This is a definite “don’t leave home without it” item. Good-tasting, fresh, safe water is not assured anywhere in the Bahamas and Caribbean.

Your watermaker should be sized to produce at least 40 gallons per hour. We produce 52 GPH of water on Off.Line and only run the unit 2-3 hours daily.

We find that serious water conservation is unnecessary. This is a true comfort factor when living aboard on the hook for extended periods. Who wants to travel to a dock every 3-4 days for .50 per gallon water of questionable quality?

If your water is contaminated and you ingest it, who knows what you may suffer as a result.

Clean, pure water becomes a nectar of the gods if you don’t have it.

Off.Line filters ALL on-board water using a special Sparkle-Pure system that removes all contaminants and impurities leaving only pure, clean water.

The filter is changed every 5,000-8,000 gallons. Simple effective and safe.

Two gensets provide a level of redundancy enabling this Symbol Yacht to be truly self-sufficient.

We manage the use of the gensets based on the day's electric useage. If we are washing and drying clothes and making water, we use the 16kw. If we are only making water and running a couple of AC units, we use the 12kw.

The high-capacity inverter with 4-house batteries can provide enough power to run the fridges, ice makers, lights, TV’s and the Garmin chart plotters for up to 4 hours. This makes for a very quiet time aboard with no gensets or engines running.

Off.Line sports two solar panels on the hardtop connected to the 12 volt battery system. The panels are not adequate for all of Off.Line’s electrical needs, but is sure helps keep the batteries in good condition.

Great if you anchor out and like to shut things down and run off of the inverter.

Off.Line uses LED lighting virtually everywhere. The energy saved is astounding.

Imagine each standard light draws 25-40 watts of energy based on the size of the bulb. Off.Line had over 80 of these old Halogen lights each one drawing up to 40 watts and each one generating a lot of heat.

Have you ever touched a halogen bulb while lit. Nasty burn huh! Well Off.Line sports over 80 of the new LED lights that draw only 3 watts each, generate no heat, last 5,000 hours plus and can be dimmed.

The best part is they don’t cost any more than the old energy-wasting Halogen lights that burn out in as little as 25 hours. The energy savings: Halogen 3200 watts, LED lights 240 watts. WOW!

Thrusters are marriage savers. If you will be handling the boat as a husband and wife team, thrusters will be your best friend. If you have an experienced crew, then you will still want both bow and stern thrusters.

In my opinion, hydraulic thruster are a clear choice over electric.. The hydraulic can be run indefinitely. The electric thrusters I have used can overheat popping a breaker at the most inopportune moment.

Stabilizers are universally hydraulic with electronic controllers. A good set of stabilizers properly managed will make a difficult passage less stressful and even fun for an unsure crew or passenger.

They do cause some drag but the comfort level derived way offsets the extra drag. The stabilizers require the largest percentage of your hydraulic system power; so to add hydraulic thrusters and a hydraulic winch is a payback of sorts.

If you consider the extra batteries and the HEAVY wiring for electric thrusters and winch, the upgrade is not that much.

Anchoring out is one of the most pleasurable aspects of cruising. A good night's sleep is also high on the list of pleasurable things one enjoys while cruising.

There are many areas where you can anchor securely using one anchor. However, there are some locations where two anchors are necessary.

Trust me; two anchors are absolutely necessary unless you don’t intend to anchor out and enjoy Mother Nature to the fullest.

I can’t say enough about these magical devices. Let's just say Garmin has produced the best, easiest to use and feature-rich suit of electronic gear available today.

Hear is the clue. The operators manual is only 10 pages or so. Or so means I have not even read it. This equipment is so user friendly it almost thinks for me. I had a Foruno Navnet on my last boat. I could hardly carry that manual much less understand it.

The Rigid Boat looks like an inflatable but that is where the similarities end.

Our 12’ Rigid Boat is the most stable, dry dinghy one could ask for. Lots of storage in the tubes (that is where an inflatable boat needs to have lots of air in it) Flat, non-skid gunwales, pop-up cleats, lifting eyes, Coast Guard approved and NO AIR PUMP.

The Rigid Boats are a fiberglass boat that has enough flotation so even when swamped can motor away. Try that in an inflatable with a popped chamber!

This Symbol Yacht has a complete lower helm that adds another comfort factor. As an example, when on a long run, the skipper (me) can go below and operate from the pilot house while the first mate serves food, water etc.

Off.Line has a ¾ enclosure on the bridge. It is very easy to see through with no distortions and even in a serious blow it did not leak or sag like other enclosures I have had in the past.

EZ2CY glass enclosures are more like a real hard enclosure with the flexilbilty of being able to open when desired.

Refrigeration is an absolute necessity for any extended cruising. Off.Line has 2 under counter Subzero fridges in the galley and a two-drawer Subzero freezer with an ice maker in the forward area of the salon. That provides over 16’ of refrigeration.

We also added a U’line under counter fridge and a separate icemaker in the bar on the flybridge.

Two gensets provide a level of redundancy enabling Off.Line to be truly self-sufficient.

We manage the use of the gensets based on the day's electric useage. If we are washing and drying clothes and making water, we use the 16kw. If we are only making water and running a couple of AC units, we use the 12kw.

The high-capacity inverter with 4-house batteries can provide enough power to run the fridges, ice makers, lights, TV’s and the Garmin chart plotters for up to 4 hours. This makes for a very quiet time aboard with no gensets or engines running.