Still looking for LAST MINUTE Holiday GIFTS? Here is the companion list to our “12 Things we don’t want to live without” blog! Stocking Stuffers!
We are down to the wire on the gift giving season. So if you still need some fun ideas, check out some of our favorite easy, small items we use on board often!
All are still deliverable by Christmas in most populated areas, and those that aren’t can usually be purchased at local stores. Enjoy!
Need a handy bottle opener ? How about one that sticks right on the Fridge/Freezer. You know, where you get the bottled beverage of choice! No glue, no screws, just stick on. No more searching through drawers! We had a CAPSKI in our RV and now we have one on our boat. It’s been stuck on there for almost 3 years now and we’ve never had an issue. Sturdy and convenient!
2. OCOOPA Magnetic Rechargeable Hand Warmers 2 Pack
Small electric (USB-C charge) pocket sized hand warmers.
Clutch!
I purchased them on a whim hoping to help Kevin out when he was working on really cold (sub-freezing temps) in the hull of our boat during our re-power over winter in Virginia! Yes, it was very cold. They worked wonders for him to thaw out his hands on breaks.
And while we endeavor to follow the 70 degrees temp line heading south for winter, we have found ourselves behind the curve more than once! We have since sailed in some very cold temps (< 40 degrees) on our transit and we each keep one in our pockets so that we can have one hand steering and the other warming, then switch! Such a nice luxury.
It has three settings from ‘nice and toasty’ to ‘it will burn your palms off’…good for when you have gloves on 🙂 Lasts for hours.
Yep, the screaming goat…thank you Searc Fin!
We get such a kick out of this little guy. We will walk by and push the goat’s back and he lets out an exasperated scream. Even in your most frustrating moments (b/c, you know…boat), you can’t help but smile. Really puts things in perspective sometimes when you need it!
Lemon not included. 😉
4. Silicone USB Dust Cover Plugs
The marine environment can be brutal to electronics. Wet and Salty. Things rust quickly. These cheap little gems on the end of anything not in use has undoubtedly helped us from having to replace numerous cords and expensive devices over time. Something we did a lot of early on.
We actually bought two sets to cover all our needs.
A 30 piece set that includes 6 Types: USB Anti Dust Cover Plugs, USB Type-C Dust Stopper, Silicone Soft Micro USB Cap Port Protector, Anti Dust Cover Protector Plugs Cap for USB A, Micro USB, Type C Ports.
A 36 PCS set that includes 6 Types: J USB Anti Dust Cover Plugs, Silicone Soft Micro USB Cap Port Protector, USB Type-C Dust Stopper, Anti Dust Cover Protector Plugs Cap for USB A, Micro USB, Type C Female and Male Ports.
5. SAMSUNG T7 Shield 1TB Hard Drive
I take A LOT of pictures and videos. Plus all those boat and life documents. I had trouble with storage space both on my phone and on my laptop, especially when making videos using iMovie, that just adds double to the storage requirements. Now I have my downloading set up to store everything off my goPro and phone directly on this drive. My iMovie also uses this drive solely as I make movies. Haven’t had any storage issues since.
This hard drive worked so well that despite after 2 years of use and still not close to filling it up, I bought another as a backup. It’s very durable and super easy to store when not in use…it’s the size of my little palm!
6. Solar powered Christmas lights stings
Might be a bit late for these, or maybe not! It’s hard to decorate for Christmas on our small moving home, but these Christmas lights have held up surprisingly well. I got 4 of these strands and hung them around the boat. Colorful and fairly bright close up. Not great photos, but you get the idea!
The Christmas lights have been quite the hit through our December anchorages. I’ve been impressed as they last all night, are long enough to drape around our boat and then some (44′ catamaran) using only 3 of the strands so far. The solar powered recharging is quick even on low light days powering the lights all night. At two per pack the price is hard to beat! I bought two sets, much to Kevin’s “delight”?
I’m going to have to look for other fun ones for all the other seasons!
Don’t want to lose or damage your expensive rings or lose a finger when it gets caught in moving parts? We purchased these and wear them almost all the time now. We wear the nicer more expensive ones out on special occasions. These fit well, were true to size and very durable and affordable. They haven’t stretched out at all and one has yet to break!
8. Salinity Refractometer for Seawater
Every boater’s conundrum is how to keep the fresh water in the boat and salt water out of the boat, except when you want fresh water on the outside and saltwater on the inside. Yes, all very confusing.
However, boats aren’t perfect no matter how hard we try to keep them that way and leaks happen. Sometimes it’s easy to tell if the water leaking into the boat is a “it’s okay we have time to figure this out” (fresh water) or “oh crap, this isn’t good” (salt water) problem. But not always…
Who wants to do the taste test? Sure that will answer your question fairly quickly, but for those times it’s in areas where the water is especially questionable (think bathrooms and aux closets), I’ll pass. Enter the refractometer! Easy to set up and use.
We currently have a creepy gargoyle, shark, and zombie on board. Always a hit when the wine comes out for sundowners or whenever…next one is a Turtle! These two above might just get there by Christmas.
10. Speaking of wine! …Silicone Charms
Whose glass is whose? No more questions on board Water Wings. It’s tradition before we pour you a glass to pick out your favorite charm! We have quite the selection built up of colorful choices. These are a great place to start!
Highly recommend unbreakable wine glasses aboard!
The best long passages are the VERY boring passages. Overnights especially can be very quiet, dark and lonely. We do a lot of reading. I’m close to 50 books this year. So if you have a reader in your world, find your favorite book or something new and fun for them to read.
We read printed books, ebooks and, especially when on watch, listen to audio books. (On a low volume of course still want to be able to hear what’s happening around you…safety!)
Not sure what to buy them? A gift subscription is always a good start. Amazon offers both Audible and Kindle short term subscriptions you can gift.
Audible offers gift memberships in 1/3/6/12 months options. Once you down load a book, it’s yours forever even if you cancel your subscription.
A Kindle Unlimited subscription allows access to 4 million books. These come in 6 month increments.
12. Sony Bluetooth Waterproof, Portable Speaker
A small speaker with great sound. We have been using this for years. We don’t yet have a speaker system on our boat. Yet. So this is a great addition as we can move it around with us where ever we go to hang out on the boat…or off when we head to the shore for fun afternoon excursions or meet ups.
It easily connects to all our devices, phones and computers. When watching movies on our computer we actually connect it to the speak for much better sound quality.
We can attest to it’s waterproof qualities as well. Check.
HOPE THIS HELPS!! HAPPY HOLIDAYS FROM WATER WINGS!!
See the original “12 Things we can’t live without” post!
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