What's an amazing present for my friends who just bought a boat?

You know what they say about boats…money pits…You should tell us your budget :) and maybe whether its a live-aboard or not. A life vest. Yeah laugh now, but it will be the best gift ever if he ever capsizes in the middle of no where (and happens to be wearing it). Okay, but seriously maybe a GPS system if it didn’t come with one. Or maybe some cool maps. Or how about an antique spyglass yarr! Oh and a bottle of champagne or three seems appropriate.

Get one a captain’s hat like The Skipper and the other a sailor hat like Gilligan.

A floatation vest, a life raft, a bucket, and a case of C-rations.

Commission a miniature replica of the boat so even when they can’t get out on it- they have it in their homes.

An “amazing” one? Okay no pressure there then. Err, a Popeye tattoo, just as good as any I would have thought.

A parrot. Possibly an eye patch.

Where abouts will this boat be sailing, anyway?

um…a plaque to go on board…with a lovely quote on it (sounds a bit sissy actually but…) something like :

The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails.
– William A. Ward

or :
Twenty years from now you will be more disppointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.
– Mark Twain

or
The days pass happily with me wherever my ship sails.
– Joshua Slocum

source

Get them a spyglass.
Actually,you should just buy them a motor ;))

Bottle of champagne, eye patch and a stuffed fake parrot to put on their shoulder.

Captain Morgan.

A compass might be nice.

Or a regatta watch.

A ice chest.

There are barbecue grills specifically designed to fit on the railings of a sailboat; that might make a lovely gift. Also, a “whiskerpole” is another gift I got my husband for his boat. Another idea would be mugs and cupholders that can be attached in the cockpit.

Magnum bottle of champagne. i would hit the bow of the boat with the bottle. it could sink.

* Sextant
* Ship’s chronometer

Useful and beautiful. If something ever happened and any navigational electronics went kaput, they could actually use these items in correlation with a nautical almanac and sighting tables.

Fishing tackle
An antique compass or helm to put on the wall
A fridge or ice box
A pirate flag

I don’t understand why a gift is called for. Maybe I’ve just never heard of a boat warming gift. Everything I can think of has been mentioned above. I like the idea of a captain’s hat.

A portable marine radio in case they have an emergency and need to call for help from the Coast Guard or other nearby mariners.

@gemiwing I love the minature idea
How about a shipboard fire extinguisher?

I grew up on a boat, and when we had to move into a house I bought my dad a lovely brass encased old fashioned compass, to remind him of his boat. Might be nice.

Several life preservers with the name of the boat painted on them. When we had fancy wooden boats, I painted the names on the white preservers with black paint and a sable brush. It looked very amateurish, but the kids loved them.

A really useful gift is several dozen yards of old fire hose. One pleats it and then nails to edges of dock to use as bumpers when the sailboat doesn’t come about properly and crashes into the dock (or the wind shifts suddenly in mid-manoeuvre).

I’m enjoying the suggestions about semi-valuable trinkets that they can use aboard the boat—not really essentials since it’s not really my place. They’re both technical/designy people.

I love the sextant idea but after researching celestial navigation, I think to be useful and not chintzy it’s going to take a lot of money and energy. But that’s the right idea.

@andrew Yes, you have to study celestial navigation to be able to use a sextant and not many sailors do now.

Something like mugs with the name of the boat on it is a nice idea.

http://www.etsy.com/listing/50449180/nautical-marine-sextant-solid-brass?ref=sr_list_1&ga_search_query=sextant&ga_search_type=user_shop_ttt_id_7783668

@andrew did you ever buy them the gift? And if so, what was it?

Years ago when a co-worker friend of mine bought his first boat I made him some rope fenders for it. (I can’t tell you how to make them, but if you google “rope boat fenders” you’ll see plenty of examples.) Every boat needs fenders, and though everyone has those ubiquitous plastic ones, rope ones are pretty classy-looking and perfectly effective.

All it would take is the materials you have to purchase for it (and most sailors who make rope fenders don’t do it with ‘new’ rope, but with stuff that’s too worn for the original purpose) and the time you put into them.

I bought them boatswains whistles. They liked them.

I’ve been sailing all summer. I love it.