Sail it, Stow it, or Sell it?

Today's contestant is author, Ida Little

Here’s a game we like to call: Sail it, Stow it, or Sell it

We’ll list various boat-related gear. You tell us whether you would Sail it (meaning you like it or would keep it close at hand always) Stow it (maybe keep it somewhere around the boat or shop) or Sell it (don’t like or not needed).

Today’s contestant is sailor and author, Ida Little.

Bird-watching guide

“Stow.  I now use my iPhone for bird IDs mostly with the app Merlin. It’s like carrying along a naturalist for both visual and sound IDs.”

Inflatable sleeping pad

“Sail it. Good grief I wouldn’t leave home without it. In our early days in the Bahamas we actually slept on a waterbed that we put in to a depression we dug in the sand and filled with sea water. We move camp more frequently with our 19’ sailing canoe so an inflatable pad makes more sense.”

Mask and snorkel

“Sail ‘em. When there’s an opportunity to use them, we definitely bring them along. When cruising in the Bahamas we wouldn’t have thought for a second that masks and snorkels weren’t part of the necessary equipment. And not just any old mask and snorkel but high quality, perfectly fitting masks (prescription), snorkel and fins.”

Jimmy Buffet's album Changes In Latitudes, Changes In Attitudes

“Stow. I tend not to listen to music when I sail. I’m more focused on hearing what’s around me. Lately that would be the exhale of dolphins and slurchey sounds of manatees surfacing and crying terns and water busting pelicans, wind and waves…even the human sound of conversation.”

Lateen rig

“Sail it….when I’m using the Sunfish. Stow it... when sailing the canoe, preferring the larger area of a Gunter rig. Stow it…when sailing the Typhoon with its Marconi rig with a furling jib which is a joy but I still miss the self-tending jib on the Bullseye.”

Green tea

“Sail it….along with the Trader Joe’s dark roast coffee and Bialetti stove top espresso device. 

As long as it fits, I bring it, whatever it is I want. When Michael and I were loading our 17’ canoe that we hauled behind a 14’ Hobie Cat for a five year long cruise of the Bahamas, we even included a cooler with typewriter, and my guitar. When we cruised our 26’ sailing canoe Dugong, the designer, Phil Bolger commented that "by all the gods they’ll take it all” or something to that effect. (I was never sure if he was awed or dismayed.)

By taking what we really really want (and can fit), we make our cruising life our real life, not just a temporary detour.” •SCA•