Boat Jobs You Don't want to do Again

[fisherman]

When Tim Severin crossed the N Atlantic in a leather boat (The Brendan Voyage) , one of them had to hang over the side hands underwater to push the needle through for a repair, amongst the ice. He mentioned he wouldn't want to do it again.

 

[Laysula]

When Tim Severin crossed the N Atlantic in a leather boat (The Brendan Voyage) , one of them had to hang over the side hands underwater to push the needle through for a repair, amongst the ice. He mentioned he wouldn't want to do it again.

Great book.

 

[thinwater]

One of the greatest assets a sailor can process is a selective memory. I try to remember nice days and usable lessons, and forget miserable jobs.

A valuable life skill.

 

[westhinder]

One of the greatest assets a sailor can process is a selective memory. I try to remember nice days and usable lessons, and forget miserable jobs.

A valuable life skill.

Don’t we all have that?

 

[ChromeDome]

Don’t we all have that?

Yes.
But also scars, bruises, aching joints and muscles, sore lower back and memories of dripping blood (mine!) that remind you of the realities. ?

 

[mjcoon]

One of the greatest assets a sailor can process is a selective memory. I try to remember nice days and usable lessons, and forget miserable jobs.

A valuable life skill.

I've heard that women are the same about parturition!

 

[michael_w]

Repairing a failed Selden Furlex 1,000 miles out into the Atlantic. Rigged an umbrella under the bows in the vain hope that it would catch any bits I managed to drop.

 

[Stemar]

I've heard that women are the same about parturition!

We all agree that the jobs listed here are far worse than that!

Keep your hair on, Shan - I'm joking. I was present for the birth of all my kids

 

[Lightwave395]

I bought a J44 back in 1998, it had a holding tank right up in the stern and very difficult to get at (not that you'd want to get near it I guess)

Bad news was that it was a flexible tank, it was full and it wouldn't pump out, I decided it had to come out.

A good (and brave) mate and I spent a day getting to it we managed to disconnect it while passing a giant rubble sack we'd made over it as best we could.
Our technique worked moderately well but not perfectly, having finally detached it and got it through the boat and out we both threw our overalls and gloves away and cleaned everywhere with bleach but the smell lived with him, the boat and me for weeks

 

[westhinder]

Repairing a failed Selden Furlex 1,000 miles out into the Atlantic. Rigged an umbrella under the bows in the vain hope that it would catch any bits I managed to drop.

Respect for your foresight and preparation! I wouldn’t include an umbrella in my list of things to take with me across an ocean.

 

[LittleSister]

All of this thread has quite put me off buying an old boat?

You lily-livered, er, thing.

Don't you know such endeavours are character forming? (I offer you the Forum membership as evidence! )

 

[Wansworth]

You lily-livered, er, thing.

Don't you know such endeavours are character forming? (I offer you the Forum membership as evidence! )

I do t know how much my charachter can be deformed by sagging cabin lining or bulkheads adrift in dark corners???

 

[Topcat47]

Cleaning out the fuel tank and system after another dose of the dreaded BUG.

 

[diverd]

After numerous boats and every conceivable job, simply changing the batteries and then checking they were working properly got me good. Apart from being hunched over a deep locker with heavy batteries and a bad back, testing they were charging went a tad wrong, when my thumb got caught in the alternator belt and lubricated it with a fine red mess of blood!
2 surgeries, 6 hours in total i now have 40% movement back in it, and its sore on cold days. First day back on board i fitted a NASA battery monitor, and duel battery volt meter guages! Now nothing bad can happen!

 

[anoccasionalyachtsman]

I'd never hurt myself with a cockpit locker lid, never seen anyone else do it, but the kids were little and I thought it would be A Good Thing if I fitted a gas spring to it. I can't remember how I calculated the geometry, but having got the bottom end mounted it was time to check that my sums were right about where the top should attach to the underside of the lid. Nylon end fitting, slippery grp. Yes, of course it slipped. I've now hurt myself with a locker lid. Quite badly. Twice.

 

[tudorsailor]

Yesterday's one was refitting the windlass on my own.

It's a vertical shaft job, with the motor and gearbox below the deck, so I had to align the shaft and persuade it that it really does want to go in, then lift it further to get the nuts on the bolts, This involved reaching into the chain locker (cat, so it's shallow - no chance of climbing in) and lifting with one hand. while I fiddle with the other. Not going to happen - the motor assembly is around 15kg, and I'm not going to win World's Strongest Man any day soon. I eventually managed to do it with wood blocks and a lever, but what I nightmare. Hindsight's a wonderful thing - I should have cleaned up the threads on the studs with a die; it would have meant I could wind the nuts on by hand instead of having to use a spanner 1/6-1/3 of a turn at a time.

Too knackered to do the wiring afterwards, but that'll be simple by comparison.

What's your nightmare job?

Been there done that etc

Just in case you have to do this again........... How about marking the two sides of the join with a marker pen to guide the alignment before you take the motor off. I have bought a small bottle jack so that I can gently raise the motor and gear box back into place next time
TS

 

[Frogmogman]

Respect for your foresight and preparation! I wouldn’t include an umbrella in my list of things to take with me across an ocean.

….thus disproving the old saw about bicycles, umbrellas, and Naval Officers.

 

[penfold]

Anything to do with boat windows, especially if there are interscrews involved.

 

[Stemar]

Been there done that etc

Just in case you have to do this again........... How about marking the two sides of the join with a marker pen to guide the alignment before you take the motor off. I have bought a small bottle jack so that I can gently raise the motor and gear box back into place next time
TS

The hard bit was to get the shaft aligned with it's hole in the gearbox. Once that was done, it was "just" a matter of getting the key to line up and lift it into place. It probably wouldn't have been too bad at 20, or even 50, but I've just turned 71 and had open heart surgery a few years back.

Actually, make the job I don't want to do again the whole process of fettling a boat that's had little in the way of maintenance in the last 10 years. I've come home practically on my knees most days in the last week!

 

[mjcoon]

Anything to do with boat windows, especially if there are interscrews involved.

Never heard of them. When wikipedia offered the alternative name of "sex bolt" I had to look them up...