purchases and things we are adding onto our boat, we are still, believe it or not, working diligently to sell all of the stuff that will not have a place on Katana. And when I say “not have a place,” I mean we will both not have room to carry it nor will we (hopefully) have a need for it.
As an example, in our land-based life there are often times when we are required to do the dress-up thing. This means jacket and tie for me and dress with high-heels for Rebecca. We are really hoping that we will not require such clothing in future months as we’re not planning on bringing any of this stuff with us. We are also hoping that we can find a home for the stuff that we do have before we need to vacate our apartment!
Rebecca has been working diligently on this purging process for more than a year now. She has now kicked into high-gear on this and has ads on Kijiji, Craig’s List and Facebook. As we are hopefully now only a few short weeks away from moving back onto our boat, we need to get this done.
Keep at least one pair of light long pants. On many islands, there is proper decorum for visiting the C&I office and the respect of ones demeanor when clearing in or out can often mean a substantial difference in both time and the fees involved. A grade above tee shirt level is a good idea as well, although the tie and especially the black knee socks are not necessary. 🙂
Thanks Kirk. Yes, I have read this about customs as well.
We won’t be packing only tshirts and shorts. We just won’t be bringing 10 long-sleeve dress shirts and 10 pairs of heals (those are Rebecca’s, not mine). 🙂
Sounds like you are on top of things. Speaking of which, Donna and I sat through the 2 day offshore seminar put on by the Caribbean 1500 folks this weekend. It was very informative and covered a lot of ground (including proper customs dress). If everything goes well, we may be joining them this fall.
Very cool! I think their website is where I got the following list for required safety gear:
• Life raft
• Flares
• EPIRB
• Foghorn
• Radar reflector
• Safety harnesses/tethers
• Life Jackets – type I
• Charts, tables, publications
• Fire extinguishers
• Medical kit
• Lifelines, pulpits
• Wood plugs
• MOB pole, life ring
• Heaving line
• Emergency water
• SSB radio
• VHF radio
• Handheld VHF
• Main steering compass
• Depth sounder
• Anchors
• Navigational lights
• Back up nav lights
• Manual bilge pumps
• Flashlights
• Buckets
• Life Raft Safety Kit
• Jacklines
We would be disqualified on the liferaft issue.
I love how we are going through so many of the same things at the same time. I just went into overdrive on selling things (although we’ve been doing it over 3 years including the big ones – a house and a car). I’m putting a bunch of non-sailing electronic gadgets we don’t need up next.
Perhaps we could trade, your STUFF for our STUFF.
No, I don’t think that would help either of us. 🙂
I wonder if I can sell my house on craig’s list?
Or perhaps eBay!
I’ve got to believe that for you – for most successful cruisers – getting away from the “stuff” of life is the point. Life in college was simpler that way – everything I had that mattered would fit in the back of the car – and as a result, mobile.
Now, I can’t imagine it. There’s too much that I want to come back to. I could sell the house I think, but to clean out EVERYTHING? No, I would end up paying storage on a good pile until I returned. Not furniture so much – it would be ice climbing tools and rock climbing tools and skis and bicycles and workroom tools and tents and sleeping bags and and and…. Things I have history with.
The office junk would leave skid marks going out the door!
We’re just going to find a place for all that fun stuff on our boat. Who needs food and water? 🙂
Seriously, we are planning on bringing a bunch of our camping stuff. We have a lot of micro gear that we used back when we were kayaking. I think it might find a use some day.
I PROMISE that my climbing and ski piles wouldn’t fit in a PDQ… and I would look funny pulling a trailer down the ICW.
Hi – our first six years aboard we had no house and no paid for storage and were running a five month a year business that required corporate drag! (Friends lofts/walls took in our art collection and analogue photos.) So we prioritised a good hanging locker with lots of those things for keeping stuff dry, plus a couple of other lockers.
Since we succumbed to a house (just the last few months) it’s a bit less of a problem but still have to be able to turn out smart either for interviews or just because we fancy dressing up – so we can and do carry one ultra smart outfit each, including shoes, plus a couple of outfits that are both good enough for officialdom and could do another posh do if called for. You never know who you might meet on the beach who invites you to dinner who turns out to require dressing up for!
We plan on keeping some dress clothes here in Canada for weddings, etc. That, along with our ski stuff, we’ll store at Rebecca’s brother’s place.
http://www.sailnet.com/forums/cruising-articles/20324-cruisers-wardrobe.html