5 Gift ideas your sailor

Christmas and the holidays are right around the corner. Here are 5 recommend gifts for you sailor to keep them safe out on the water.

1. Personal safety: Personal Flotation Devices

WEST MARINE - Coastal Automatic Inflatable Life Jacket

2. Crew safety: Man-Overboard Recovery

LIFESLING - Lifesling2 Overboard Rescue System

3. Footwear: (Yes, Sperry is a crew favorite!)

SPERRY- Men's Sea Kite Sailing Shoes

4. Signaling: Flares and accesories

ORION - Inland Locator® Plus 4 Marine Flare Kit

5. Communications: Handheld VHF Radio 

WEST MARINE - VHF160 Floating 6W Handheld VHF Radio

ICOM - M93D Floating Handheld VHF Radio with GPS and DSC

Lifesling2 "Installed"

It took me longer to remove the old horseshoe buoy mount than “installing” the new Lifesling2. All I had to do was hang the Lifesling2 on the stern rail and secure the flap with velco on the vertical and horizontal rail section. Then tied the retrieval line to the stern rail base. One key note from the manual is to “mount the bag inside of the stern railing or pulpit”. I have seen several creative mounting location and methods on various boats. Next is practice! Then we can decide if the Lifesling Hoisting Tackle is necessary.