Christmas gifts

An ideal boat gift, whatever the vessel or weather. Get one to replace last year’s that got lost, stolen or just has never been in style. We love this Salty Dog beanie, for the nautical name, if nothing else.

Biased us? Well, maybe a little, but as Robin-Knox Johnston navigates us through being a sailor, a spy, an Indian boat builder and the first man to complete a single-handed, non-stop circumnavigation of the world, that doesn’t stop this from being a brilliant read, from the great man himself.

We haven’t met a sailor yet who didn’t enjoy a good bottle of rum and now you can measure it the old-fashioned way with these wonderful-looking yet practical copper naval half-gill tots.

Refuse to ever drink tap water again and in the same stroke, you will never have to lift your hand to cleaning the bottle again. This self-cleaning water bottle ‘The Larq Bottle Pure-Vis’ uses some clever tech to get rid of any nasty contaminates, keeping water filtered and your bottle fresh.

A practical present that might just be the perfect Christmas nautical gift to help a loved one stay in touch. This solar power bank will charge a mobile phone when out on the water (just add sun).

No Christmas stocking is complete without the obligatory pair of socks but take them to next level and make it dad’s best boat gift with this incredibly sensible waterproof pair.

It’s the best boat accessory that you hadn’t known you needed, until now, but help those heads with the poshest toilet scent around. Aesop post-poo drops make life onboard, just that little bit more civilised.

Lack of access to a decent cafe, shouldn’t mean people EVER have to live without bad coffee. We think this Ocean pack version of the portable espresso machine from handpresse should be in every galley.

If your sea lover is land-trapped then add a bit of boat décor to their office with this hand-illustrated map print of the shipping forecast areas of the UK.

A waterproof bag made from recycled sails would already be the best present under our tree but for real memory-making, they can even turn your old sail back into a bottle bag or storage bucket, for an incredibly personalised boat gift.

Don’t let the lack of space put you off, now there is no excuse not to knock up a gourmet meal when you have this cookbook on your shelf.