What’s in your dry bag?

Our FAQ gives some ideas of special equipment and clothing that you need for an afternoon on the water in an American 18. You may have noticed that a lot of folks also bring a “dry bag” with them. So what’s in your dry bag?

Here’s some of the stuff I usually carry:

• Whistle tethered to my life jacket
• Small collection of ring dings, miniature versions of the rings you’d find on a keychain. Also called split rings or cotter rings
• White electrical tape for taping the ring dings, also known as “mousing”
• A softshackle
• Leatherman multitool, for the unexpected fouled line or stubborn shackle
• Small length of paracord, you’d be surprised how often a quick tie-down can save the afternoon
• Small collection of zip ties
• Telltale material (yarn or 1/4” magnetic tape from an old audio cassette) that you can attach to the shrouds (with electrical tape)
• Accumulated junk that I try to tidy up every now and then

BTW, try to use a brightly colored dry bag (yellow or orange), a black bag is impossible to find in the water or under the gunwales.