SPECIAL REPORT

Cruising sailors who also call their boat their home usually give plenty of consideration to making life on board as comfortable as possible. The level of comfort cruisers and liveaboards choose is, of course, entirely personal and subjective. Some consider a watermaker to be a luxury item, others regard it to be utterly essential. Some may draw the line at a washing machine, but can’t contemplate life without their ice-maker.

On larger boats with a high specification, the limitations of space and power generation may not be so restrictive. But for those who own smaller boats, perhaps contending with a more modest budget, some luxuries may have to be sacrificed or compromised.

Of course, living a simple and minimalist lifestyle is part of the fun (and, for many, the entire point) of cruising. That said, turning your yacht from a series of minor discomforts into a home will make cruising far more enjoyable.

My partner Nick and I have been cruising Europe and the Caribbean for the past three years. We own a Southerly 38, the interior of which is given over mainly to living space rather than storage room: as such, we don’t have a generator or particularly large water and fuel tanks. The knock-on effect is that we can’t have power-intensive items such as washing machines or separate freezers on board because we can’t power them, plus we don’t have anywhere to actually put them. Despite these limitations, we have a boat that is comfortable, homely and full of items that we love and wouldn’t want to be without.

Personally, neither of us could function without coffee in the morning and we love our espresso machine. Another item we bought just before we made our Atlantic crossing