#the two dots by the collar are based on his helmet design

[redbean-nom]

Bacara's horrible Fullfall ensemble

inspired by @thefoundationproject, @lumateranlibrarian, and @evilkillerpoptarts!

[starr-fall-knight-rise]

Humans are Space..... Pets?

I am really sorry guys. This was a new idea and style that turned out to be kind of complicated, so it will be longer than usual. As someone who typically writes novels, this short story stuff is really demanding since it requires you to be entertaining and concise without description which is my favorite. So, Hope you like it. 

“Tell us your oddest story, Captain.”

“Weirdest story, huh?” Captain Vir sets his glass down on the bar and tilts his head back thinking as he stares at the ceiling, “Well, you know what, since it’s been declassified, I suppose I can go ahead and tell you.” He picks up his drink again and takes a draw.

“Have you ever heard of Heaven’s Gate Nebula?”…”Of course you have. Well, so it’s this really weird cluster of stars just off Andromeda, not technically part of the galaxy but sort of orbiting it. Now you Know Nebulas are actually star nurseries, so generally stars within nebula tend to be really young….. the problem here is that emissions form Heaven’s Gate indicated 100-200 main sequence stars. I know, not a whole lot for a cluster. The GA had tried to investigate before, but with no real luck, they thought maybe a human crew would have more luck. And as a newly promoted captain with a newly christened ship, I was ready for any job they wanted to throw at me. So, with my new crew, and my new ship, I headed in, this was all before I met Sunny and Krill, and before I lost my eye.”

He finishes the glass and wipes his mouth on his sleeve, “We took it into the dust cloud, and I had to take manual control of the ship. I was nervous, I fly jets, and jets are relatively small, but I had to remember that I was about a thousand feet wider than I am used to. We were navigating mostly by short range radar, so I would only have a few seconds to make it through. Luckily there was no real debris in our way, and when we broke out of the cloud a few hours later, we enter this ….. Open area about solar system wide. Scans showed it had one main sequence star and four planets with a collective 12 moons. There was one planet in the goldilocks zone, so we took her in. I ordered our navigations expert to plot a landing course onto the planet for a shuttle, and then I went down and got together a team of Marines to take our first look. Ok, maybe I was being an idiot, I’m the captain, leading search parties isn’t exactly my job, but I would be damned if I was going to miss exploring an entirely undiscovered planet.”

***

“Alright, Jar Heads, suit up, we’re approaching the LZ.” Behind him the sound of helmets clipping into place over suits was comforting. Captain Vir pulled on his own helmet quickly locking it into pace with one hand as he maneuvered the shuttle towards the planet’s surface. It was green, Like Earth, very green though it wasn’t really due to trees. The ground itself was covered with a very thin layer of moss…. Or so it appeared. The foliage itself was rather sparse, with an odd assortment of trees, and some sort of ferns.

He chose an area next to one of these little clusters, lading their craft with a soft whirr of air. He cut the engines and grabbed his weapon.

The marines were waiting for him ready for exit weapons at the ready, “Alright, Chairfroce, your orders?” The sergeant asked with a good natured nod.

“I defer to you, jarhead. This is simple recon, stay quiet, and keep low. If you see anything, do not engage, we aren’t here to start trouble.” The men nodded, at the front one held up a hand counting down from five before pressing the button to drop the ramp, and in a coordinated unit, the group rushed from the craft and into a wide circle around the ship leaving the copilot to watch over the ship. Captain Vir stopped behind the point man lowering his weapon and checking the readings from his suit. He had been trained to determine the safety of a particular atmosphere. It was a chill 22 degrees F but the oxygen level was 14.8% oxygen content which would equal out to feel like a relatively high altitude. The rest was nitrogen like you would expect on Earth. With one hand, he slapped the point man on the shoulder who, in turn, gave a hand signal to the rest of the group. One of their designated men reached up, and pressed the release sequence on his helmet. It dropped into his hand with a hiss and he took a deep breath. The group watched as he took a few more deep breaths monitoring his blood oxygen content from the monitor on his suit before giving a nod to the captain, who gave another signal. The rest of the group removed their helmets, though a few kept face masks close at hand, not comfortable completely with the low oxygen content. Helmets were strapped to their waists.

