These are a Few of our Favorite Things

Looking for cool boat, travel, and boatschooling items? You're in the right spot!

Many of these are affiliate links to items we have purchased, used and recommend. We haven't placed anything on this page that we haven't tried out first. We do make a very small commission if you use our links - so help a boater out and check out what we love having on board!

Scroll through the categories: Clothing, Salon, Head, Galley, Electronics, Books, Health & Safety, Boatschooling, Tools & Maintenance and more!!

Clothing

Looking for Noeta, Noodle and Noggle merchandise? 

Click Here!

Get your Noodle Gear on our Merch store

Join the Noeta crew with your own shirt!

I got this red plaid coat at Steinmart, he had always wanted one, I finally got it for a Christmas gift. - you'd be surprised how many opportunities he has found to wear it!
Get your own here!

Love the red plaid coat Pat wore to the Film Festival? You too can have one!

Need a lightweight, strong easy-to-store suitcase to put those cool t-shirts and jacket in? We have a couple of these eBags backpack suitcases and they take up very little space. They count as carry-ons on airplanes and have multiple storage spaces. They come in a variety of colors too.

Salon

We love our octopus key, hat, lanyard hanger. It's in our salon and super cool looking. We even gave one to Mikayla to have in her home!

We love our day-of-the-week clock. If fact, it was one of the first things we bought when we knew we were selling the house and moving aboard. I'm amazed how much we actually use it. Each day even has a notch for noon - just in case you want to know when it's appropriate to have an afternoon cocktail.

We have these LED twinkle lights in our main salon, set to a soft white color. Hailey has colored ones in her room. They create an excellent vibe :) 

Head

This shampoo-conditioner-body wash dispenser was a great recommendation from MV Ohana Kai in Gig Harbor. Their boat came with this dispenser and as soon as I saw it, I knew we needed one. No more cluttered showers and bottles sliding around. We put one in our first Nordhavn. Then when we bought our second liveaboard, it was one of the first things I bought for it!

I know, I know, this is a weird one - but toilet paper and plumbing are big topics on boats! We really liked this Scott toilet paper. I bought a ton before we left the states. Just used the last roll :( Might just be worth shipping to Mexico. It is rapid dissolving and RV, boat and septic safe!

Galley

Many places in Mexico do not have potable water. It is common to buy water in 5 gallon jugs (garrafones) for drinking. Finding a way to dispense that water can be tricky. We tried a few different water pumps, but this one has held up the best.

This coffee press is stainless still and won't break like a glass one will. Using a water kettle and press uses less power and the coffee tastes better.

This kettle heats water fast and uses less power than using a microwave or coffee maker. Great for tea, coffee and even Ramen noodles!

These storage containers are strong, easy to clean and stack inside of each other. It's easy to find the right lid with the color coded system. I use them almost daily.

We got this Corelle dish set when we first moved aboard. It's chip and break resistant and non porous, so it's easy to clean. It comes in many patterns and colors and is microwave and freezer friendly. We've had ours for a few years now and even moved across country with it and not a single piece has chipped or broken. They are still as white today as they were 2 years ago.

I love my Instant Pot. It keeps the cook time less than a crockpot and doesn't heat up the boat. I have made cheesecakes, baked bread, cooked whole frozen chickens, browned groundbeef and bacon and made awesome lava cakes. There are great online resources for recipes and how to use it. It does take up some space, but it's worth it to me. No need for a separate crockpot, rice cooker or steamer.

This pressure cooker accessory set has everything you could possibly need for your Instant Pot. However, if you don't have much space, I would recommend getting at least the egg mold, a pan with removable sides and a silicon steamer basket. I use these items often.

If you have a pressure cooker, you may want to get an air fryer lid. This Mealthy lid crisps and fries without oil and without heating up the boat! We've made apple crisps and fries. We've crisped the top of a lasagna and toasted the top of a loaf of bread we made in the Instant pot. There are a ton of recipes online and in Facebook groups.

Electronics

This is an EXCELLENT underwater camera. We first discovered this when we were snorkeling the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. Our dive tour guide was using it and shared the photos with us. They were fabulous! It has been easy to use and is super durable. It has wifi, gps and even temperature capability and is waterproof to 50 feet.

This label maker has been great for our organization. You can get white on black or black on white labels (plus a dozen other colors) and different sizes. We label switches in the pilot house, storage containers and anything else that needs it!

Boat Books and Reference

Below are books we have purchased and found useful or interesting.

Voyaging With Kids gets my highest recommendation if you will be cruising with kids. It's the first one I ever read that made me believe we could cruise with kids. Plus, now we know the crew from SV Totem and they're really cool people :) 

I recommend this book (and his other books) if you have been to (or are heading to) the South Pacific. Very funny books!

Health & Safety

This motion sickness wristband is great! We have 2 of them (for Jack and I) and Jack swears by it. It is a drug free nausea reducer. 

• How It Works - When turned on, this Anti-Nausea band releases a specific pattern of pulses that stimulate a nerve under the skin called the median nerve. The pulses create a signal which pulses through the body's nervous system to the part of the brain that controls nausea, creating a rebalancing effect, normalizing nerve messages from the brain to the stomach and relieving the symptoms of motion sickness.

Skin Stapler is easier than trying to do sutures on a moving boat. These are one time use staples in the event that you can't get to medical care.

