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Now, several years after equipping our Mason 43 for extended cruising , its painfully obvious that misconceptions about what a cruising sailboat really needs lie at the root of many problems with equipment and marine electronics-although there are still poorly designed pieces of gear that should be avoided entirely. For this article well look at the winners and losers after several thousand miles of use and a trans-Atlantic crossing. Gear well examine includes a 60-pound CQR anchor, Freedom 2000 inverter/charger, Link 2000-R monitor, SGC 2000 single sideband radio, Icom 710 SSB radio, NASA Target Pro-Plus Navtex receiver, Furuno NX-300 Navtex receiver.

Some nights, Im still jolted awake by an image from our cruising days. Im wedged into the crawl space beneath the bottom of one of Toscas two diesel tanks. My hand grips a crescent wrench that is clamped down on the clogged fuel pickup tube, which-and this was part of our problem-also served as the tanks drain.

Having the right tool makes every boat maintenance or repair job that much easier. Having it handy makes an even bigger difference. With that in mind, PS tester Evans Starzinger decided to develop one small tool bag that would cover 85 percent of the jobs by itself. After two years of tinkering with the contents, he settled on a small tool bag that seems to fit the bill. It has four basic categories of tools: standard mechanical tools (screwdrivers and wrenches), electrical, sewing, and consumables. The tool bag was selected to be compact, easy to carry and stow, while just big enough to fit the necessary tools.

Anyone who goes to sea in a well-built boat is bound to believe it has a soul. For how else could an object of wood, metal, or plastic so deftly cleave a breaking sea, or hold a true course with the helm unattended? And how else could a genoa in perfect trim nothing more than a tenuous arrangement of molecules make our hearts beat faster?

Unless you’re one of those sailors with a cast iron stomach who can eat sardines in mustard sauce while smoking a green cigar in lumpy seas and 40-knot winds and suffer no ill-effects, you know just how miserable it is to be seasick. The first hour brings fear of death; the second, fear it won’t come soon enough, neither of which are conducive to an enjoyable day on the water.

Heres a frightening question to ponder on your next ocean passage: What would be the worst product for a marine manufacturer to botch? Sadly, a few possible answers require no imagination.

Image stabilized Fujinon and Bushnell push to the top.

Mustang and West Marine lead the pack for comfort and quality.

While good boat hardware and mechanical equipment is usually in production for years with little change, many marine electronics are outmoded the moment they hit the retail stores.

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