When space is an issue, this busy bag works two jobs
Issue 29 : Mar/Apr 2003
Jill and I live aboard our Nor’Sea 27, Guenevere. On a boat of this size you can imagine how important the size and amount of your belongings can be. We decided that one of the best things we could do would be find multiple uses for items we have aboard.
At a boat show we found a great-looking, soft-sided ice chest. It came in a number of colors and a wide range of sizes. It was waterproof and had a five-year limited warranty on the exterior and a lifetime warranty against manufacturer’s defects on the liner. Jill and I decided to purchase one in hunter green to match our boat colors.
The one we wanted was about $40. We planned to purchase it at the end of the day at the show, so we didn’t have to carry it around with us.
We walked to the end of that row of displays and started up the next row. Almost directly behind the booth with the ice chest was a supplier of emergency equipment for offshore sailing. We decided that an abandon-ship bag was going to be required in case we had to take to the raft. We priced out some of the items that would go into the bag and then looked at the bag itself. They were asking about $95. It was an orange color, buoyant, and water-resistant.
What difference?
A big light went on over my head! What was the difference between the soft-sided cooler and this ditch bag? We spent the next hour walking back and forth between the two booths looking at each bag and the differences between them. From every way we could compare them, the cooler came out as the superior product for both jobs. In the end, we bought the soft-sided cooler. But we bought it in red instead of hunter green.
We now use the bag as a cooler when we are at the marina or in port. The cooler works very well, has lasted more than five years, and is still waterproof. The performance of this product has far surpassed the promise. A number of times we have still had ice in it after a week of sailing. When we are about to head out, we make sure we dry it out well and then re-pack it with all of the gear we feel should be in a good abandon-ship bag. We find that repacking the bag is an added benefit because it makes us check each item before it goes in the bag. We check batteries, medical expiration dates, and all the items for any problems.
The large cooler worked so well for our Nor’Sea that we asked why shouldn’t Lance-A-Little, Guenevere’s tender, have its own ditch bag? We purchased a small lunch-type cooler bag and have it packed with equipment that may be needed. We now put this into the dink any time we use it.
We pack this small bag with a spare set of oarlocks, a spare spark plug and wrench to install it, a spare pull starter cord, two small bottles of fresh water, a space blanket, a small VHF radio and, last but not least, a small EPIRB.
Thank you to Sailrite Enterprises, Inc., for providing free access to back issues of Good Old Boat through intellectual property rights. Sailrite.com
