Ecococoon Stainless Cups and Bottles

I have recently happened on a source for some incredible stainless cups and bottles for boaters. Rather than doing my own substandard review, I would like to send you over to a review that Cindy Wallach did over on Zach Aboard. If you haven't checked out her blog, she's a fantastic reviewer of all things family cruiser and has some seriously fantastic photos to go with. Thank you Cindy for the great review!

Simultalk 24g

I've been reading for some time about the "marriage saver" headsets, with mostly mixed emotions. While I could see the advantage of them, I was really struggling to get past the appearance issue. To me, it seemed like one of those things that the Pretty Yacht People use, you know the "lookie me" crew.

Then we built the dodger. The dodger still holds the #1 spot on the most rewarding project list, but it does have one distinct disadvantage - it's hard to see around when you're anchoring or docking. About this time I read a review on the Simultalk 24g headsets. The review was very positive (almost to the point of gushing) and addressed two of the issues I had with the Mariner 500 headsets - price, and the tendency for them to get knocked off into the water. Amazon had the Simultalks at a really good price so I took the plunge and bought them.

We used the Simultalk this weekend for the first time and I have to say that I considered changing my rating system on this blog just so I could give this more than 5 stars. After using them several times this weekend here are my observations:

** We tested the range on the docks and were able to go several hundred yards down the dock before losing communications. This is much more than they had advertised. We got about a hundred yards with me inside the boat and Tim on the dock. With me outside the boat and Tim walking we got at least 200 yards and maybe 3. Kintala is 42 feet so this is excellent for us.

** We tested in 25 knot winds on the nose and the wind protectors on the microphones worked flawlessly.

** Communication is clear and full duplex so one person is not "stepping on" the other person's
communication, an extremely annoying feature of many headset pairs.

** We were able to use normal speaking voices and could hear each other clearly.

** We used them all weekend and they are still nearly fully charged.

Our experience with these headsets anchoring was a calm, quiet, controlled maneuver. The person on the bow was able to perform to full potential because smaller adjustments could be made in position rather than the ones that hand signals produce. At the helm, I was able to receive instructions such as "come about 5 degrees to port" or bump it into gear for just a second and then back to neutral."

The Simultalk 24g will be moving up quickly to the top of our  Most Valuable Equipment list.

Ed note: I contacted Eartec since writing this post to ask about a 12V charging option and I was told that they do not have a 12V adapter for these. We will need to use an inverter to charge them. Does this change my opinion?  Not in the least. That's how freaking beneficial these things are.

Charlie's Soap

This doesn't really fall under boat equipment, but it does fall under cruising stuff. My daughter has been using Charlie's Soap for a couple years because it's the only kind that doesn't cause her two sons to break out in a rash. It's incredibly concentrated - only one tablespoon per load, it's hypoallergenic, and it's non-toxic. It's also reasonably priced which is not something you can say about just any boat product.

It's not really designed as a laundry soap for boats, but there are a couple features that make it perfectly suited for that. Since it's super concentrated, you can get a lot of loads in a compact container. The 100-load container is about the size of a large grapefruit. It's plastic so it won't break, and it has a wide-mouth screw on lid that means it's watertight. No spilled laundry soap if you take a knockdown (which I hope you don't but better safe than sorry).The powder literally dissolves in a few seconds and it's low-sudsing so you don't need a lot of water to wash or rinse with - perfect for those bucket laundry washers. But does it work, you say? Absolutely. Better than anything else I've used before. Oh, and my husband says his skin doesn't itch anymore like it used to.