Captain Vir ordered them into a loose arrowhead formation at a good 20 feet apart. He fell in at the very far left of the formation towards the thickest area of foliage weapon pressed into his shoulder lowered into a ready position as they began moving slowly through the foliage. He the advanced eye piece over his left eye to keep track of the crew as their red dots moved through the foliage. He couldn’t always see the next man over and up, but he could see the dots.

He was coming up on a very thickly wooded area now, and cut into the trees doing his best to keep up with the marines who moved low and fast through the trees. They were near silent, and he did his best to emulate them as he did so. Yeah, he was trained in combat, but the last war he was in took place strictly on stone, moss and ash, branches hadn’t really been a problem.

He took another step forward into the foliage trying to find a grounded place to put his foot… but then…. There was nothing there. He had one moment of horrible realization before his stomach dropped out from underneath him, and he went plunging downwards.

He hit the rock with a hard crack maybe five feet below, and then bounced over to go tumbling like a pinball down the hill. He might have heard the cry of one of the marines over the com before it was dashed to pieces against a rock. In an attempt to keep his head covered, he turtled into the collar of the space suit, allowing it to take most of the impact as he rolled into another rock and was sent flying down a mossy incline. His weapon was ripped from his hands, and the sling snapped catching him on the cheek as it went.

Now loosed from its grip, his arms flailed and clawed at the ground as he fell. Body crying out in anguish against the pain of his fall. The end of the hill came, and he was pitched over another, small, five foot drop. Landing flat on his back… The pain was incredible, not as bad as losing his leg, but still. He looked down through his bleary vision…. Shit…. His leg, the entire F***ing thing was gone…..

A shadow passed over him from above, and in groggy delirium he looked up squinting against the silhouette, massive, hairy, and reaching out towards him.

He blacked out.

***

He woke up to the chatter of unknown creatures, lying on his back on a bed of soft moss staring up at a leafy ceiling above. Squinting past his own delirium and the bright light in his face he tried to make sense of the scene forcing himself to sit up past the pain in his body and the weight of his suit. The striations in the leafy ceiling resolved themselves as he stared on….. realizing in horror that he was looking at bars. He pushed himself upwards the rest of the way limping/hopping over to the bars where he stopped staring out at the world around him. Stacks and stacks of cages, full of strange alien creatures with fur and feathers, and spines chattering and gambling about their cages hissing and yapping at each other.

He rushed around the cage tugging at the bars, trying to find a locking mechanism, but seeing nothing. He tried to force himself through the bars cursing when his chest was too wide to make it through, even sideways. He tugged even harder and came down hard to the ground without the support of his prosthetic. Missing a leg, there was only so much he could do. The boot of his suit and half of the lower leg had been ripped off leaving him with a useless and dangling bit of fabric. He cursed the stupid thing silently. His REAL leg wouldn’t have just fallen off like that. Sure his remaining leg hurt like a bitch, but at least it was still working.

Piece of garbage.

He glanced around a little more taking a deep breath. First thing was first, he had to find out where he was. He didn’t get much time to figure this out before the air itself was rocked and shattered by an immense vibration. It was a sound like someone had turned the base all the way up on their car speakers. The bars of his cage rattled, his insides rattled, his teeth rattled. Whatever made that sound had to be f***ing massive.

And that’s when the absolutely immense creatures stepped into the room. It was at least 40 feet tall and looked like a cross between Sasquatch, a bear, and King Kong. With a gasp he scrambled back in his cage, as two of the other creatures stepped into the room with it. One of them was about as tall if not taller, and the other was maybe 30 feet tall give or take. As their mouths open, the entire room rumbled with the deep base of their voices. He fell to one knee hands to his chest as if he was trying to hold in his bones.

He couldn’t have known that the creatures were quite sentient naming themselves the Magnites of the Magnapedibus, and they were here for one very specific reason. The taller, and older of the two guests browed their way around the room glancing in cages and speaking to each other in their impossibly deep voices. A couple of times, they opened one of the cages and took out one of the other creatures. Vir watched from the confines of his cell with a sense of growing horror.

