[It’s another MadMariner feature from a few weeks back. This time, I’ve expanded my list of Navagear gift ideas. Most of these are things I own and use myself, and would not hesitate to recommend. In one case, however, I decided to include an item I do not own myself. Can you guess which item that is? —Tim]

It’s Thanksgiving already. How did that happen? So it’s time to roll out the 2009 Navagear Holiday Top Picks.

I’ve selected items that are of high quality, genuine utility and good value to boaters. I own and use most of these items, and if any one of them was lost or broken, I would not hesitate to replace it with the same item from the same manufacturer.

FLIR FIRSTMATE THERMAL IMAGING CAMERA

"The world’s first waterproof, hand held, high-performance maritime thermal night vision camera available for less than $3,000." This is the only item on this year’s list that I do not personally own, but it sounds like the perfect gift for the boater who has everything. Unless you’ve served in the military, fire fighting, or law enforcement, this is something you’re probably not familiar with. Thermal imaging is totally distinct from the night vision technology that has been available for years. Suffice to say I’m VERY interested in this product! So if you get one for Christmas, and you live in the Puget Sound region, drop me a line so I can take a look.

MUSTANG MD-3183

My wife tried on every PFD in stock at Fisheries Supply a couple years ago, and these Mustang automatic inflatables were the most comfortable. They aren’t the cheapest, by any means, but if you’re going to wear one at all times while underway (and you are going to wear one while underway, aren’t you?), you deserve to be comfortable and unencumbered. And you deserve to wear pink, or red, or tan, or black, if you so choose. These run about $250.

ACR HERMILIGHT

If you’ll be underway at night, your PFD is incomplete without some sort of reliable, bright, automatic light beacon. ACR has been producing such beacons for years, and the current state-of-the-art unit is the HemiLight 2. For $24, it’s hard to beat.

STARBUCKS VIA READY BREW

I drink tea, so this recommendation comes from my wife, who reported on Starbucks new VIA instant coffee last spring. Here’s an excerpt from her report: "I hate instant coffee, but the VIA doesn’t taste like instant at all. Most instant coffee is made by brewing coffee and then drying off the water to create a concentrate. Somehow, the folks at Starbucks figured out a way to microgrind actual coffee beans so that they will dissolve in hot water." Twelve packets cost about $10.

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Last spring, we wrote about great margarita recipes. Today, in the middle of another cold, damp Puget Sound winter, let’s take a moment to dream about warm weather…

…And margaritas.

Navagear informant Stacey has been dreaming of margaritas, apparently. I guess the eggnog and brandy just ain’t doin’ the trick for her.

Hi Tim –

Was just cruising around on your site and saw your margarita recipes. I’ve got an easy one for you that we call our “boat margaritas”….

1 can Limeade
1 can Cheap Beer (more…)

In case you’d like to keep up on Navagear on your smartphone or PDA, we’ve added a better view for these types of devices. So far I’ve only tested with a T-Mobile Dash, and it makes the site much more readable. Let us know if how it works for you.

Just a quick “shout out” (these kids, I tell ya, with their cool daddy-o slang and their hulahoops and their dungarees) to Captain Brett Ginther from Deception Pass Tours. Friendly guy, and yet another valuable regional resource.

Brett runs one-hour excursions aboard the Island Whaler, a New Zealand-designed jet drive catamaran with foil assist for a soft and stable ride. He runs guests out through Deception Pass and back, starting from Cornet Bay. If you’re in the area and don’t have a boat of your own, or if you’re hosting out-of-town visitors and want to give them a glimpse of our region’s rich marine environment, head over to Deception Pass. Buy the ticket, take the ride.

In a quite interesting boating technology-related post, Brian Lam of Gizmodo gets the lowdown from Philippe Kahn in the midst of his double-handed Transpac record attempt. This is an especially nice remark: (more…)

Just thought I would share Monday evening’s sunset from Fossil Bay (Sucia Island, San Juan Islands). I was chillin’ out on my hammock/parbuckle/ladder, and the next time I looked up from my book, this is what I saw. The perfect end to a perfect day.

Thought to be the only white humpback in the world, it was recently seen in a large migration off Australia…

Migaloo, a white humpback whale, is seen cruising on the east coast of Australia near Coffs Harbour in 2005.
Photo: AP

Rare white whale seen – Whale watch – Specials – smh.com.au

Over the Memorial Day weekend I had the opportunity to crew on Lightning in the Swiftsure Classic, one of the premiere sail races of the Northwest. Lightning is a Sparkman & Stephens designed aluminum sloop that must have been a pretty exotic racer when she was launched in 1970. Her lines are graceful and classic, and the aluminum hull is incredibly fair, with no visible chines or wavy surfaces. The pedestal coffee grinders operated by two crew, with a third trimming the giant Barient winches, were a little intimidating—this is a boat that was built for yacht racing. We had a crack crew of J-24 racers, normally competitors in the active Seattle fleet, but banding together to tend Lightning for the 140 mile big boat course from Victoria out to the Swiftsure Bank at the mouth of the Strait of Juan de Fuca, and back.

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The San Juan Islands are a cruising paradise. Not the tropical kind, of course, but a paradise nonetheless; paradise with foulweather gear, let’s say. But our little archipelago is not without its dangers. By far the most frequent mishaps are simple groundings, which range in severity from mildly embarrassing to life-threatening. This video, taken on Sunday, illustrates a grounding with some real danger involved.

I’m positive the crew of the sailboat felt there was a great deal of danger involved! Watching the video, we can only imagine what awful noises the boat and rig generated each time the hull got shoved up against those rocks.

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The secret is to have only the boat and equipment that you actually need. Have a look at OpenBoat for a compelling reminder of the pure joy of sailing, and that it really doesn’t take much. It’s mostly a photo gallery website chronicling small, open boats from around the world, and the adventures of a hearty band of New Zealand sailors who adventure together. Make sure to watch the videos. You’ll want to drop everything and go jump on a boat.

I’m reminded of an adventure my buddy and I had a few years ago in the San Juan Islands with my Windrider Rave, a 16 foot hydrofoil trimaran. We cruised and camped the islands for a week, and became expert at reading the current charts, as there was rarely enough wind to actually sail. One afternoon, we pulled into Pelican Beach on Cypress Island…a great marine campground on what is a largely uninhabited island. Pulled onto the beach were a dozen-or-so sailing dorys, which we learned were San Francisco Pelicans. They were a club of sailors who had built their own boats, and had been coming out to camp in the same location every summer for decades, and who were instrumental in creating the marine campground. Hence the name: Pelican Beach.

Later, I learned that family friends from when I was a kid had built a San Francisco Pelican. They were a family of three, and spent months sailing up the Inside Passage with the idea of homesteading in British Columbia. This speaks well to the sea-worthiness of the design, not to mention the heartiness of their little family!