Provisioning Your New Trawler

[marinetrader]

You recently acquired that pristine trawler or motor yacht and you are excited to get her underway to take her home.* You are running around for what feels like days getting all equipped.* Food, drinks, apparel, the list goes on and on.* What if you forget something?
To help you to recollect everything, here is a simple check list with almost all you will require to get underway.

Navigation - Be certain to have paper charts on your vesseland that you know how to read them; you never know when your chart plotter will choose to give up on you.

Maptech Chart Kit
Dozier's Waterway Guide
Set of binoculars
Up to date flare kit
First aid kit
Suitable dock lines
Correct fenders
Laptop with air card
Handheld VHF
Flashlight

Mechanical - It is essential to have extra parts on board.* They may be hard (if not impossible) to acquire on your cruise home.* You might be anchored out in the middle of nowhere and require an alternate part.

Biobore diesel fuel additive
Deck fill key to open fuel/water fill ports
Bridle if chain rode
25 foot dock line
2 stainless shackles (1 extra)
2 sets of pliers (1 extra)
Clorox to disinfect water tanks, 1 tsp/10 gallons water
Mask and fins
Fuel filters
Standby impellors for engines
Standby bilge pump
Extra bilge pump float switch
Extra fresh water pump
Spare air conditioning water pump
Oil absorbent pads
Rags
Tools - sockets, wrenches, screw drivers
Lubricants, WD-40, Corrosion Block
Engine oil
Coolant
Propane if boat so equipped
Lighter
Fill fuel tanks
Outboard gasoline
Outboard 2-cycle oil if required
Muriatic acid if heads use salt water to flush

Provisions - Make it a point to purchase enough to last the whole trip home; you don't know if you will have access to a supermarket, especially if you are in the Bahamas.

Food
Drinks
Beer or liquor if so desired
Cups
Glasses
Pots and pans
Utensils
Dish soap
Garbage bags
Galley towels
Napkins/paper towels
Bath towels
Bed linens
Bath soap
Toilet paper
Fill water tanks
Coffee pot/coffee

Personal Items - Take more apparel than you expect to use. You don'tknow if you will get wet because of an unexpected thunderstorm.

Clothes
Deck shoes
Hats
Sunglasses
Rain coat
Cash for tipping dock hands
Digital camera

You now must find a location to stow everything so it will not mess up your yacht or drop if you happen to be in rough seas.* You also need to inspect all systems to be certain that they are working suitably and that all engines have correct fluid amounts.* After that you need to map your trip home which means studying your charts and figuring how far to travel each day.* Dozier's Waterway Guide is a tremendous help in locating marinas and things to do in the local area.* You may also choose to anchor out on the cruise home.* Make sure your generator is operating well and that its fluids are full also.* It will be time to get a good night's sleep in preparation for your first day underway in your new trawler.

The captain will run the boat and his first mate will aid with navigation and line handling.* The first mate should look at the paper charts while the captain keeps his eye on the chart plotter.* It is crucial to have paper charts on your vessel; electronics without doubt will fail at some point in time.

When pulling into a marina for the night, dock hands will assist you with your lines and electrical connections.* It is customary to tip a minimum of $5.00 per dock hand for their help.
*
After a brief period of time, you will become used to the way your boat operates and feels.* Docking will also come naturally after some practice.* Your trawler or motor yacht will become so familiar to you that the slightest weird noise or smell will alert you to a problem.*

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[sunchaser]

Good list. I'd add cell phone (in place of air card for me) and qualify fuel fill to " a known good water free and high*use source." Some may elect to add an EPIRB except for a delivery trip it could be a paper timing issue.

 

[Pineapple Girl]

thank you!* that is some food for thought!* I'd never heard of the muriatic acid for the heads.* One of our dock neighbors was changing all the lines for his head over the weekend because they were so scaled up.* Good to know what to try first!

The only thing I'd argue is "bring more clothes than you think you need" as most people pack WAY too much.**I'd phrase it as, "keep in mind you may get wet and pack accordingly" but that is just me!*

Also using space bags helps not only take up less space but keeps things dry as well.* It is amazing how quickly things take on that damp feeling.

thanks again!

 

[Arctic Traveller]

Pineapple Girl wrote:The only thing I'd argue is "bring more clothes than you think you need" as most people pack WAY too much.**I'd phrase it as, "keep in mind you may get wet and pack accordingly" but that is just me!*

*

Perhaps bringing half the clothes, and twice the money would take up less space...................Arctic Traveller

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[jleonard]

I brought much more than the list for sure. I swear!* I had a 10 day cruise back to my home port.

 

[Marin]

My wife and I took a great class a few months ago about packing light for travel. One of the "rules" they taught us was anything we thought about with the worlds "I might need this," don't take it.

We have enough clothes on the boat to provide two or three changes of clothing if we get wet, really dirty, etc. We have a bunch of wool stuff on the boat (hats, gloves, sweaters) for cold weather (we boat year round and have no built-in heat system since the boat spent it's whole life in California before we bought it).

We have enough underwear and socks for about a week and a half.

We have several sets of very good foulweather gear because we're generally boating in the rain but (like most boaters up here) we don't stop doing things just because it's raining. And we still have to take the dog ashore, too. So we have enough foulweather gear for us and a couple of guests if they need it.

But most of our "provisioning" is food--- we keep enough on the boat to last us perhaps three weeks. We treat the boat as a "getaway cabin" and go up to it most weekends year round even if the weather keeps us from taking it out. But we'll stay on the boat and take day trips to Vancouver, BC or wherever. And if--- or rather when--- we get the big earthquake in the Puget Sound area it's nice to know that, if we can get to it, we have a place to live that's 100 miles away from the damage zone.

But our new rule is not take anything if we think we "might need it." This has greatly cut down on the stuff we haul around--- for work or pleasure travel, on the boat, etc.

 

[Pineapple Girl]

Marin wrote:My wife and I took a great class a few months ago about packing light for travel. One of the "rules" they taught us was anything we thought about with the worlds "I might need this," don't take it.

ah, that is an EXCELLENT way to put it.** thanks for that!* We spend most every weekend on our boat as well and are trying to avoid it becoming cluttered with "stuff" while still having*essentials.*

We have a nice diesel heater on our California boat.*

*

 

[Keith]

I find I always pack more food than needed. We eat out when docked sometimes, have dinners on other people's boats, etc. Remember that when you're cruising you end up at places with people, and they have to eat too. I like Marin's comment adapted..."If you think you might eat it, leave it behind".

Muriatic acid for heads? I'm wary about that. The tried and true preventative is to flush a cup of vinegar down the*toilet once a week, but even that is only for raw water flush toilets. Peggie, want to weigh in here?