This could not be happening, and to make it all worse, his coms were down, and those things were getting closer to him their feet thudding like thunderclaps on the floor below. Quickly, he burrowed himself under a layer of the moss staring out form a minute hole at the scene unfolding before them. He could see that the cages lifted from the top, but there was no way he was going to manage to make it out if that was the case: no way in hell he was going to be able to lift that thing.

The creatures had moved onto the cage right next to his looking over a creature that had some odd recumbence to a giant rat. The smaller creature didn’t seem particularly interested in it. Little did the captain know was that the creature had daned the rat to be not cute enough for its taste. They were arguing among themselves about what the third creature was looking for. What could possibly pique interest when they had gone over the entire place, and yet there was nothing to be seen?

The shop owner gave them one last option, something strange he had picked up out in the woods today, but something he didn’t think was likely to survive. It would require special care, and he had yet to look it over for injury. They moved over to the next cage, just to find nothing visible in site. The larger creature gave a look of confusion to the owner who waved him off. The creature was scared, probably hiding. He threw open the cage lid and reached in prodding around in the moss.

Captain Vir lay as still as he possibly could feeling the ground rumble beneath him eyes closed teeth gritted. And then a massive weight pressed down on his back.  Like someone was standing on him, making it hard to breathe. The weight lifted off him and light poured into his little hiding spot. The ground trembled with another mass vibrating noise

Shit! He rolled to the side just as a massive hand came down towards him. He barely escaped crawling up to one knee and scuttling to the side as the hand came after him again. A line of expletives ran through his head as he rolled dodged ad ducked out of the way hindered by his missing leg forced to scramble on three limbs as he tried to get away.

He wasn’t fast enough, the cage wasn’t big enough, and he was caught around the waist by a massive hand. He gasped for air, as the hand grew tight around his middle against his struggling and squirming. He panted pressing his hands against the clenched fist trying to pull himself out, but it was no use.

The massive creatures looked down at him with surprise and confusion. What was this thing? The owner wasn’t totally sure, but he had found it lying injured in the forest. He thought it was supposed to have four limbs, and if that was the case than it was missing one of them. The smaller creature thought that it was horribly sad…. The creature in itself looked terrified squirming and wriggling as it was, and with only one leg it must have been in immense pain. It had very large eyes, a brilliant green color and a small tuft of hair atop its head, kind of adorable, otherwise it was furless…. It must have been very cold. It held out its hands begging to hold the creature, and finally they gave in.

Vir was transferred from one hand to the other, a grip that was lighter this time, the smaller creature. He tried to squirm away again, but then became very aware of the twenty to twenty five foot drop….. he didn’t think he was likely to make that unscathed. Another massive hand was lifted up, and he cringed away as a single huge finger rubbed against the back of his head and down his upper back. Damn, it was like being stroked by a ten pound dumbbell….. it was rubbery and the palm was cracked like the pad of a dog’s foot.

The creature thought it was very cute, whatever it was, and it didn’t seem too dangerous, just an adorable, crippled little creature.

He swore that if they did that again he was going to have to beat someone’s ass, he didn’t care how tall they were…. That was just as soon as he figured out how to get away from this nonsense. That didn’t seem likely to happen as the large creature took him back, and began looking him over pinching his limbs between its massive fingers flipping him into his back like you would to examine a lab rat. He kicked out with his remaining foot as the creature tried to get a good look at his severed leg. He’d be damned if he was going to ACTUALLY get probed by aliens. At least the last ones had asked nicely.

There was more roaring, more rumbling as they tried to figure out what exactly the thing was, despite missing a limb, it didn’t appear to be in pain, but it was a feisty little creature. If they were to sell it, it would need special care, somewhere warm, a special diet, but perhaps it would make a good pet.

***

Vir was about 0% pleased with the outcome of this. His first mission and things had already gone to hell in a handbasket, or in this case what felt like a massive ass paper bag. He had been dumped into one with a handful of the strange moss, and breathing holes poked in the side. Outside he could hear more grumbling and could feel the ground underneath thudding with the footsteps of the giant creatures. He couldn’t stand with only one leg, and lay in the bottom, face pressed against the moss as they moved in short starts and stops. Eventually the rumbling died off a bit, and the movement continued bouncing him up and down inside the bag which swung back and forth.

