Bilge

opalcutter

opalcutter

Active Member
Joined
6 Jul 2006
Messages
52
Location
Northern Ireland
Visit site
Any of you lot ever tried geocaching (you use a gps to find things other people have hidden!) Well I've found an easier and lazier route to hidden treasure. You just buy an old boat and pump out the bildge. Ive found money, screwdrivers, spanners, jubilee clips and that's just below the engine. Who knows what goodies lurk under the oily water in the rest of the boat. Anybody else find anything interesting?
 
I know what is in my bilge - my favourite ratchet - dropped it in on Monday and have not been able to get it out yet. Odds are not looking good to getting it either.
 
I dropped my 17 mm spanner down into our (rather deep) bilge recently, between the aft end of the keel, and the aft end of the fuel tank (which is in the aft end of the long keel) - total length of this space about 10".
Doesnt help that the prop shaft tube is above it, which hinders access somewhat.
I have one of those long pincher grab thingies - fine for things in the tray under the engine, but cant get through the gap between shaft tube and hull.
Ah ha - brainwave - spanners are chrome plated steel, so magnetic.
Need a magnet.
Dont have one though. /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif
Dream wistfully of those rather expensive Sea Searcher magnets one reads about, that can lift phenomenal weights.
Talk about it with a friend. he suggests butchering an old hi-fi speaker to get the magnet out of it.
Good thinking Batman!
Adminster last rites to dysfunctional speaker, and lowered it down into the bilge on a piece of string (only just got through the gap between shaft log and hull), did a bit of fishing, and found a 17 mm spanner.
Ace! /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
There is still a wire brush down there though...... couldnt bring that up. Maybe it has rusted away....
 
the best 15mm spanner I have ever owned lurks in my starboard bilge. No amount of searching has helped, I have trawled magnets, forks, anything that should get a hold of it.

Though my worst loss was on a car, my last car as it happens, a fab 10mm socket which never hit the ground. It was one of those that grips the flats rather than a hex, really great tool. I think it is wedged above the exhaust manifold.

I am really clumsy with tools, it annoys the hell out of me.
 
What about the demon of local corrosion ?

I sailed on an aluminium racing boat umpteen decades ago. The owner was very concerned about items dropped into the bilge, and especially when someone let a purse fall into the water. Copper plus ally = panic.
 
yes it is amazing what goes down!on my atlanta the bilge,particularily towards the aft is nearly inaccessable.on one accassion,wearing averalls i lost approx.150euro however i thought it was lost by accidently putting the money in the "false"pocket and some lucky person finding it in the town.you can imagine my elation some time later when after managing to reverse myself under the cockpit sole,i found a"tool"invented by the previous owner for just such an occasion,found the money and plenty other little treasures as well.
 
Copper plus ally = panic.

Mercury's even more entertaining - it dissolves the aluminium, to make an amalgam which isn't protected by the layer of oxide that protects solid ally. As a result, the area grows little flowers of oxide until there's no more ally or you get rid of the mercury with a strong acid.

If you want revenge for crap service on a plane, tell the hostess as you get off that you broke a mercury thermometer on board.

At your own risk! I fear a sense of humour failure is highly likely...
 
You can buy small but very strong magnets on telescopic rods I bought one four years ago at a boot fare for £2 it extends to over 2 feet and collapses to the size of a pen the magnet is smaller than a 2p in diameter. I would not be without it on the boat but I never put it near the compass.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top