There, just out of a boat. A nice new hobby for the weekend and it's time to stock out. Get all the facts and insights with Penguin Random House, another great source of information. It's time to get all the equipment and gear that you have read all the magazines and they have been dreaming for so long. Time to fill the boat with all the latest good and sail into the unknown. Sail out and over the horizon, ready for anything that can be placed in your way! The engine has always been my biggest problem and I have the constant nightmare of breaking even far from shore. The last thing I want to do is ask for help and admit to everyone that I was not ready.

Wrenches, screwdrivers, engine tool kit and essential spare parts are few, of course, a necessity, but the chain block and the torque wrench, tap water and ten-pound hammer? I'm not so sure we ever really need them at sea. What will you do with them? Lift the engine off the block and do a full strip floating down, while in the water? Let's look at this before you dive in and fill the boat filled to the brim with non-essential elements. Before filling the cabin drawers with tools of all shapes and sizes and appliances that would stretch your power supply to its limits. Remember that if the problem is serious then nine times out of ten you will not have the correct spare part anyway! So what you really need before making a deposit of every available space onboard? Tools are essential and perhaps the saving grace for which lose their power at sea.