Nautical home decor makes a great gift for boaters, sailors, or anyone who loves the ocean!

One important thing to keep in mind with nautical home decor is that there are a lot of items out there that are better described as kitsch than home decor. Unless you’re genuinely going for that seafood restaurant look, think twice about pirate statues, plastic bullion treasure, fake coral, and the like. Instead, create a cozy yet elegant marine look by choosing decorations that evoke the elegance of classic vintage sailing yachts, or a 19th century lighthouse. Think back to a captain’s home by the harbor in a place like Nantucket or Gloucester. That’s the look that you’re going for!

Some excellent nautical home decorating gifts to look for include brass instruments, antique globes, salvaged parts from sailing vessels, and paintings of the sea. Look for high quality materials like brass and fine woods such as teak or mahogany. The details of high quality woodworking and other workmanship can make all the difference between a true work of art and a chinsy piece of kitsch.

My Favorite Nautical Home Decorating Ideas:

Scoured from nautical gifts stores across the interwebs, here are some of my favorite items for completing your nautical home decorating:

• Weems & Plath Gimballed Barometer and Clock
  Excellent for people who appreciate quality. Definitely a gift to impress!
• Nautical Chart Marble Clock
  For the person who enjoys nautical decor in the boater’s home or office, these clocks display a piece of the nautical chart from your favorite boating grounds.
• Traditional Weather Station
  Combines the beauty of traditional brass instruments with the practicality of always knowing when the weather is right for boating!
• Model Schooner
  A perfect gift for the lover of model ships.
• Brass Harbormaster Telescope
  As beautiful to look at as to look through!
• Ship’s Wheel
  A ship’s wheel makes the perfect gift for a pirate (or pirate at heart!)
• Nautical Bookends
  Fun nautical decor!
• Sailing Knots Wall Hanging
  What a fun way to learn sailing knots! Best gift for new sailors learning to sail, or anyone who likes nautical home decor.
• Antique style Desk Globe
  Sail the world, or give it as a gift!
• Galileo Thermometer and Barometer
  This is how they told the weather hundreds of years ago– and it was probably a lot more accurate than all that rubbish on the interwebs, too!
• Sea Witch Model Ship
  Who knew model ship gifts could be so cool?
• Ship’s Bell Clock
  Classy clock makes a great gift for boaters or anyone who appreciates nautical gifts or nautical home decor!
• Barometer and Comfortmeter
  For the boater who appreciates fine nautical instruments, there’s no better gift than the Weems & Plath Endurance Series.
• Handheld Brass Telescope
  A classy gift for the traditional mariner and nautical decor gift!
• Brass Sextant
  This beautiful brass sextant is equal parts work of art and nautical instrument.
• Antique Floor Globe
  A Globe that’s destined to sit in a library, a wood-paneled study, or a nautically-decorated home.
• Ship in a Bottle
  The classic nautical gift!
• Decorative Life Ring
  Nautical home decor makes a great gift idea for anyone who loves the sea!
• Fishing Net Decor
  Try draping this around your home and –voila– instant pirate’s booty!
• Model Square Rigger Wooden Ship
  Another great gift for a model ship builder.
• Personalized Message in a Bottle
  Personalized gifts for boaters make every occasion special!
• Pirate Kids’ Bed-in-a-Box
  Here’s a gift for kids who love pirates!
• Navigation Sextant
  Sextants are sexy!

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• Essential Gear for Learning to Sail Fast!

The thrill of sailing isn't as inaccessible as it might seem at first.

Looking to take the express lane to learning how to sail?

In the end, learning to sail is all about practice: just get out on the water and enjoy yourself, and eventually the technicalities of handling a sail under a variety of conditions will become second-nature, and you won’t have to think about the theory.

One of the enjoyable aspects of sailing is the incredible variety of skills and knowledge required: a master seaman must simultaneously be a skilled navigator, weather-forecaster, people manager, mechanic, electrician, plumber, and — last but certainly not least — sailor.

In order to accelerate and smooth out the often bumpy process of learning to sail fast and safely, there are a few goodies that I’ve found to be extremely helpful, both in my own learning process and that of friends who are also learning to sail. I wish I’d had all this learning to sail gear at the beginning; it would have made the process of learning sailing a whole lot easier!