***

Is this what it was like to be a hamster? Whatever it was like he was done.  The creature had barely let him go since it had brought him back to its den. It let him go in its lap, and he’d try to scramble away only to be pulled back. If he was let down on the floor, he would have tried to run, but he was missing something kind of important. There were tons of these things being invited over to hold, pet stoke, and play with him, and he hated every moment of it. He tried to bite at least once, but that turned out to b not worth it at all, the things tasted like ass, and their skin was too thick to bite through. And then it insisted on wrapping him up in randomly soft items like it thought he was cold, like he wasn’t wearing a thermal conserving space suit. This was just a load of bullshit.

Giving some time alone, he was sure he could construct a decent pair of crutches, but that wasn’t going to happen if the creature kept insisting on holding him.

He had one other option…. He could play dead, at this current moment, which seemed to be his best option, so the moment that someone stopped paying attention, he fell limp eyes half closed just willing them to fall for it. When they came back, he watched their shadows moving around, could hear the thrumming and thudding of their voices. They picked him up, and he let his body flop to the side, he did his best to breathe as little as possible, hoping they wouldn’t notice when he did. The roaring grew more urgent, he was moved around constantly laid down prodded, poked, and he refused to move, did his best to keep still as they picked him up. There were many of the creatures there now speaking rapidly, one of them sounded very upset.

He just had to stay still.

And that’s when he heard the roar of the shuttle. The creatures apparently did too, and he watched as the ship roared in through an opening over the heads of the creatures before circling down. The creatures made some more roaring sounds. He could hear voices as the carrier landed. Wind whipped at his clothes, there was more roaring.

“CAPTAIN!”

He opened his eyes just in time, as one of the marines grabbed him by the arm and hoisted him over his shoulders racing back towards the carrier as the others covered him from behind. He was thrown to the deck inside the carrier as the ship lurched form the ground and roared forward.

The roaring grew louder, the ship tilted and swung. The marines held on for dear life as one had him pinned to the ground keeping him still as the ship rocked and rolled.

And then they shot forward and the roaring died away. Captain Vir let his head rest back on the floor breathing heavily.

“Are you alright, Captain?” The marine asked looking him over for injuries.

“Relieved to see you Marine….. relieved to see you.”

[rnrmarineservices-blog]

40 great Christmas gift ideas for sailors – our pick of the very best kit

Stuck for Christmas gift ideas for the sailor who has it all? Yachting World is here to help with 40 great ideas

Are you wondering what to get the sailor in your life for Christmas. Here is our pick of 40 top products that are perfect Christmas gift ideas for sailors:

1. Garmin inReach

Christmas gift ideas: Garmin inReach

This is a clever portable device that provides an affordable way to keep friends and family in touch with your whereabouts when offshore. It allows you to send and receive SMS text messages to any mobile phone, email address or other inReach device, anywhere in the world, via the Iridium satellite constellation.

In Reach works like a Sat phone and provides live online tracking and email and can also be sinked with your phone and operated through an app.

inReach SE+ £399.99. explore.garmin.com

2. Henri Lloyd neoprene gloves 

Christmas gift ideas: Henri Lloyd Cobra Winter Glove

Sailing with cold hands sucks. We tested a selection of winter gloves and these came out top. The full-fingered gloves have neoprene thermal insulation, which means that even when they (inevitably) get wet, they keep your hands warm.

The grippy surface on the palms proved particularly good when handling intricate jobs and overall we were really impressed with this glove. Tough, flexible and easy to get on and off even when wet.

£30-35. henrilloyd.com

3. Yachting World Subscription

Christmas gift ideas: A Yachting World subscription

A hardcopy of the world's favourite sailing magazine every month from £19.49 a year – or an ipad/iphone digital issues for £16.49…

Now THAT'S Christmas!

Yachting-world-subscriptions

4. Waterproof iPhone housing

Christmas gift ideas:Proshotcase waterproof phone housing

GoPros and similar action cameras are great devices, but they are both expensive (some more than £500) and need charging. Recent smartphones have a camera that is just as good as a high-end action camera. This neat case turns an iPhone into a fully waterproof action camera.

