Tool box:
Every yacht should carry a simple kit of tools with them. You can always make temporary repairs, and sometimes save yourself expense, worry and toil. Have a box for them where they can be easily got at. You don’t want fine tools, as they will soon be ruined by the dampness. The following is a list of what is necessary for a cruising boat:
- Hatchet,
- Monkey wrench,
- Small saw,
- Cold chisel,
- Brace and bits,
- Screw driver,
- Marline spike,
- Small vice,
- Wire nippers,
- Grommet set,
- Sail needle,
- Sail hook,
- Twine,
- Wax,
- Fid,
- Piece of sheet copper,
- Piece of sheet lead,
- Piece of sheet rubber,
- Copper tacks,
- Screws,
- Nails,
- Some galv. iron rod,
- Wire,
- Screw eyes.
Bos’n stores:
Don’t have more than two or three sizes of rope in your rig, if you can help it, and carry a spare coil of a few fathoms of each. Also, have spare fittings, so if anything carries away you can replace it. Here is a short list:
- Blocks,
- Shackles,
- Pins for same,
- Cleats,
- Rope,
- Marline,
- Hambroline,
- Canvas,
- Lacing,
- Paint,
- Varnish.
Pump:
Every yacht, no matter of what size, should have a good pump fitted to draw from the lowest part of the bilge. If a full-decked cabin boat, have the pump put in through the deck, and not through the cockpit floor. Builders like to put it in the latter place, as the work is easier. In consequence of its being there the dirty water is pumped into the pit and makes it wet and nasty. In an open centerboard boat put the pump at the after end of the trunk and pump into it. Keep the pump well clean. If you do not use the pump daily, to keep the leather on the sucker in good condition wrap it about with an oiled rag. A small portable pump is very useful to completely dry out the bilges.
Pumping:
If the boat has a leak, make it a practice to try the pump every morning before washing down. Keep the water out of her, so that when she heels down it won’t run up into the lockers and wet things. A good knockdown will distribute a few buckets of bilge water around a cabin in a way to make things damp for weeks to come.