Gift Ideas for Learning to Sail:

• Sailing Trim Book
  The most important thing for a sailor to master if they ever hope to be able to sail fast is the art of sail trim. And I say art because the science behind sail trim is so complex that even the experts can’t agree on what makes a boat go fastest. Authored by the editor of Sail magazine, Peter Nielsen really knows his stuff, and unlike similar books aimed primarily at racers, Nielsen’s book is applicable even for the cruiser or casual racer who doesn’t necessarily have a crew of 10 professionals on board. Great gift for sailing racers and cruisers alike.
• The Annapolis Book of Seamanship
  Interested in learning how to sail? Lesson #1: Buy this book! The Annapolis Book of Seamanship has been the standard learn how to sail book for over 25 years, thanks to clear concise explanations of just about everything you need to know in order to safely go to sea under wind power. Makes a great gift for a new boat owner or someone learning to sail!
• Mariner’s Weather Book
  Understanding the weather is the key to sailing safely, as well as making it to your destination in a timely manner. With weather becoming less and less predictable, you just can’t rely on a forecast obtained before you leave home. The only way to be safe is to be able to recognize when the weather is changine and be able to react accordingly. A great gift for any boaters hoping to do cruising or longer passages.
• Adlard Coles’ Heavy Weather Sailing
  This books is THE classic on sailing in heavy weather (storms and high winds) — going out to sea without having read a copy would just be irresponsible. Think of it this way: if you’re ever a guest on someone’s boat and get caught in a storm, you’re going to be wishing they had read this book. Give it to them now as a gift and you can rest easy!
• Storm Tactics
  Why two books on learning to survive storms? Because it’s what every sailor — new or experienced– worries about most, and one area where you really can’t learn too much. Larry and Lynne Pardey, authors of this book, have practiced what they preach on voyages through the Southern Ocean, some of the stormiest waters on the planet, and they’ve devised a system for comfortably and safely surviving even the worst of storms. Differs from the Adlard Coles book in its focus on the traditionalist method of heaving to in heavy weather.
• Sailing Knots Wall Hanging
  If you’re looking for a way to make learning to sail a bit more fun, maybe for kids or a “reluctant First Mate”, consider this fun Sailing Knots Wall Hanging as a sailing gift idea. Helpful for learning, but also just a cool decorative item — sure beats learning knots from a book!
• Boatowner’s Manual
  One of the most underlooked aspects of learning to be a safe and competent sailor is boat maintenance. The truth is, you’re going to be spending a lot of time making sure your boat is working smoothly, optimizing systems, and making repairs– sometimes even out at sea where you have only your own ingenuity and knowledge to rely upon. That’s where the Boatowner’s Manual comes in — as Sailing Magazine puts it, “This book should come standard issue with every new boat purchase.”
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  Explorer Motion Sickness Relief BandMany people have trouble with sea sickness when they’re starting out, and that can completely spoil the fun of learning to sail! Unfortunately, most sea sickness drugs are strong sedatives– meaning they put you to sleep! Finally, there’s a solution that’s FDA approved for preventing seasickness without drugs!
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  FastFind 210 GPS Personal Location BeaconSafety always makes for a great gift idea, and you can feel good about having made your loved ones safer. Personal Locator Beacons, or PLBs, connect with satellites anywhere in the world to pinpoint the location of a lost sailor or man overboard.
• Sailing Lessons in your Local Area
  A great place to start is by finding a certified sailing school that offers lessons in your local sailing area. There are two main organizations that provide standards for learning to sail in the US: the American Sailing Association (ASA), and US Sailing. The curricula are quite similar and you’ll do fine to choose sailing lessons from an ASA Sailing School or a US Sailing School. For most people the best place to start would be ASA 101 Basic Keelboat Sailing Class with the American Sailing Association, or US Sailing Basic Keelboat class with one of the US Sailing’s certified schools.
• 
  Small Craft Safety Bag
  Again, this gift idea is about making the new sailor safe! Putting together your emergency kit can take a considerable time and expense, and the new sailor might not know everything that should be included. Buy this kit and you have all of the safety essentials for a small boat in one convenient package!
• Navigation Sextant
  A Sextant is used for celestial navigation, finding your way by the sun, moon, and stars. Celestial navigation probably isn’t something you’re going to learn your first day on a boat, but it is an essential skill which every sailor must learn before attempting a longer voyage. Even in the era of GPS navigation, electronic systems can and do break, but the stars are always there to guide you!
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  The West Marine Gift Card
  Can’t think of what essential gear to get for learning to sail? Get them a West Marine gift card, and you’re pretty much guaranteed they’ll find the gear they’re looking for. West Marine is the sailor’s Mecca; they carry literally everything a boater might want or need, including all the essentials for learning to sail fast!

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  Men’s Billfish Boat Shoes
  A proper pair of boat shoes isn’t just about impressing your new-found Yachtie friends with your impeccable fashion sense. Rather, a good pair of boat shoes are an essential for all new sailors as they provide great traction on slippery wet fiberglass decks, all without marking the boat like normal shoes do!
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  Men’s Full Finger Sailing Glove
  
  Sailing gloves are probably one of the first purchases you’ll make when you’re learning to sail– they’re an essential for protecting your hands against the ropes and winches you’ll be cranking on all day long. A good pair of sailing gloves has plenty of padding where it counts (the palm and under-fingers), while still allowing dexterity for knot-tying and operating instruments. This pair from West Marine is a great place to start, and would make an excellent gift for anyone learning to sail.
  