It's waterproof to 50ft or 130ft, depending on model, and is compatible with all GoPro mounting accessories. Full control of the phone's camera is achieved via the volume buttons.From US$99. proshotcase.com

5. Red Limited Edition SUP Paddleboard

Christmas gift ideas: Red inflatable paddleboard

Red's 10ft 6in Ride model is the most popular and arguably most versatile all round inflatable stand-up paddleboard. Having used one on our boat this summer, I can vouch for it being a fantastic edition to the sail locker. It's ideal for getting to or from the beach, exercising/paddling or surfing when at anchor and it provides a dive platform and extra floating space for the kids.

It comes with cargo tie-downs and three fins attached – and the pumps and backpacks supplied are also superb. 2018 marks Red's 10th anniversary, hence this limited edition 10'6” Ride in a new colour scheme.

£849 redpaddleco.com

6. Spinlock Lume-On

Christmas gift ideas: Lume-On

The simple ideas are the best. These compact LEDs stick to the underbelly of each bladder, which uses the large fluorescent surface like a diffuser to maximise the visibility of the flashing light.  Once activated, the Lume-On provides up to two hours of intense flashing light. It adds very little extra weight, has a smooth profile so will not chafe the bladder, and is very simple to retrofit to most lifejackets. £15 per pair. spinlock.co.uk

7. Karun recycled Sunglasses

Christmas gift ideas: Karun VOR Sunglasses

This small company in Patagonia makes unbreakable sunglasses from recycled fishing nets collected from the coast of Chile. It worked with professional sailors to design sunglasses with technical [Zeiss polyamide] lenses designed to meet the demands of the Volvo Ocean Race.

The sailing edition glasses were developed with and are being worn and tested by the Vestas – 11th Hour Racing crew. The frames have stainless steel hinges and rubber temple tips.

€245 for the VOR Sailing Edition. www.eu.karunworld.com

8. Olaf Scooter

Christmas gift ideas: Olaf scooter

Here is an ingenious compact solution to getting around in foreign marinas and towns. The Olaf Urban combines four products in one: a kick-scooter, a trolley, a backpack and a skateboard. The Urban backpack is designed to carry the folded scooter. The combined backpack and trolley weigh just 3.5kg and the trolley can take a 120kg payload.

Price €195 for Urban (trolley and backpack). olaf-scooter.com

9. Astra esa smartwatch

Christmas gift ideas: Esa sailing smartwatch

The esa is the first smartwatch designed for sailing, fusing the sailor's thirst for gadgetry with high-street technology. The esa watch uses wifi to display information from onboard instruments on your wrist. As well as the ability to show performance sailing data including speed and polar target data, the watch is still essentially a smartphone, offering full Android capabilities.

Video here   €399 from www.astrayacht.com

10. Solar powered waterproof speaker

Christmas gift ideas: Lemon solar powered speaker

For those who don't fancy drilling holes in their cockpit lockers, a waterproof Bluetooth speaker is the answer. The California Roll will play for up to 15 hours on a single charge of the battery and is fully waterproof, even when submerged. Integrated solar panels further extend the operation time and the 5000mAh battery can be used as a USB power bank to recharge other devices.

Price: US$249 lemon-california.com

11. Free Wheeling

Christmas gift ideas: Free Wheeling manual prop

This Australian innovation blends rowing with outboard motors to produce a clever lightweight solution for your tender. It uses a 3:1 gear ratio contained in the collar by the handle, driving a high-pitch propeller to provide a smooth, silent and fuel-less means of manual propulsion in either direction. Time to ditch the outboard, oars or both?

Price £125. thewetworks.co.uk

12. Snowlizard SLXtreme Navigator

Christmas gift ideas: Snow Lizard

We conducted a waterproofing test on mobile phones, looking at nanotechnology sprays in particular, but concluded that a waterproof case remains the most secure way of protecting a mobile device. With more people using tablets for navigation, a case with a built-in GPS, like this SLXtreme Navigator could be the ideal solution.

The SnowLizard range include a built-in solar panel and back-up battery.  US $349.99 or phone cases from $49.99 snowlizard.com

13. Lifedge Ultimate Cable

Christmas gift ideas: Lifeedge Ultimate cable

If you're going to get a waterproof case for your mobile device, you may want one of these charging cables too. The extra long (2m/6.5ft) and durable Ultimate cable is corrosion and tangle proof, and allows for waterproof phone charging when used with a compatible case.

