Monday, June 22, 2015

So many hobbies, so much stuff!

A big challenge of being separated and alone again has been keeping myself busy, happy, and organized without someone else doing the planning. Also, without breaking the bank!

One of my favorite activities is sailing. Sounds expensive, right? But because I live in Maryland and work at a place with a sailing club it’s a cheap activity. It costs me $10 per person to rent the sailboat for a half day or $7.50 to participate in a regatta, aka a boat race. Gas is $15 if I drive alone. $25 isn’t bad for an entire day’s worth of fun.  

The hardest part has been making sure that I have all of my stuff ready for sailing. I can’t believe how much gear is involved! The first two times I went out this year I had to turn around and go back home because I forgot things. I ended up late to the marina both times. One of those times was the morning of a regatta. Not good!

My sailing instructor suggested a go-bag. It’s just a pre-packed bag. The idea is that when you get home from a day sailing you re-pack it so that you’re ready to go the next time. An important part of the go-bag is a list of all of the stuff that has to be added on the day-of. This way you really don’t forget anything. 


Here’s the waterproof card I keep in the bag. It tells me what needs to be in the bag at all times.

Here’s what all of the pre-packed stuff looks like.

On the morning of a sail I can use this card to know what to add. 
And since my glasses case isn’t big enough to fit my huge sunglasses, I store them in my sailing gloves. Instead of buying a new pair of sailing gloves ($25+) I just repurposed my old gardening gloves. The ropes on a boat can give you awful blisters so the gloves are a must!


If you’re like me and you’re always forgetting things on the way out the door, a go-bag works great. The bag just lives next to my door so that when I’m running out the door at 6:30 on a Saturday morning I don’t have to think!

Looking forward to another day out on the water.

How do you prepare your gear for hobbies you participate in often? 

3 comments:

  1. Great organisation there! The weather looks absolutely glorious in your final photo...it looks to be a great hobby if you can go out and enjoy the water,sun, sky etc.

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    1. thanks for stopping by, Maria! Yes, the weather has been lovely lately. I'm hoping to get more sailing in before the horrible DC heat and humidity show up in August.

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  2. Luckily all of my current hobbies are home-based, so I don't have to worry about leaving anything behind. Although we are working on becoming more organized in how we store garden tools, etc. It definitely becomes a hassle when you can't find what you need!

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