  
  
  
  

More Essential Learning to Sail Gear?

What purchases would you recommend for beginning sailors or others looking to learn how to sail? Please share in the comment box below!

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Best of all, when you buy someone a nice gift for their new boat, you’re greatly increasing the likelihood that they’ll invite you out for a day on the water so you can see it in use!

Best Gifts for the New Boat Owner

To help get your gift search started off on the right foot, I’ve put together a list of recommended gifts for new boat owners. Although there are a ton of things that need to be added or replaced on a new boat, different boats generally require different gear, so in my list I’ve tried to stick to items that are universal — every boat owner should have these things, regardless of whether they own a 14-foot Hobie Cat sailing catamaran or a 72-foot fly bridge power boat. Finally, most of these are hot new items, so even experienced boaters are unlikely to have bought these for themselves already.

• The New Boat Owner’s Kit
  As the name implies, this kit includes all of the essentials that a new boat owner requires to take proper care of their expensive new toy. Don’t worry: cleaning one’s boat is generally not a chore like cleaning the house. Many boat owners treat their boat like a lover, and enjoy taking care of her and treating her nicely, so as long as that doesn’t make you too jealous , this gift will be much appreciated!
• Teak Logbook Cover Engraved with the Name of their Boat
  I was thrilled when I discovered these beautiful personalized logbook covers blanketed (like most boats) in elegant teak hardwood. In my opinion, something like this is the perfect gift: it’s not a purely functional item that someone is likely to have already bought for themselves, but it is beautiful, something that a boater is going to use every day, and — once engraved with the name of their boat — is sure to become a treasured possession. (For those less familiar with boating practice, a logbook is where one records the day’s events, like weather conditions, position, miles traveled, etc.)
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  Small Craft Safety Bag; #3118Let’s face it, safety is not always the first thing on your mind when you’re headed out to enjoy a day on the water. That’s why this bag is such a perfect gift for the new boater — just throw it in the boat, and you have all of your safety essentials on board. The folks at West Marine have made it so easy to be prepared for anything, there’s really no excuse!
• Navigation Sextant
  Sure, everyone has a GPS on board these days. But on boats, rule #1 is that things always break. You still need to be able to find your position if you lose power, or your GPS malfunctions, or you can’t connect to the satellites. That’s where a Sextant comes in. Sextants have been used for centuries to allow mariners to navigate at sea by the sun and stars. Using a precision mechanical instrument like this has an elegance to it that is sure to appeal to the traditionalist boater. And best of all, there’s nothing to break!
• Combination Fishfinder/ GPS Chartplotter
  OK, a confession: I’ve always been terrible at fishing. It always seemed to me that the old men had some mystical ability to find where the fish were biting that day. Fortunately for people like me, today technology can help even the playing field: a combination Fishfinder and Chartplotter shows you exactly where the fish are, and since it’s built into the chartplotter, you can easily and safely navigate to find your way there. A great gift for the new boat owner who loves to fish.
• Personalized Embroidered Crew Shirts
  After completing our first big voyage, my crew and I were feeling pretty good about ourselves, until we pulled into port and looked at the other crews. The big beautiful yachts didn’t just impress with their size — their crews also looked much more professional, every one with an embroidered crew shirt so you knew exactly what boat they were with even at the bar that evening. Now, even non-megayacht owners can also exude that same professionalism and strengthen crew bonding with these custom embroidered Crew Polo Shirts. It’s also a reasonably-priced gift: barely more expensive than a normal polo shirt!
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  FastFind 210 GPS Personal Location BeaconWhat could be more valuable than the gift of safety? If you read many ocean survival stories, you know that these days EPIRBs or Personal Locator Beacons often play a central role in enabling the “miracle” rescue that allows the sailor to survive. Every year these devices have been getting cheaper and cheaper while also getting smaller. Now it’s to the point where it’s reasonable for every man on board to have one strapped to his or her life jacket while on deck. This is important because when a person is lost overboard it’s usually in less than ideal conditions: storms, waves, pitch-dark, etc. It can only take a few seconds for the man overboard to be out of sight. If they are equipped with a PLB, rescue services can find them regardless of the conditions. IMO, that makes this a great gift for ever new boat owner!

Make your own suggestions for Gifts for New Boat Owners:

Have some ideas that you’d like to add to mine? Feel free to submit suggestions or comments using the box below, and I will add them to this post!