£29.99. lifedge.co.uk

14. Raymarine Ocean Scout TK

Christmas gift ideas: Raymarine thermal camera

Raymarine's most affordable thermal camera to date, the Ocean Scout TK can extend vision afloat, day or night, by creating images from heat. It can spot objects up to 119m away, including boats, buoys, landmarks or wildlife. But its ability to potentially thermally identify a MOB could quickly make it high on sailors' wishlists. Price £412.50. raymarine.com

15. Sealskinz waterproof hat

Keeping your head warm and dry is vital to enjoying winter sailing. This waterproof hi-vis Sealskinz Bobble hat looks like the ideal way of achieving that, while making sure you can be spotted easily. It is water and stain repellent, with a Teflon coated acrylic outer fabric and micro fleece inner lining. £20. sealskinz.com

16. Ocean Signal rescueMe MOB1

Christmas gift ideas: Ocean Signal rescueMe MOB1

The more portable personal rescue devices are, the more likely they will be worn or carried. Ocean Signal's new MOB1 is 30% smaller than competitor AIS MOB devices.

It can alert any AIS-equipped vessels in the vicinity to the precise location of a casualty in the water, and it will fit on any inflatable lifejacket's oral tube. It also includes DSC alerting so can both pinpoint a MOB location via AIS, plus trigger the yacht's own VHF alarm.

£250. oceansignal.com

17. SOG Multitool with proper blade

Christmas gift ideas: multitool with proper blade

Most multitools are at best a compromise, which means that while they're useful for quick jobs that would be a faff if you had dig around in a tool box, they are not good for serious work.

On any yacht the most challenging task you might be engaged in without warning is to cut a line. SOG's Reactor RC1001-CP has a proper blade, which maximises the chances of cutting a problematic loaded line before a tense situation spins out of control.

Price £65. sogknives.com

18. Exposure XS-WR Torch

Christmas gift ideas: Exposure XS-WR torch

This compact, lightweight double-ended torch shines a powerful white beam from one end and a red light from the other. Both can be operated simultaneously for a variety of uses from onboard, to the tender ride or cycle home.

Accessories include a headband that allows either colour to shine forwards, a reflective neck lanyard, plus stanchion, helmet and magnetic mounts.

£99.95. exposuremarine.com

19. Touchscreen gloves

Christmas gift ideas: Touchscreen gloves

Those who need to swipe screens in colder climes can now keep their digits warm too with Mujjo's latest fleece-lined touchscreen gloves. These have black leather cuffs and anti-slip palms with silicon grip dots. Price from €29.95. mujjo.com

20. Splash Drone

Christmas gift ideas: Splash Drone

This is the first fully waterproof quad copter – and it floats. The drone is not only designed to carry a GoPro, but has a payload release feature for carrying and releasing other items, including safety gear.

The Splash Drone has autonomous features, including a 'follow me' mode, and can return to base at the flick of a switch. Use it to capture some unique footage of your yacht, take a beer to a friend, or even drop a life-ring to a casualty in the water.

Price US$1,299. urbandrones.com

21. TackingMaster

Christmas gift ideas: Tacking Master

Race tactics involve decisions based on the wind direction and trends, gleaned from the yacht's compass. This Danish TackingMaster helps make wind shifts quick and easy to gauge using a watch-style wrist mount.

Once the wind direction and course to the mark have been set, you can track any shifts by using its inner course dial. So you can easily see how a shift may affect the next tack or leg and keep track of the average wind trend. Price €79. tackingmaster.com

22. Restube

Christmas gift ideas: Restube safety device

Anyone who partakes in extreme watersports will know there are times when wearing a lifejacket is simply not practical afloat. And others may simply want the comfort of a personal flotation device without the bulk, perhaps when taking a swim away from an anchored yacht.

