List ONE item that is the absolute worst you ...

[Guest]

Keeping the reading simple ... What is the absolute worst / useless / stupidest / item you have ever fitted / bought / had on a boat ????

Following items are NOT eligible for this thread :

Wife
Girlfriend


....... ?????

 

[Twister_Ken]

Re: List ONE item that is the absolute worst you .

There is a Blu-Loo device that fits into the inlet side of the heads plumbing, supposedly to 'sweeten' things. Unfortunately, after a winter ashore the chemical inside degrades into something particularly noxious smelling.

When it went into the yard skip it was wrapped in three plastic bags out of respect for anyone that might have been downwind.

 

[nicho]

I think perhaps, those dreadful plastic things for adjusting fenders.

 

[tcm]

The magnet for picking up things from the seabed. Had to keep it miles from anywhere to avoid damage to instruments. Then it went rusty. Lost nothing overboard during ownership NOR did several fishing expeditions retrieve anything of value (or anything) from sea floor

 

[Guest]

What was mine ?

Being an absolute scrooge !!!! I don't buy much to complain about !!!
But I think it must be : Plastic wind indicator for masthead including VHF antennae. Had to lower mast so many times to repair plastic bit around antennae that fixed the pointers in place .... in the end I encapsulated the lot in epoxy metal !!

 

[billmacfarlane]

One of those toater thingies you put over the gas ring to toast bread. Great for smoke signals but absolutely useless at making toast. Non slip table mats. They might keep your plate in place but that's not much good if your soup has leaped out of the bowl.

 

[JeremyF]

As recommended by Sailing Today, large plastic clip things from Betterware for stowing shorepower and hosepipe neatly.

Absolutely useless, unless the cable/hose is hung up by the handle. It works itself loose in 5 mins.

<font color=blue>Jeremy Flynn/forums/images/icons/crazy.gif
Dawn Chorus</font color=blue>

 

[jimi]

Got to be ......

Sails

Jim

 

[RupertW]

Re: Got to be ......

VHF radio - never seen the point of the thing.

You switch it on to hear inane chatter or to be told there are no berths free. Much simpler to sneak into the last berth left and disappear ashore.

 

[Guest]

A whole Stilton my girlfriend brought along and stuffed in the coolbox. At the end of the week, even the stuff in tins tasted of it. V. Nasty.

 

[Rowana]

Spirit level & plumb bob still in the toolbox ! !

 

[DanTribe]

Stuart Turner engine

 

[Dallas]

Lowrance GPS/fishfinder etc.

1st week: Nitrogen filled screen leaked.
2nd week: Screen went misty for first 20 mins untill it was warm
3rd week: Proximity waypoint alarm went off in marina 7 miles from waypoint
3rd week: Hit a wave harder than expected, Lowrance came off bracket, swung around the retaining cable and smashed the screen of my brand new Garmin colour plotter.
4th week: Sent back to Lowrance
4th week: Received new kit from Lowrance (excellent service)
4th week: Installed new kit, depth sounder insisted that there was 999 metres of water in the marina.
5th week: Cleaned the depth sounder sensor. All now working great
6th week: Phone call from marina at 3:00am. They had disconnected all my batteries because a liveaboard returning from a night out had noticed that there was smoke coming from from my cockpit - can anyone guess what was the cause.
6th week: Took the GPS of the bracket and promptly droped it down the companionway steps.
7th week: Bought a Garmin GPS/fishfinder/plotter/teamaker/washing machine/spin dryer - and I only cried once.

Dallas

 

[kingfisher]

Gen 1 Nightscope. Lots of dosh for something with a limited field of view and such a grainy picture that it makes your eyes water.

now if they would only allow us to buy Gen 3 stuff. But apparently it's weapons grade, and it's not allowed to be exported outside the US.

Group of people on the pontoon: skipper is the one with the toolbox.
http://sirocco31.tripod.com

 

[kgi]

Windscreen wipers on a sailboat!!!!!

 

[Sinbad1]

.........a bloody sun awning!

 

[castaway]

I got a load of those when I bought my boat left on board by the previous owner.. took me a while to work out what they were... then took 5 mins to transfer to the skip.
Nick

 

[nicho]

Damn! - I was going to get one of those!

 

[Gunfleet]

You've missed the point. The magnet is a totem to stop you losing things overboard, a sort of maritime rabbit's foot or St Christopher. Since I've had mine I've only ever dropped brass and stainless overboard. If I could only find a brass magnet perhaps I'd stop dropping that stuff too. Perhaps a wooden one will do.

 

[Twister_Ken]

This trip down memory lane...

...reminds me of a pair of Dubarry sailing shoes which I once had. They had a metal strip moulded into the rubber, to support the instep. The metal was magnetised.

For some time we wondered why the compass was behaving erratically. It was resolved when I was prevented from lounging, feet up, on the cockpit bench, back to the aft coaming, feet below the bulkhead compass.