Pete -
This thread is extremely helpful for figuring out things you might want to have on hand:
https://www.hobiecat.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=71&t=54281&p=252960&hilit=bilge+pump#p252960Remember my former reference to stupid rookie mistakes? My daughter and I opened the drain plug in the back of the boat last time we had it out and it was still "piddling" from the back of the trailer so we left it open. Guess what we forgot to do when we took it out yesterday? Let it suffice to say that the mast cup wasn't the only way our new hand bilge pump came in handy -- as did our new dry bag! But even with all the water we took in, we sailed for a couple hours and returned back to the club safely before we even knew we had a problem! What an awesome little boat!
We put a leash at the bow eye to help us pull the boat around the launch bay -- but then the leash was dragging in the water. I'm going to take a lesson from someone else on the forum and install a shackle in the bow eye so that we can clip the leash on and off the larger shackle with a spring clip. We put leashes on our paddles, too; the first few times we went out, we didn't understand how to stow the paddles and didn't think we needed them. It only took us once or twice to get pushed up against the beach or the dock to recognize the benefit of being able to use a paddle to push out, or to help steer in super shallow water with the rudder up.
These forums are packed with good ideas, and it makes the boat more fun to figure out what will work for us and make it our own.
~cfw