Bloom Crew's Top 12 Cool Boat Gadgets

Cool Stuff, Hot Gadgets and Snazzy Things that Make Life on a Boat Easier.

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#1 Luci Lights

These Inflatable Solar Lightsfloat and you can hang them anywhere! We have one permanently hanging in our cockpit and it is so bright that it illuminates the entire cockpit! We’ve also got their Luci Lux inside the boat (it gives of a softer light) and Carson loves their Luci Aurawhich can be changed to 8 different colours, or offers a setting to cycle through them all! A fellow cruiser told me that she puts hers on a specific colour and hangs it off the back of her boat when at anchor so she can spot her boat easily when returning at night- so smart! We hang them on our life lines to charge when they have burnt out- but they do last a long time between recharges. Their EMERG light will be going in our Ditch bag as well. Love, love, love these Luci lights!

#2 Stainless Lobster Fridge Optimizer

Our friends on s/v Inspirare came up with this gem, and it has truly changed our lives! It has given us complete control over our fridge! The biggest benefit being that we no longer need to defrost it (which we were doing every 3-4 weeks!) The Stainless Lobster Fridge Optimizer also allows you to view power consumption, set minimum and maximum temperatures for your fridge and tracks humidity, compressor run-time and more! It works with most marine fridges and is well worth getting!

#3 Hand-Powered Food Chopper

This is a fantastic tool for any galley! It allows you to process food without the need for power- which is awesome if you are on the hook and you want to make salsa or hummus and don’t want to consume power with a hand blender (if you are lucky enough to have one of those too!) All you do is pull the handle and yank the cord (like you are starting the outboard) until you reach the consistency you want. Our fave thing to make with our Hand-Powered Food Chopper
is chick pea salad sandwiches with it. Yum! It’s also fun to use and a great way to get kids helping out with meal preparation as well!

#4 Goal Zero Yeti 400 Solar Generator

If you like off-the-grid stuff like us, you’ll love this Yeti 400 Solar Generator too! We use it as a substitute for an inverter, as we don’t have one (and don’t want one). The Yeti gives us 400Wh, 33Ah and offers two 110 AC outlets, 2 USB outlets and a 9v cigarette lighter outlet as well. We pair it with their Boulder 30 Solar Panel to keep it charged up. We just plug the panel in, feed the cord straight up, out the portlight above and onto the carriage roof, where we plug it into the panel any time it needs charging. It will charge a laptop 3-5 times, an iPad 10+ times, a GoPro 70+ times or an iPhone 30+ times and does so completely silently. Amazing. Its 29 pounds can easily be lifted with the built-in handle and fits nicely on our bookshelf onboard. We absolutely love this solar generator!

#5 Cuisipro Foam Soap Pump

This product has not only been a huge money-saver for us, it also stays put and doesn’t slide around when the boat moves, which is a huge bonus! The Cuisipro Foam Soap Pump holds 13.2 ounces of foaming soap. The suction cup holds it in place, even in rough seas, and the best part is that it costs PENNIES to fill. All you do is put some castille soap (we like Dr. Bronner’s) in the bottom, up to the fill line (only about a 1/3 cup of soap). The rest of the soap dispenser is filled with distilled water. That’s it! Amazing, foamy, wonderful soap with every pump and each fill lasts for several weeks. You’re welcome! 😉

#6 Canon Pixma iP110 Wireless Mobile Printer

About the size of an old-school dictionary, this Canon Pixma iP110 Wireless Mobile Printer is nothing short of amazing. It can be plugged in to 110 power if you’ve got it, but we just use the built-on lithium ion battery. This allows you to print from virtually anywhere, and you can print from your iPad or iPhone. So handy to be able to print things, and from what I hear, having a printer on board is invaluable in Mexico, where we are headed!

#7 Aeropress Coffee Maker

The Aeropress coffee maker is a great way to brew coffee onboard. It takes up very little room, brews great coffee and is an absolute cinch to clean up! We like to use it with the Hario ceramic coffee mill for a completely powerless solution and freshly ground beans.

#8 Boogie Board Writing Tablet

The Boogie Board Writing Tablet is great for note taking, drawing or lists and is reusable up to 50,000 times! Just push the ‘erase’ button to wipe the screen and start fresh!

#9 Sprouting Jar

If you like sprouts, a sprouting jar is a must onboard! Within 3-5 days you will have ready-to-eat sprouts to add to any salad or sandwich or just snack on on their own. We have the BioSnacky Small Germinator Jar and are thinking of getting another one so that we can always have a jar of sprouts that are edible. Our favourite sprouts to germinate are the Daikon Radish sprouts by Mumm’s. Delish!

#10 NewAir Oil Heater

This super-thin oil heater gives of a really cozy heat, has no moving elements and is extremely thin and easy to tuck away when not needed. A must-have for the Pacific North West, this NewAir Portable Space Heater really takes the edge off when you have a chill in your boat and also helps to dry it out as well!

#11 Puddle Jump Bags

Handmade with the utmost of care and attention to detail by our friend Pete of s/v Riki Tiki Tavi, our Puddle Jump Bags get used every single day onboard Bloom. Their ‘Day Bag’ converts from a tote to a backpack and their tote is made from upcycled sails! Both of these bags are amazing and feature a rugged design with a ‘puddle proof’ bottom. We love the expandable top on them that both cinch down to fit any load! Fantastic for grabbing groceries, going for a swim or to and from land in the dinghy, the PJB bag is designed for the cruising lifestyle.

#12 Joseph Joseph Nesting Bowls & Utensils

Our Nesting Bowls and Nesting Kitchen Utensil Set get used every single day and are an absolute staple in Bloom’s galley! The ultimate space-saver, these sets have everything you need in them and are easy to tuck away. We also love their flattening whisk
and folding cheese grater!

Bloom Crew’s Top 12 Cool Boat Gadgets