Yachting Monthly — November 2017

MONTH 2017 http://www.yachtingmonthly.com 77

BOATS & EQUIPMENT

The YM team test two must-have yachting accessories: a set of dry bags and a dehumidifier

Lightweight dry bags have a surprising number of uses on board,

as Theo Stocker discovers

Price £33.99 Contact Lifeventure Te l 0118 981 1433 Web http://www.lifeventure.com

These bags do

everything they

claim to. On four

days afloat in

Holland, they kept my kit bag

tidy and my electronics safe.

They survived a dunking in a Dutch

canal and kept significant weight

afloat. Time will tell how long

they remain 100% waterproof for.

A plastic bag would be cheaper

but less secure, and these bags

made a real, if small, difference to

keeping my kit safe and organised.

PROS

■   Good range of sizes

■   Totally waterproof

■   Nice design features

CONS

■   More expensive than plastic bags

■   Light fabric might wear out

our VErDICT

9/10

RATING

A

dry bag is useful for pretty much

any trip afloat, from separating

clothing in a big holdall so you

know where to find your clean

underwear to keeping your electronics

secure and dry in a damp locker.

Good news then, that travel company

Lifeventure have released a set of three

super lightweight, watertight, airtight

dry bags. Weighing no more than 60g

for the largest, the three bags have

capacities of 5, 10 and 25 litres.

Made of Ripstop Cordura fabric with

a siliconised finish on the outside and

PU coating on the inside, we found them

to be totally waterproof. Just make sure

you’ve rolled the top down three times

to ensure a good seal. They should be

pretty wear resistant too – taped seams

keep leaks at bay and the roll-top with

click buckle doubles as a handle. There’s

also a handy loop sewn to the base.

Photos: theo stocker/YM

Lifeventure dry bags

Meaco's new Zambezi dehumidifier

is named after an elephant, and

it's white. Thankfully, it's not a

white elephant, as Graham Snook

finds out

Price From £249.99 Contact Meaco Tel 01483 234900 Web http://www.meaco.com

A desiccant

dehumidifier, the

Zambezi will work all

year round. It has a

long flexible drain hose as well as

the reservoir container in its base.

There's also a built-in timer, an

ioniser to remove germs from the

air and it has a memory function,

so it remembers the setting before

any interruption in power.

PROS

■   Low power use

■   Keeps cushions mould free

■   Customisable with advance

functions

CONS

■   Quite large

our VErDICT

9/10

RATING

W

inter is coming, and with it

comes cold, condensation,

damp and mould. For many

years now I’ve extolled the

virtues of dehumidifiers, whether using

them for sailing in winter to rid the

windows of overnight condensation,

drying laundry on an extended cruise

or keeping the boat free from mould-

inducing moisture in the cooler months.

When my eight-year-old dehumidifier

died, I replaced it with a Zambezi.

Named after an orphaned elephant,

cartoons of him can be found both on

the outside and on the clear illuminated

display – a happy Zambezi means the

dehumidifier is working, a sad Zambezi

means the humidity is low enough for

the unit to switch off.

Setting up is a bit of a faff but once

I got the hang of the keypad, it was easy

to adjust the desired humidity, timer, fan

speed and angle. A louvre opens and

closes on top, plus there are fins inside

so you can direct the air coming out.

If the humidity levels are low, the unit

shuts down, waking occasionally to run

the fan and check humidity levels again.

Photos: GrahaM-snook.coM

Meaco Zambezi DD8L dehumidifier