All these reports on Ocean Crossings and equipment reviews, it can sometimes seem mind boggling as to what you should have on board your boat as equipment.

To try and cut through the confusion Boatshed decided to do some simple research.

We interviewed 10 current long distance cruising boats from different countries including, Canada, America, Denmark, Australia, Turkey, Great Britain, and asked to the men and ladies them a simple question, “What 10 items do you see as essential on board”

The boats and people asked have collectively covered hundreds of thousands of sea miles, here are the results which you may find surprising, read the results boat by boat.

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401 Island Spirit Catamaran
SUE
1. Sea sick medication
2 AIS (for night sailing)
3. Heat (its been on since we hit Ireland in July!)
4. Freezer
5. Refrigeration
6. Watermaker
7. Audiobooks
8. Bread machine
9. SSB
10. IPad for email, blog, pictures, books.
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Valiant 42 - USA
DICK
1. Ginger
2. Sound dry ship that sails well with good sails and dependable engine
3. Good navigation capabilities
4. Autopilot, both electric and wind operated
5. Ham & SSB radios for weather, email & voice communication at all times
6. Heat: cabin and water
7. Dinghy
8. Asymetric sail
9. Books and music
10. Dedicated shower room
GINGER
1. Autopilot
2. Dedicated on-board shower
3. Self tailing winches
4. Internet on-board for paying bills etc.
5. Big anchor
6. Reliable weather reports
7. Books/Kindle
8. Email
9. Hiking boots and stick
10. GPS
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Jeanneau 12.5 - UK
TINA
1. Water
2. Sails
3. Navigation equipment
4. Good sharp knife
5. Tool bag/roll
6. Communication devices
7. Wet wipes
8. Gloves
9. Chocolate and dried fruit
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57 Trawler yacht - USA
WENDY
1. Heat
2. A Doctor!
3. Storage for shoes
4. Drawers in the Heads
5. Cleaning Lady
6. Ice maker
7. Laundry facilities
8. Storage "room"
9. Patience
10. And whatever Signe says....except replace "Henrik" with "David" (see Allegro 30 below)
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Allegro 30 Denmark
SIGNE
1. Henrik (I won't/can't go anywhere with the boat without him)
2. Nice clothes for going out when we are in a marina
3. Nice shoes (with heels) for going out
4. Make up (also for going out)
5. Hair conditioner to prevent my hair from becoming one thick untidy mass when we're at sea
6. My MacBook
7. Something to help me kill time, when we're at sea (cross word puzzles, cross-stitching, books)
8. Sunglasses
9. Sunscreen
10. Practical shoes
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Bavaria 46 - AUS
JUDY
1. Super Merv
2. Polaroid sunglasses
3. Lots of cushions/pillows and dooners
4. Laptop
5. Chart Plotter
6. Warm waterproof clothing (especially socks)
7. Swimmers, snorkel and reef shoes
8. Nano wand
9. Camera
10. Water purifier
MERV
1. My wife/princess Judy
2. My health regular check ups - stay fit
3. A desire of all on-board to be doing the journey
4. Sea worthy boat
5. Safety equipment to comply with regulations for the area of use
6. Plenty of fuel, water and variety of food
7. Appropriate communications
8. Appropriate charts and electronics
9. A reliable engine
10. Insurance if available
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Bristol 41.1 GRP centre cockpit sloop - USA
PAUL
1. Laptop with internet connection
2. Hot water
3. Refrigeration
4. Chart Plotter with appropriate electronic charts
5. Appropriate pilot guides
6. A top-notch mattress for bed -- springs, well made, etc., to replace cushions in place before. Good night's sleep and healthy back of paramount importance.
7. Fully-stocked, purpose built tool room -- we removed one of the heads to have a place where epoxy could be spilled with impunity.
8. LED lighting
9. Snubbing springs when tied on to docks to lesson the noise creaking and groaning aboard the boat.
10. Beer
SIMA
1. Well- insulated refrigerator
2. Freezer
3. Properly functioning stove/oven combo
4. Watermaker
5. Solar panels
6. Wind generator
7. Chartplotter
8. Autopilot
9. AIS
10. Designated work room
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MATT
1. Pressure Cooker
2. Refrigeration
3. Chart plotter with appropriate electronic maps
4. LED headlamp (with red light) for working in tight spaces and reading in bed.
5. Gas soldering iron
6. Spare eyeglasses (sun and regular)
7. Flexible grabbing reaching tool for picking up stuff dropped in bilge and pulling wire etc.
8. Travel scrabble (or bananagrams)
9. Heinz (English recipe) baked beans and Branston pic
10. Teddy (a bear not the lingerie item)
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Sabre 38 MKII - USA
GUS & HELEN
1. A competent crew . No single handing here if at all possible. Double handing is our norm.
2. A good weather forecast for the passage, suitable to the occasion. Strong winds may be fine, given the right circumstances.
3. A well maintained, seaworthy boat, capable of sailing well.
4. Adequate provisions, water, adequate safety gear.
5. Paper charts.
6. Electronic charts.
7. Dinghy and liferaft
8. Dark chocolate.
9. Coffee
10. IPod
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Mason 43 - USA
SALLY
1. Computer/skype/scanner/printer
2. Pactor Email and SSB
3. hotpot, hotplate and George Foreman grill(when free electric saves gas
4. Lots of fenders with covers
5. All weather enclosure- vinyl windows and sunscreens
7. Heater and dehumidifier
8. Refrigeration
9. Al's sewing machine
10. Appropriate cruising guides
AL
1. GPS
2. Digital maps
3. Autopilot
4. Good anchor with lots of chain
5. Genset
6. invertor (large enough to start refrig)
7. Tools (Fluke voltage meter)
8. Hoses for decanting gas into USA tanks
9. AIS
10. Transformer for European 220 on American boat
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Oyster 46
LIZ
1. Fridge
2. Sprayhood
3. Hot water bottle
4. Heat
5. Sun
6. Hat
7. Husband
8. Computer
9. Deck cushions
10. Radio
DAVID
1. Fit crew
2. Safe yacht
3. Spares
4. Tools
5. Charts
6. Dry boat
7. Good safety gear
8. Electronic
9. Good company
10. Lots of food
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Rebel 41 - UK
NEIL
1. Mandy
2. Dogs Poppet & Gimble
3. Spotify/Tunes and sound system
4. Crisps
5. Hats
6. Spare batteries
7. Audio books
8. Thermal underwear
9. Camera
10. Ainsley Harriot instant soups
MANDY
1. Neil, no point sailing with out him.
2. Poppet & Gimble, great boat dogs
3. My lucky scruffy sailing hat with fluffy ears (plus thermals (lots of them!) plus leather sea boots)
4. Autopilot
5. Hot water bottles
6. Our cabin heater (reflex diesel heater)
7. Pressure cooker
8. Oils and watercolour painting kit
9. Hubba (our extra internet booster for multiple users, pay as you go)
10. Computers, phones, inverters, wind generator.