Depends on your age and boat usage
A lot of this depends upon you age and physical condition, whether you day sail or cruise, and how much crew is normally aboard. Also, some of the things listed are not really necessities. My dodger has been folded down for over a year. I know it keeps crud off of you, but it also can be hard to see out of, if covered with salt spray. For me, as I near the 72yo mark, roller furling head sail is a necessity, keeping me off the foredeck. As I frequently single hand, for longer distances, an auto pilot also fits into that category. A second anchor is something that in my opinion only a fool would leave shore without. And last but not least, charts for the area your planning on being in. For me, those are the only absolutely have to have items on board. Everything else is gravy. I have a hot water heater, which I do not use, and have disconnected. My reasoning is that if I have hot water, I'm going to take long hot showers. When out and anchored in a pristine and remote location where water is not available, long hot showers result in having no water. So a small solar shower bag works well. Also for me, a chartplotter is very nice to have, but not an item that is absolutely necessary. While I can navigate from paper charts, as a general rule it is much simpler and less time consuming to use the chartplotter, as long as you keep constant notes as to your location, and are aware of the limitations. I am constantly amazed at some who think that they cannot sail a boat without every bell and whistle known to man, and I suspect that some of these spend much more time sitting at the dock, wishing for another gadget so they could go out sailing for a day or two.