The Restube is a personal lifebuoy developed by a kitesurfer that stows into a small bum-bag like pouch. It uses a vertical or horizontal belt attachment, and a sports model is available with a harness mount.

video here. £38.99 sontecmarketing.com

23. Dr Sails

    If I were to recommend one piece of repair kit to carry aboard it would probably be this new emergency epoxy adhesive. The fast curing epoxy can be used on sails plus most materials in virtually all conditions – including underwater – so it can even help patch a hole below the waterline.  Watch the video here   

From €22.50 for 10ml. drsails.com

24. Thuraya Satsleeve+

Christmas gift ideas: Satsleeve+ for smartphones

A Satsleeve turns your mobile phone into a satphone. It wraps around the phone, utilising the mobile's internal electronics and encodes and boosts the signal for connection to the Thuraya satellite network. The SatSleeve+ has a universal adapter, so the user can switch between most smartphone models from 58 to 85mm in width. £370 ex VAT or £5 per day to rent from www.globaltelesat.co.uk

25. Fizzics portable beer tap

Christmas gift ideas: Fizzics beer tap

Sailors are discerning types with quality tastes. So why not ship a portable beer tap for draught-tasting beer with the perfect head? The founders of Fizzics have really delved into the science (or 'fizzics') of beer drinking, and created a device that they say will deliver the perfect pour, creating an 'ultra dense, long-lasting foam head' from any standard size beer can or bottle – and all beer types from lager and ale to stout.

It's strictly for those who take their drinking seriously – I've asked Santa for one.

Price $169 from upgradeyourbeer.com

 26. GoCycle portable E-bike

Christmas gift ideas: Go-Cycle portable E-bike

We did a test of folding bikes and portable transport in 2017. If you can afford it, this GoCycle is a clear winner. This beautifully engineered electric-assist bicycle has 20in wheels, balloon tyres, and a well-cushioned saddle, which gives a smooth fast and comfortable ride. It is proper, enjoyable bike to cycle manually and the rider can select from zero to 100 per cent motor assistance on demand.

The GoCycle is a premium product that needs space to store and time to assemble. But, it is a game-changer, giving real freedom to enjoy time away from the boat. £3,500 gocycle.com

27. TaskOne G3 case

  Christmas gift ideas: TaskOne phone case

For those who don't already rely on their mobile phones enough, the TaskOne G3 case turns a smartphone into a Leatherman. It includes 22 tools and a mount for attaching saw blades. So you can now use your phone to cut, saw, grip, and screw things – then open a beer after your hard work. £79.99. thetasklab.com

28. Garmin Virb X and XE 

Christmas gift ideas: Garmin Virb X

If your choice of action camera is more defined by durability, audio and picture quality, consider Garmin's Virb cameras. Garmin continues to upgrade its excellent rugged and waterproof (to 50m) Virb cams.

The main improvements are with picture resolution and an increased variety of mounting options. The dedicated photo button to take stills at any time, even while the camera is recording, is also a neat addition.

From £239.99 at  garmin.com

 29. Leatherman Tread

Christmas gift ideas: Leatherman wearable multitool

This very cool wearable multitool completely reinvents the concept – it's worn on the wrist like a watch. As standard 29 tools are provided, including flat, Phillips and Pozi-Driv screwdrivers, hex drives, box wrenches and Torx drives. There's also a cutting hook, sim card pick, carbide glass breaker and bottle opener. As there is no conventional knife you can fly without putting it in hold luggage.

£199.95  leatherman.com

30. Flexsafe – Keep your valuables safe

Christmas gift ideas: FlexSafe

Keeping keys, passports, wallets and electronic gadgets safe when travelling can all too often be a challenge. The Flexsafe is a lockable bag made of slash-proof materials that cannot be cut open with a knife that incorporates a piercing 110db motion sensing alarm. When on shore simply attach the bag to a convenient tree, your folding bike, the dinghy or any other suitable structure.

