Gift shopping at a marine supply store - Christmas gift ideas

Sunset, Dec, 1991

WHETHER YOU OWN a boat or not, it's fun to browse in a marine supply or salvage store. Among the surprising variety of goods found at them, you may discover those unusual holiday gifts you've been searching the high seas for.

Most goods for marine use are made of long-lasting materials, including stainless steel, brass, bronze, and high-quality weatherproof cloth.

You'll find handsome brass wall clocks and barometers, antique-looking oil lamps, and durable all-weather items such as compasses, binoculars, and stainless steel barbecues. Other possible gift items include nautical books, soft canvas tool bags, woodworking tools, foul-weather clothing, and traditional cotton or wool sailing hats.

With a little imagination, you can invent new uses for many of the items you'll find. For instance, a watertight canvas bag works well as an ice-filled wine bucket; a bronze or stainless steel cleat makes an unusual door pull or towel holder; a brassrimmed porthole can be a tabletop or window; stainless steel wire can be used as deck railing; and heavy-duty marine line secured to a plastic boat fender makes a children's swing (see picture at lower left).

Marine salvage stores, filled with thousands of items pulled from salvaged ships or boats, are even more interesting to visit. Many offter functional finds whose attractive antique quality is simply decorative. You're likely to find piles of portholes, ships' wheels and china, Japanese fish floats, framed stateroom plans, telescopes, old lamps and lights, and teak railings.

Look in the telephone book yellow pages under Marine Equipment and Supplies. If you live far from the coast and don't find such listings locally, call telephone information for your nearest port city. Many stores have catalogs they can send you.