Gifts for a Sailor?

[Soft Air]

Barcelo rum...sailors go nuts once they try this dominican stuff

[skipmac]

I like the flashlight idea. Never had too many flashlights on board. Very bright, sturdy, and long battery life. Any good SCUBA shop should have them. UK (Underwater Kinetics) makes a full line, all sizes. The xenon bulk models are brightest but the LED models have a longer battery life.

[martinworswick]

are you,or do you know anyone who is capable of creating a website for them?

i've looked through a few of the members linked websites and it's quite interesting to see where people have been etc.

i would imagine it to be quite enjoyable to keep people back home posted on what your doing,showing them photo's etc.

just a thought...

[BadFish]

Get him a captain's hat and a speedo. 'Tis the only way to cruise.

And rum...


Cheers

Bill

[D.D.]

A bottle of rum, AND a gift certificate to Defender. Defender ships anywhere and the catalog can be found online. In addition, there is a spring wharehouse sale at the end of March with terific savings. This way you will acknowledge the voyage with the rum and something special the captain may want. The website is www.defender.com. I am in no way affiliated with Defender, just a very happy customer.

[D.D.]

Soo........What did you decide on??

[PapaSierra]

Well, I'm still looking around and trying to find more information on their destination. I hope this doesn't turn into, I make it into a so big of a deal, I end up with nothing or just anything last minute because I couldn't decide on one.

[Agur's Wish]

If they have planned a long cruise, they are probably outfitted for everything they could possibly use plus spares. I don't know what your budget is but the best thing I ever bought for entertainment is the Amazon Kindle reading device. It saves them from having to lug books and when they run out of reading material they can just download more anywhere they run into internet. You can check it out on my blogspot or at Amazon.com.

[Kanani]

This may sound corny but the best gift that I got when we left in '84 (and I still have it) was a picture of my friend and I standing on the dock, on the day that we left (he's dead now). It hangs in my livingroom today some 25 years later. What a treasure.

I can tell you what NOT to get him......

Don't get him one of those GPS for the car things. My wife got me one for Christmas. It's sitting in my glove box. It's almost an insult to someone that can navigate on the high seas with a sextant, a chart and no road signs. Don't get me wrong....GPS is a great tool and I used them. Just spare me from the car ones. A small handheld (marine) GPS spare would be nice, with a note saying, "I hope you never need this". They're under a $100 and it would show that you've done your homework and care for them. No sailor should have less than 2 spare GPSs.

Keep it simple and keep it small. I would also not recommend trying to decorate the skipper's boat for him. It might make him feel bad for not hanging it. If he wanted it on his bulkhead, it would be there already.