This is a cool gadget. The BiteAway reduces itching and swelling of insect bites. Hailey uses this a LOT! It uses heat to prevent and minimize itching and swelling. It's popular in Europe, but we had never seen one in the US.

Get it directly from their website: https://www.bite-away.com/en/index.html

And spare batteries to go with it are here.

I know these dog poop bags are a weird one to be in health and safety, so let me explain. We got this idea when we were on a fast moving catamaran off the coast of Australia and Jack got seasick. The tour operator gave him biodegradable bags to puke in. Being in a bathroom is an awful place to be in while seasick and leaning overboard just isn't safe. Soooo....he used these leakproof biodegradable bags and then they were tossed overboard. They are plant based and contain no plastic. We put many of them to use off the Washington-Oregon coast (before we discovered the wristband above). 

We bought this well stocked first aid kit and then added a few more items to it. Burns and lacerations are the most common injuries on boats, so we made sure to add extra burn cream, antibiotic ointment, iodine pads and sterile gauze pads.

This medical splint is moldable and can be cut with scissors. Yet it is strong enough to splint any bone in the body. We have never used it, so I can't give it a complete recommendation, but this one came highly rated.

We have a fire blanket in the galley and one in the pilot house. We have actually had to use one of these on land at our neighbor's house. It worked great and was easy to use. I think one of these is essential at least in the galley.

We haven't used this hull seal and hope never to do so. It is 10 inches and can cover irregular holes to stop/slow the flow of water. 

Sturdy emergency action guide and safety checklists. Excellent tabs to find sections quickly. 

Boat Schooling Resources

Chemistry
For high school chemistry we use Guest Hollow Kitchen Chemistry curriculum and that curriculum uses the following books. You could do chemistry with the following books with or without getting the Guest Hollow Kitchen Chemistry. The Dr. Joe book has been super interesting and the Culinary Reactions has us baking and cooking while learning the chemistry of it! The Elements book has all of the elements in beautiful photos, giving them real-world applications. It even comes with a pull out periodic chart!

Literature
Below I am sharing books that my kids (and I) are reading this year and that we recommend. Most of them are available in paperback, Kindle and Audiobook.



This is a guide for teaching literature through movies. While I am not using all of it, it has good movie suggestions and questions that can be used with other films that feature literature. 

Tools, Fittings & Boat Maintenance

This snap tool we used for our dinghy cover, canvas and even to make a snap to keep our fridge closed! Better yet, it shipped to Mexico - not all tools can be shipped internationally.

Protect your lines and boat finish with chafe guards.

Never Dull is amazing for polishing stainless and all metals. It is super easy to apply and works immediately on dirt and tarnish. It is a specially treated cotton wadding cloth with the cleaning polish already in it. Simply remove a piece of cotton from the can and start polishing. Jack cleaned all the stainless on the boat this summer and it looks great!

This 303 is excellent for UV protection. Spray it on canvas, vinyl, Plexiglas, carbon fiber, rubber, plastics and finished leather to prevent fading, aging and cracking.

Outside

Okay, this one was such a cool find! We first saw these bug repellant fans at a restaurant when we were cruising the ICW. It sat on our table and kept the flies away. We went right back to the boat and ordered 2! It doesn't move air like a fan does, but the silver dotted bands refract light and scares the bugs off. If your hand or other object gets in the soft blades, it simply stops and resumes again once the obstacle is moved. They operate on 2 AA batteries. Perfect for patios, the beach and cockpits!

These mesh screens are great when it's nice enough to have the doors open, but the flies, bees or mosquitos are out. We have them on 2 of our doors. You just walk through and they reconnect with strong magnets. They are simple to install with velcro. I needed to shorten 2 of them, but that was easy to do. They come in various sizes and are very sturdy. 

This fun hammock chair hangs off of our hoist. We can dangle over the water or just above the deck. It's perfect for sailboats and back decks. It's a sturdy canvas material and comes in multiple colors.

These outdoor waterproof lights are solar powered! There are 8 settings and come in multiple colors. Great for cockpits! Kind of like a Luci light string (which we also have and are cool), but this is 72 feet (and cheaper than Luci)!

These inflatable Luci lights are awesome. This one can even flicker like a candle (or just be a solid light). They just need the sun and stay lit for hours. Great for camping, boating and just on a deck or patio!

We have purchased 2 of these shade covers and may be getting another one for the bow. We have one covering our aft cockpit and one up on top of the boat, covering the dinghy and roof. We really believe it helps cool the boat. They come in lots of colors and sizes.

We love this collapsible cart! It is sturdy and comes in lots of colors. Ours was even used occasionally as a cat stroller.

We use this water filter on the hose to remove sediment, odor and bad taste from the dock water. Depending on where you are, you may need more than this (UV filters and water softeners) to make the water potable. But this is a good start. We replace ours every few months. Good for RVs too!

Who doesn't need a portable cornhole set! Use this on the beach, at the park or in the backyard. 

And Beach Bocce ball is a huge hit too! Includes a nice strong carrying case.

Cool floats for the DJI Mavic Pro. These will help us float the drone in an emergency and also for catching it by hand. Check them out.

Just a final edition, Heat Shrinkable 1/2 inch braided sleeves. Click Here. And 1/4 inch.