There’s only so much room on a cruising boat and usually only so much money to propel the adventure. Knowing what to bring can pay big dividends down island.

Here I go again. I have written ad nauseam about the consequences of complicated systems on a cruising sailboat. I would stop except that at every new harbor we visit, we hear the radio crackle with skippers looking for knowledgeable technicians or waiting desperately for parts to arrive. Lots of money then changes hands. With North America being comparatively rich and most Caribbean island nations comparatively poor, this transfer of wealth is probably a good thing. Yacht systems repair has become a significant part of island economies, and technically challenged owners of complicated boats can find consolation in the humanitarian gesture of contributing to the prosperity of those less fortunate.

However, boat repair dollars are not all yachtsmen spend, and those that give up the enterprise early, worn out by seemingly endless breakdowns, take with them the dollars they would have spent on food, booze, transportation, communications, entertainment, etc. More to the subject at hand, a long-planned cruise ends early and badly.

So, I thought I would just share with you the wisdom of first-hand experience and provide a list of equipment you need to go cruising and also a list of equipment you don’t need. Neither list is all inclusive, nor are they intended to be, but I hope the items I have elected to place in one camp or the other will provide food for thought. The point is that the less equipment you have aboard, the less there is to fail. As a side benefit, you end up with a larger cruising kitty when you start out, all of which you can still hand over to islanders, but hopefully deriving more enjoyment from the exchange.

There’s no way to carry spares for every possible eventuality, like when the transmission conks out, but a good set of sails can take the edge off until you're up and running again.

Essentials

A seaworthy boat. As long as the boat floats, you are going to be okay, so this is always the top priority.

Plain sails in good condition. Trade wind cruising is in winds of 15-to-25 knots. A working jib that can be sheeted inboard will prove more valuable than a big genoa as it will let the boat sail upright and closer to the wind.

A totally dependable engine. There are good diesel mechanics in the islands, but parts warehouses are stateside or in Europe. If you break down, odds are good that the part you need will have to be shipped in, at significant cost and sometimes with maddening difficulty. A truism of Caribbean cruising particularly is that you will run your engine more than you expect, so don’t start south with an engine not in top condition.

A BIG anchor. Most cruising time is spent at anchor. You will never discover the serenity of cruising unless you have justified confidence that your boat will stay put even when bad weather rolls over you. Your primary anchor should be a size or two larger than the anchor manufacturer suggests, which might make an anchor windlass also essential.

Solar panels and/or a wind generator. The extent of your charging requirements will be determined by how much equipment you have aboard, but passive charging capacity more than pays for itself in extending the life of your diesel engine. Silent charging is also more consistent with the philosophies behind cruising under sail.

GPS. The GPS has made knowing exactly where you are child’s play. Its function has become so essential that a back-up unit is a wise precaution.

VHF radio. Aside from its safety function, the VHF radio remains the primary method of boat-to-boat communication. Make sure your VHF radio installation is top-notch, and deal with interference from refrigeration and inverters before you leave.

Depth sounder. A lot of navigation, especially when looking for a place to anchor, is based on depth. A simple digital sounder is sufficient.

Salt-water galley pump. The ability to conveniently use seawater in the galley for most washing requirements greatly extends the freshwater supply.

EPIRB. An EPIRB will save your bacon if the unthinkable should happen. Every offshore cruising boat should have one aboard in good working order. Other safety gear—harnesses for example—also belong in the essential category.

A 90-foot Swan would be nice, but not exactly necessary to get somewhere tropical. Little boats can go just as far as big ones, and are easier to sail as well as to pay for.

Nonessentials

A big boat. The cost of buying and maintaining a boat increases geometrically with size. So does the effort required to sail the boat, and the consequences of a navigation or handling error. Buy the smallest boat that satisfies your needs, not the biggest boat you can afford.

Full-batten mainsail. Trade winds will have you sailing much of the time with a reef tucked in your mainsail. That makes the expense, weight, and complication of full battens hard to justify.

Spinnaker. In three years in the Caribbean, we have not seen a single spinnaker flying except in competition.

Windvane steering. I left autopilot out of the essentials list simply because if your budget is restricted, you can get along perfectly well without one. But if you can afford one, you will find it indispensable. The autopilot’s powerful big brother, the windvane, is less convenient and will see little use unless long passages are in your cruising plan.

Refrigeration. Doing without refrigeration eliminates the second most troublesome system (behind the engine) aboard most cruising boats. It also reduces battery drain by as much as 80%. However, neither Olga nor I would find cruising half as enjoyable without onboard refrigeration. The compromise is electric refrigeration in a small, well-insulated box. Properly configured, the system can be efficient and trouble free.

Watermaker. Watermakers are expensive and complicated, and the water quality in many harbors prevents their use. If you will be spending most of your time anchored in the lee of islands, good water (nowadays often RO water) will be available ashore free or for pennies.

Radar. Nice to have, but totally unnecessary in the fog-free tropics.

SSB. You will need some means of getting current weather forecasts, and if that is via HF radio, a shortwave receiver with sideband capabilities can do the job at a tenth the cost of an SSB installation. An SSB transceiver can enable on-board email capabilities, and you can stay in touch with other SSB-equipped cruisers.

Speed log. The GPS will tell you how fast you are going. Comparing the GPS reading to the through-the-water reading of the log is interesting for estimating the effect of adverse or favorable currents. Impellers tend to foul in just a day or two at anchor, so the log won’t work anyway unless you adopt the habit of cleaning the impeller before every departure.

Wind instruments. Also nice to have, but every day on the boat soon makes you adept at accurately estimating wind direction and speed by feel.

Life raft. Listing this as a nonessential is going to generate howls of protest, but for short passages between islands on a boat equipped with an EPIRB and a dinghy on deck, the real value of a life raft is suspect. This is a personal choice, like insurance. For offshore passages, find the money in your budget to buy or rent one.

Carrying around stuff you don’t need not only wastes the money you spend buying it and the time and money lost to maintaining it, but it occupies space that could be put to better use. Forget about anticipating every eventuality. Just take aboard what you know you need. By the time something you have omitted rises to your list of essentials, you will also have become aware of what brand has the best reputation and how it should be installed. And that will put you miles ahead.