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Christmas is a wonderful time to indulge your nautical fancy!

For sailors and boaters and other fans of the marine environment, nautical items are much more than functional objects; they also provide a constant reminder of one’s passion for the sea, and the one-of-a-kind experiences they’ve shared there.

Choosing a Nautical Christmas Gift

Finding the perfect nautical Christmas gift is not always easy. There are an amazing array of nautical-themed gifts available, ranging from highly practical boating gear like GPS devices, safety equipment, or weather instruments, all the way to purely decorative nautical Christmas gifts like glass buoys, nautical charts, or vintage nautical goods.

Fortunately, if you follow my advice, choosing the perfect nautical Christmas gift is as easy as 1-2-3:

1. Does the recipient decorate their home with nautical-themed items? I’ve found people with nautical home decor enjoy evoking the traditional spirit of sailing and seamanship, so look for vintage or antique items, handcrafted artisanal pieces, and purely decorative nautical gifts. Anything that evokes sea or mariners is generally a good bet for such people, so you have a lot of choices!
2. Do they own a boat? Then you’re in luck! As in boat owner will tell you, boats are constantly in need of maintenance– replacing this, upgrading that — boat owners love to tinker, and for most of them their boat is as much a source of pride as it is a means of transportation. Any nautical christmas gift which helps them improve or repair their boat will be much appreciated!
3. Do they practice any water sports, like sailing, kayaking, fishing, canoeing, diving, water skiing, etc? Boating sports are very gear-intensive, so a great Christmas gift idea might be the latest gadget or equipment they need to further enjoy their passion. If you’re not familiar with the sport, no problem: see my lists of recommended gifts for each of these boating sports for some ideas of what the true water sports aficionados are into these days!

Nautical Christmas Gifts

• Ship’s Wheel
  Nothing evokes the seafaring days of yore like a wooden ship’s wheel. Alas, you won’t find many of these in use on today’s modern yacht, but the craftsmanship and aesthetic balance of an authentic solid hardwood ship’s wheel is sure to bring joy to the heart of the true mariner.
• Nautical Bookends
  This is an amazing deal on a very unique and fun decorative nautical gift. Even if you’re buying for someone who has every bit of boating gadgetry available, it’s unlikely they’ll have this. Subtle and elegant, it’s perfect for holding together that collection of sailing books!
• Antique style Desk Globe
  A globe means different things to different people. For a high school student, it might suggest the monotony of memorizing national capitols. But for a seafarer, a globe is the physical embodiment of the world waiting to be explored. With the touch of a finger, a sailor can retrace routes of adventures yet-to-be, and discover new paths between exotic destinations. A cool antique style globe like this one from Lenox also makes for a great decorative piece, and since it’s Lenox, you know that it’s going to maintain its quality for years to come!
• The Perfect Christmas Cards for a Boater
  “May this holiday season and the new year bring you joy and happiness” is written on the inside of the card, but it’s the charming image of a boater zooming to the festivities in a wooden chris craft loaded with presents and a Christmas tree that will really bring a smile to the face of your friends and loved ones. Definitely one of the coolest cards I’ve seen!
• Galileo Thermometer and Barometer
  My dad (a sailor, of course) had one of these thermometers perched on the mantelpiece, where with the rise and fall of colored balls, it would magically predict the temperature. Not just fun for kids, this very traditional weather station makes a great nautical Christmas gift for anyone who appreciates science and enjoys the beauty of a precision instrument that still works as well today as it did 400 years ago when Galileo invented it.
• Sailing World “Best of Dr. Crash” Calendar
  Sailing World, one of the popular sailing magazines, has a regular feature called “Dr. Crash” which each month shows one gravity-defying spectacular image of a beautiful yacht on the brink of disaster. Somewhat morbidly, it’s become on of the magazine’s most successful features, so much so that they turned it into a calendar. Particularly appealing for fans of racing — but also anyone who loves sailing — this gift will bring a smile every month of the year!
• Outside Inside Kayak Santa Ornament
  Outside Inside makes some really cool stuff, and their line of Christmas ornaments for outdoor sports lovers is one of my favorite. There are sets for fishing, kayaking, camping, canoeing, etc. What I like best is the solid feel of the ornaments– this isn’t cheap plastic, but a heavy-duty work of art that you can feel good about giving as a gift!
• Personalized Surfing Santa Ornament
  What could be cooler than a Surfing Santa decked out in tropical gear? How about a personalized Surfing Santa ornament that displays your family name or holiday message? Now that’s a cool gift!

Suggest a Nautical Christmas Gift!

What do you think readers? What is the best nautical gift you’ve ever received? Feel free to leave suggestions in the comment box below, and I’ll add your ideas to the list!

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