Face it: As much as boaters love their boats, most have their eyes open for something better. Even those who have their dream boat would love nothing more than to improve on perfection. But sometimes reality rears its ugly head and gets in the way of your plans, like when your annual raise turns out to be a munificent 3 percent. So, while maybe it's not in the cards to get a new boat this year or even make significant improvements, there are ways you can make your boating experience better - even if your entire boating budget resides in your kitchen's cookie jar. For as little as $1, you can make little improvements that will make a big difference.

Step Aside, Mr. Copperfield
So, what can you get for a lousy buck? Magic. Over time, many boats accumulate a collection of stains, scuff marks, rust streaks and mildew that has resisted all efforts to remove it. For only a dollar apiece, get a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser, wet it, and go to town removing all those blemishes you thought were hopelessly embedded. There's practically nothing it won't remove. The only cautionary note is to try it first in an inconspicuous place, because it can scratch highly polished surfaces. It's the best dollar you'll ever spend.

Be Cool Like Fonzie
When the sun is pounding on you during the canine-panting days of summer, all you want is a little shade, but bimini tops can be expensive - or, if you have a fishing boat, you may not want the interference with your casting. Enter the humble umbrella. You can chill out with the Reel Shade Boat Umbrella ($29.99), which affixes to the back of your fishing seat and provides more effective coverage from the sun or rain than a T-top, which can cost thousands of dollars. For a larger canopy to use when at rest or going slow, get a picnic table umbrella for around $25, and use your cockpit table base or bass boat fishing seat pedestal in conjunction with a section of PVC pipe to mount
it. Then secure it with fishing line from the end of the umbrella's ribs to your cleats. It's functional, colorful and cheap. What more could you ask for?

Stick 'Em Up ... Or Down
There are two products from SeaDek Marine Products (www.seadekstore.com) that deliver a great bang-for-the-buck for less than $106 each (OK, we went over the budget by $6, so skip that next Quarter Pounder meal, and we'll call it even). The first item is its non-skid flooring kit ($105.81), which gives you five 18-inch-by-38-inch sections that you cut to fit and install using peel-and-stick technology to affix them to the deck, swim platform or on top of your gunwales. The non-skid flooring sections even come in eight colors, ranging from sea foam green to camouflage. As a bonus, they're slightly padded to reduce leg fatigue, they look great, reduce noise on fishing boats, and keep you and your guests from slipping.

Another noteworthy product is a pair of cushy 37-inch combing bolsters ($69), which attach to the side of your gunwales using the same stick-um method as the non-skid flooring. You'll be glad to have them the next time you're leaning against your gunwale in choppy water as you muscle a fish off the bottom.

Waterborne Dinner Delivery
Have you ever envied other boaters who own large cruisers equipped with a galley and can prepare meals on board? Well, if it floats and has batteries, you can do the same - even if your boat is an 18-foot bowrider. Of course you can get a barbecue grill, but some folks with small boats are a bit leery of open flames, since they're more prone to rocking when guests move about the cabin, or when that cruiser you were previously admiring comes lumbering by half on plane. You have other cooking choices, like the MarinePro 12-volt Portable Oven and Pizzeria ($39.99), or for grilling sandwiches; you can select the George Foreman-like Koolatron Drive "N" Grill ($29.99). You can also go another route by preparing your meals in advance and keeping them hot for hours in the 32-quart, 12-volt Koolatron Portable Food Cooler/Warmer Chest ($99.99), which can keep contents cooled to 40 degrees or heated to 125 degrees. Even if you don't want to eat meals on board, who wouldn't want a frosty smoothie in July when the temperature soars to near triple digits? Just get a MarinePro 12-volt Blender. What if you don't have a 12-volt plug (formerly known as the cigarette-lighter outlet)? You can simply clip the Vector Cigarette Lighter Adapter ($9.99) directly to your battery. Note: If you use 12-volt appliances, you need two batteries, and you should switch your battery selector to the "one-battery" setting, unless you've also invested in jumper cables ($24.95).

Suckered Into Fishing
On your next sunset cruise (or when you're stuck idling in a no-wake zone longer than the county line), you can liven things up with the addition of one small item. A lot of pleasure boats - like cruisers and bowriders - don't have rod holders, but even if you aren't a serious angler, while you're puttering along at a slow speed, you could be trolling
a Rapala plug and maybe hook a big one. The easy solution to the no-rod-holder problem is to get a SeaSucker stainless-steel rod holder ($89.99) and install it out of the way, on the outside of your transom with a couple of pumps of the vacuum device that's built in. If you can find a fish big enough to unstick it, then as Chief Brody in Jaws said, "You're gonna need a bigger boat." Now who wants sashimi?

Sitting Pretty
This may be hard to swallow, but - just maybe - the best boating investment you'll ever make is to spend $12.99 on one of those ubiquitous, square, blue floatation cushions. Huh? Harrumph if you must, but it's true. Although their usual purpose is to create a soft place to sit, while providing the additional benefit of having a flotation device handy if you need to toss one, they have another recreational use that many people don't know about - when you sit on one while it's on the water, it makes a killer submersible chair that's relaxing to sit on. Most adults will sink about chest-high, and although you might think it would be as precarious as riding a unicycle, it's surprisingly stable after you practice for about five minutes (it's better to have one of the corners facing forward). A nice feature is that your hands are free so you can hold onto a beverage while you lounge around the water by your boat. It's really a hoot to get a group of people together who have never done this before and sit in a circle, comfortably submerged while socializing. When you need to move, you can just paddle around with your hands. So if this year's boat improvement budget is less than you spend annually on golf tees, don't despair, because you don't have to spend big to live large.