Ever got rid of something and then found what it's for?

[mdonnelly]

Following on from the reader to reader forum where somebody found an item unknown to him but advised to keep. When I bought my first boat , a Leisure 17, there was a handle with a bright yellow ball on the end. For months it was a mystery and in a pique of frustration threw it overboard. Several months later joined the Leisure owners association and got an original brochure. That's when I discovered the boom reefing......was never able to use it ;-))

 

[Uricanejack]

Yes I have. very frustrating. Usually I take the more cautious aproach of putting it in "a safe place". Unfortunatly when I find out what it is i have usually forgotten where the "safe place" was.

I also run into the problem of having bits left over after I have been working on anything mechanical.

 

[Topcat47]

Yes, it took me ten years to work out what a funny bit left on my boat by the previous owner did. Then another five to find it in the shed where I"d put it for safe keeping.

 

[Fantasie 19]

Home made anchor ball and motoring cone - new to sailing and didn't have CLUE what they were for... straight in the skip.... did Day Skipper that winter and had an "ah!!" moment...

 

[Terra-Loon]

When I bought my boat I had no idea what anything was. Going through a stack of cables with the broker I came across what looked like a very weedy looking shore power lead. "Bung that" said the broker, as it didn't look like it would be man enough to handle 30 amps.

It turned out to be the connecting lead from the auto pilot to the display head. I still haven't managed to source a replacement.

 

[Seajet]

When I bought a cruiser/racer with a good racing history, among the various goodies was a bucket with the bottom cut out; crew and I shrugged and binned it.

Then a while later I found a big bag of elastic bands, and the penny dropped; the bucket was to feed the spinnaker through, 'stopping' the sail with elastic bands, so it could be hoisted as a controllable sausage then deployed with a tug on the sheet & guy...

 

[Norman_E]

Not boaty, but when I bought this house there was a pile of stuff in the garden. I got rid of a strange looking structure of welded steel tube. I later found that it was the stand for a very useful petrol cement mixer that had also been left for me.

 

[oldvarnish]

When I bought my first boat , a Leisure 17

My first boat too!! What a great little craft.

 

[Gitane]

Found wooden frame on board of newly purchased boat.

Frame contained rings of wood on hinges.

No idea what it was, but got a fiver for it on e-bay.

Asked the buyer what it actually was. Apparently it was a drink tumbler holder. Still not sure how this would work, but buyer seemed happy.

Gitane

 

[matelot]

No. Rather the reverse. Keep everything on the " you never know when it might come in useful" principle

 

[ffiill]

Simpson Lawrence anchor winch handle-as I had a vetus manual windlass it took me a while to realise what it was-and as my biggest problem is hording everything I still have it.

 

[Vara]

I did find a bit of track in my spares box, wondered what it was for until I serviced the boom track and I deposited little Delrin bearings all over the deck.

 

[Giblets]

Yes, it took me ten years to work out what a funny bit left on my boat by the previous owner did. Then another five to find it in the shed where I"d put it for safe keeping.

I'm glad someone else has that problem as well!

 

[glashen]

When I bought Glashen there was an odd thick 18 inch long plastic tube which looked like an off cut from the diesel filler pipe. We kept it not imagining what it could be for until we tried filling the tank, the diesel flowed freely over the deck. The tube had to be pushed into the filler hole to give enough height to push the fuel into the tank. Shortly after we put in a new stainless tank which fills in a more normal way and threw the tube away.

 

[Seajet]

I've always thought there's fun to be had when selling a boat, especially if sorry to see her go; just make up the most unlikely possible device, then mount it in brackets in a locker the buyer won't be checking until one is long gone...

 

[mdonnelly]

My first boat too!! What a great little craft.

Mine was a fin keel, seemed to surprise everybody that noticed!

 

[NormanS]

I did find a bit of track in my spares box, wondered what it was for until I serviced the boom track and I deposited little Delrin bearings all over the deck.

That's just what I need. When I fitted a new traveller it came on a wee bit of track, which I must have skipped.

 

[Ripster]

I'm glad someone else has that problem as well!

And another. Forgotten I had bought a spare for something that was bound to break again and then found it when I started the repair after returning with yet another one I had just been 20 miles and bought.

 

[BlueSkyNick]

My first boat too!! What a great little craft.

Mine too ! (Well, my Dad's really) He really struggled to pay for it outright and wouldnt borrow money (early 70's) so bought the boat with no rudder.

He then bought a large piece of mahogony (IIRC) and spent many hours planing it down to be a perfect replica of the rudder normally supplied.

 

[Chrissie]

I threw away my handle for the boom reefing too, worse though, took some food to a friends boat on my grill pan from my brand new Nelson Cooker, managed to leave the grill pan handle on his boat, before I had realised it was missing, he had found it, decided he didnt need it and threw it away.