Floating rebuild question #2

[One Way David]

Next question. Tim has posted the tool collection for Glissando (Thank you Tim) here

http://www.triton381.com/sailing/equipm ... ttools.htm

But lets say you bought a boat half way across the country (easy for someone in Kansas to do) and planned to fly out and sail back (to Galveston not Kansas). You have to check your tote of tools (I guess you could UPS them), can't carry anything the TSA people will object to and be reasonably prepared for those supprises that come at you fast. On this question, I'm not talking about a refit of the whole boat. That comes once we get to Galveston. What would you include in this portable first time tool kit?

A specific question for Tim, should he meander by here, in the above post you show that Husky socket set. How much have you used it? Have you used enough of the variety of tools in it to justify the whole kit versus just the tools that fit stuff on the boat?

Dave.

[Tim]

But lets say you bought a boat half way across the country (easy for someone in Kansas to do) and planned to fly out and sail back (to Galveston not Kansas). You have to check your tote of tools (I guess you could UPS them), can't carry anything the TSA people will object to and be reasonably prepared for those supprises that come at you fast. On this question, I'm not talking about a refit of the whole boat. That comes once we get to Galveston. What would you include in this portable first time tool kit?

Why not buy what you need locally once you get to where the boat is? That saves the annoyances of flying or shipping them. Of course this assumes you have the time to do so, and that there are stores nearby where you could obtain them.

I'd choose UPS any day over checking stuff like that. Trackable, insurable, reliable, and reasonable.

What would I include? Everything I possibly could, but at a minimum you'd want a full set of flat and phillips screwdrivers, vice grips in a couple sizes, adjustable wrenches and pliers of various types, a hammer or mallet, and anything specific to whatever equipment is on the boat that might need servicing; there are always specific things needed on one boat that aren't needed on another, so you'd have to determine this individually.

Sockets and open/box end wrenches are nicer than fussing with adjustables, if you have the room, budget, and inclination for what might be a temporary tool set. I need, or might need, just about everything I listed in the post you reference, and a fresh delivery on a new-to-you boat in strange waters is when you're probably most likely to need more rather than fewer tools. I'd want everything possible for every contingency.

A specific question for Tim, should he meander by here, in the above post you show that Husky socket set. How much have you used it? Have you used enough of the variety of tools in it to justify the whole kit versus just the tools that fit stuff on the boat?

The annoying thing about socket/wrench sets is that some marketer decides which sizes to eliminate from the set to keep the price point at whatever the seller requires. This seems particularly true with the metric side of the tool set, where the sizes often jump from, say, 13mm to 15mm for some inexplicable reason. Inevitably, it's the 14mm wrench you need. This happens with irritating regularity, despite all attempts to fill in such gaps with individual tools along the way.

I wouldn't be without a reasonably complete wrench and socket kit. Yes, there are numerous pieces in that particular kit that I've never touched, as those particular sizes don't occur on my boat. But one never knows, and given the propensity for never having the right size, I'd always prefer to stack the deck in my favor. Overall, I think that kit has been a good addition to the onboard tools. I use certain pieces frequently, and I also like the fact that maybe someday, I'll have the wrench or socket that someone else needs at any given moment.

Despite having about 13 or 17 (or whatever) more or less complete tool sets located wherever I might feel I need tools, I never seem to have the right thing at the right time and place; it's always on the shop floor when I'm in a boat, or at home when I'm onboard my own boat. Only by realizing what you don't have to you realize what you truly need. Filling in the gaps is a never-ending process, at least till you truly get to know your boat and the equipment you need attend to.

[Quetzalsailor]

The first time I went to Europe, in 1976, I carried my pocket knife in my pocket, clothes in a back pack, a gym bag full of mechanics tools and the book, 'How to Keep Your Volkswagen Alive, a Manual for the Compleat Idiot'. I got the tools through customs at Le Bourget, no problem, but had to muster all my French to say, "deux pouces et midi"; the knife blade was less than the then legal 2 1/2".

I bought a VW van, and I ended up pulling the engine twice, once for a new head and lapping valves and the other for a broken bit in the transmission. Metric wrenches and sockets, screwdrivers, volt-ohmmeter, hammer, small cold chisels, pliers, wirecutters. The usual. I did shave, though.

[Duncan]

...but had to muster all my French to say, "deux pouces et midi"; the knife blade was less than the then legal 2 1/2"....

No wonder - "deux pouces et midi" is not only the wrong way to say "dix centimetres", it also translates as "two inches and noon"! (I think you meant "deux pouces et demi").

I make people laugh playing golf, because I always want to say "vierges" instead of "verges". One means yards and the other means virgins.

[Quetzalsailor]

I surely don't remember whether I actually was correct then. It is barely possible.

My (only) triumph in using French came after having arrived on a Quebec Air flight from Montreal with a planeful of Quebecois on a record-breaking, for Europe, hot day. 2 July, 1976, was 100 deg F, no big deal for North Americans, but hot enough to disrupt train travel and send Parisians home, closing ground transport services. A short fellow in a uniform and a red kepi stood on a little stool and explained to our planeload, in lovely Parisian French, what the situation was and how we would have to deal with it, basically a special bus from Le Bourget to a train station (Gare du Nord?) from which we could find alternate transport. When he was finished, a passenger tapped me on the shoulder and asked 'What did he say?'. I told him in English and he turned to his compatriots and told them in Quebecois. That's the difference between the 17c French spoken in Quebec, and Parisian French.

[One Way David]

Thank you Tim and Quetzalsailor.