Price US$59.95. www.theaquavault.com

 31. Digital Yacht Aquawear

  Digital Yacht Aquawear

This blackbox server will wirelessly stream information from onboard instruments to mobiles, tablets and laptops. The splash-proof wrist case included helps promote wearable navigation – the viewing of instrument, charting and AIS data on deck via apps on your smartphone. Aquawear aslo creates a wifi hotspot for the whole crew. £264. digitalyacht.co.uk

 32. Spinlock Essentials chest pack

Christmas gift ideas: Spinlock Chest Pack

Spinlock's Essential Packs are snug fitting solutions for keeping accessories like mobile phone, VHF, personal EPIRB to hand on the water. They are available as belt, side or chest packs that attach with Velcro tie-downs, and neatly compliment Spinlock's  Deckvest 5D lifejacket.  £14.95. spinlock.co.uk

 33. Personalised champagne

Christmas gift ideas:Champagne by you

Here's your chance to create your own bespoke bubbles. Buying a case of Champagne By You involves a tasting session to decide on the exact champagne style, all imported from family growers in the champagne region. Clients then get to design a unique handmade aluminium label using anything from a corporate logo to a photograph.

Sampling, design and delivery of a case of 24 bottles costs from £2,257. champagnebyyou.com

34. Vaavud Wind Meter

      Christmas gift ideas: Vavuud windmeter

Vaavud is essentially a set of whirling cups that turn your smartphone into an anemometer. Live wind data through crowd sourcing – clever and particularly useful for those of us that dither on the shoreline wondering which sail/boat/kite/board to take, or whether to mow the lawn.

A new compact Sleipnir model is now available that uses an electronic sensor and can read wind direction too. Video here   From £37. vaavud.com

35. Sugru

Christmas gift ideas: Sugru

Sugru is a new material that feels like play dough but acts like superglue and sticks to most objects and surfaces. It's very user-friendly, highly malleable and waterproof and comes in 10 bright colours. It's ideal for both fixing things and giving items a new lease of life as it sets like silicone rubber (flexible and insulated) – it's also surprisingly fun to apply.

Bring out your inner kid… Must watch WTF is Sugru video here  From £6.99. sugru.com

36. Yacht Cufflinks

Christmas gift ideas: cufflinks

For that time when you need to collect the silverware in your blazer at the yacht club, you need to look the part…

These silver cufflinks come in a velvet lined gift box.

£49 (£39.20 special offer) josephturner.co.uk

37. Wichard knives

Christmas gift ideas: Wichard Knife

Wichard has produced knives in Thiers, the French home of knife making, since 1919. Its latest range includes Offshore and more economic Aquaterra models.

The Offshore knife has a serrated blade that can cut through Dyneema, and is available with a combined shackle key/marlinspike. The Aquaterra uses a conventional or serrated blade and has the accessory all sailors really need: a corkscrew. Price from €17. wichard.com

38. Tiwal 3.2 inflatable dinghy

Christmas gift ideas: TIWAL inflatable dinghy

This French inflatable sailing dinghy stows into two compact bags and can be launched, assembled and sailed anywhere in 20 minutes. It looks like safe, enjoyable and family friendly fun, ideal for getting kids into dinghy sailing. It uses the same high-strength PVC material as stand-up paddleboards, inflated via a high-pressure pump. An alloy structure gives it a backbone and allows the helm or crew to sit out, and a freestanding carbon mast splits into four.

Keep in the locker or trailer sail – without the need for a trailer. Video here   

The 2018 models have been updated. They are now more streamlined, practical and comfortable. Hiking rack pads have been added to the accessories.

€5,490. tiwal.co.uk

39. Ino-Block Light

Christmas gift ideas: INO Block light

Three years ago Ino-Rope brought out its revolutionary lightweight textile IB blocks with working loads from 800kg to 6T. It has now launched a Light range that uses a soft connector as both axle and connector, resulting in a sturdy and affordable block for smaller applications, boats or dinghies. From €16.50 for the IB 0.6 for rope up to 8mm. inorope.com

40. Rick Tomlinson 2018 Portfolio Calendar

Christmas gift ideas: Rick Tomlinson calendar

As well as the usual great mix of pictures – which this year includes action from the Volvo Ocean Race, Cowes Week, Quarter Tonners as well as cruising the Swedish archipelago – this special 30th edition includes is a 30-year celebration spread featuring Rick's choice of one image from each of his past calendars.

£19.95 www.rick-tomlinson.com

  We can't promise any of these products will be delivered in time – but wish a HAPPY CHRISTMAS to all!

The post 40 great Christmas gift ideas for sailors – our pick of the very best kit appeared first on Yachting World.