I never seem to have the right thing at the right time and place; it's always on the shop floor when I'm in a boat, or at home when I'm onboard my own boat.

And I thought that only happened to me on the farm. I have the barn, the shop and the garage with tools at each and never the right one.

Purchase locally might be the route to go. Justified as adding to the boats inventory. I don't think one could be too far from a Sears or big box store anywhere in the US.

[Triton 53]

One thought on tools on the boat:

I have my good tools on the boat but I also have a cheep pair of plyers and a
"fit-all" to take on deck, so I can wave bye-bye instead of saying "Oh S#!T" when
they go overboard.

Pete

[Zach]

Surveys are cheap over the cost of boat ownership to find out stuff you might not otherwise notice.

Sockets and wrenches as said...

Good flash light. Preferably one you can strap to your head.
Good volt meter.
Roll of stranded wire.
Heat shrink butt connectors.
4 Alligator clips
Wire crimpers
Pencil with good erasor for cleaning contacts. Add some sandpaper to the mix.
Electrical tape... Cut your loose rope tails and they don't unwind...

Two files: One flat mill file, one round chainsaw file. Good for fixing past goofups and patches that might have worked for day sailing but will wallow to failure, like the gooseneck of your boom needing a larger size bolt, or the side of your tillerhead needing the same... Also good for cleaning up the burrs on your boom, since the last time someone rigged a reefing system was 1980... and the broken cleat is going to rip a hole in your sail the first time you do...

Pipe wrench.

Tube or two of 5200, a few pieces of marine plywood in varying sizes for just incase occasions, even if it is something as mundane as a breaking a cleat on one of the hatches in your cabin sole.
Tube of boat life... (Very tempting to fix that leak on your bunk with whatever goo you can find...)
I needed a tube of boat life, as with the boat loaded she started taking on water on the starboard tack. The bilge pump outlet was on the counter, and above the water unless it was blowing hard. Didn't have any sealant on it....

If the sails suck, I'd bring a jar of contact cement and some new sail cloth. Permanent patch that has a little stretch, ugly though! If they are Ok... spring for some sail tape.

I'd bring a heavy enough hammer to make shoddy crimp connections on heavy lugs. Lugs are cheap, but if the end of your cables are corroded... an expensive one to get patched up properly if you don't know who is going to charge you an arm and a leg for the parts. A rock and a mini-sledge will at least get you back operational till you can have someone crimp them properly.

Mask and snorkel. See if she has all of her rudder intact before you leave. Also helps if you shear a key inside the transmission and the water is nasty...

Bring good high quality anchor shackles if you can find locally some US made crosbys... or can order online and get them in your hands before you hit the road. They are expensive unless you find a shop that deals with fishing trawlers... More than likely if you've got anchor gear it is real poorly put together. On an unknown boat, like an unknown VW Bus... ya gotta check to see if you have brake calipers when you buy them. True story... bought an old bus, took off the front wheels and had no brake calipers. Also pulled an anchor out of the locker and saw that it had three half hitches... on a falling tide, when my engine quit with no wind. A round turn with a hitch looped through the turn, followed by two half hitches makes an anchor bend. Three half hitches makes a boat on the rocks...

Also one of the first things I study, are the halyard shackles. If it takes a wrench to turn them, either file a bit or replace them! It also sucks to tame a headsail with a 4 ounce snap shackle on the sheets, as one of those thoughts to tie two bowlines facing themselves was on the test sail... and its not until its blowing a stink that you decide you should have done it sooner. It also sucks on an unknown boat, to have a shackle that won't release under load or your tack shackle backs off since its original to the boat... and sends your headsail up the forestay while you are short tacking. Bring WD40 for the sail hanks, and a can of slide lube for the main sail track. If you are single handing it sucks doing circles at dark dropping sail and anchor in unknown waters...

I also consider knocking in some new chain plate bolts if they are the original bronze ones... The tabbing was the only thing holding mine together, the bolts were swiss cheese. Chainplates themselves OK... No plywood, just potting soil inside the tabs. Given the gravity of the project you talk about in question one it seems like you are going in for a Project boat, and not so much spending the cheese for a shiny penny to expect everything to be on the up and up...

Zach

[One Way David]

Everybody, thanks for the thoughts

Zach;

Mask and snorkel. Wasn't even in my dreams but means that if I bought a boat in the water I would have missed half the inspection. Duh!

Pipe wrench? I've always thought of these as good for galv-black pipe plumbing (not on a boat) or torquing the heck out of something your going to trash or that doesn't matter how bad you gouge it. I hadn't thought of it being useful on a boat. Prop shaft, engine?

Project boat? Yes and no. The degree of which is yet to be determined. While I recognize that others are perfectly capable of doing what I can do, I just hate to let go of the control. I'm told they make medicine for that. Floating rebuild question #3 will detail the project more.

Dave.

[Zach]

Pipe wrench has a deeper throat than a crescent wrench. Good for tightening up skin fittings, through hull nuts and other stuff. Also good for breaking free stuck seacocks, and other stuff that doesn't necessarily have flat lands. A cheapo aluminum one also means you can hack saw the handle and get into tighter places, where you might not have a cut off wheel on a mini grinder to want to cut up your nice wrenches to get in the same spot.

Another is the shaft packing gland. Not so much for the nut, but for holding the body while you try to break the nut loose. It's going to mark something up, but will grab hold of the nut you already stripped. Vice grips go in the same category, use the real tool first. If that doesn't work it's already to far gone to reuse, so grab something known to destroy.

Cheers,

Zach