Mini toolkit?

[Warpa]

Anyone have a decent mini toolkit for a mercruiser? Or do you just put the basics together yourself and carry a few fuses etc?

 

[AndieMac]

I always carry a spare belt/s, fuel filter, good set of sockets, ring spanners and screwdrivers (in sizes relevant to your own screws nuts and bolts), then in a general box; grey/ducting tape, fuses, cable ties (various sizes), side-cutters, pliers, short lengths of various gauge SS wire (mousing etc.) shackles, various sized worm clamps and lengths of fuel line.

Only for use on other peoples boats, because your own is too well prepared .

 

[PCUK]

I carry enough tools to rebuild an engine. Have done so once at Ramsgate while on holiday cruise!

 

[Denis O]

I have a spanner and socket set; all A/F, for my 3.0. I recently added the Screwfix 48 piece kit which includes screwdrivers, pliers, clamps etc. and also comes with a black "doctors" bag which will take all the boat tools.

I need to build up a list of spares to carry.

 

[lovezoo]

I need to build up a list of spares to carry.

Problem is, the things that are likely to go wrong you aren't going to have the spare for (or simply can't get at whilst in the water). Waterpump, starter motor, shift cable (and on the Alpha the impellor), or an electrical problem that you eventually track down to a sensor in the distributor.

And realistically what can you fix on a small boat out at sea? You can tighten something that has come loose, replace a knackered HT lead or blown fuse, but if you have a flat battery or a fuel pump that has failed you are stuffed.

I kind of think more important than tools is a VHF, some flares and a good tow rope.

 

[AndieMac]

Problem is, the things that are likely to go wrong you aren't going to have the spare for (or simply can't get at whilst in the water). Waterpump, starter motor, shift cable (and on the Alpha the impellor), or an electrical problem that you eventually track down to a sensor in the distributor.

And realistically what can you fix on a small boat out at sea? You can tighten something that has come loose, replace a knackered HT lead or blown fuse, but if you have a flat battery or a fuel pump that has failed you are stuffed.

I kind of think more important than tools is a VHF, some flares and a good tow rope.

Your right LZ, but the tool kit is a security blanket for belt and braces folk like me .

Its sometimes nice to just tinker around at anchor or work on your mates boat who is never quite that well organised.

 

[lovezoo]

Your right LZ, but the tool kit is a security blanket for belt and braces folk like me .

Its sometimes nice to just tinker around at anchor or work on your mates boat who is never quite that well organised.

I do carry a few tools and spare fuses etc with me on the boat just in case something really basic goes wrong, but I leave all tinkering (and associated 'oh s**t' moments) for the safety of dry land.

 

[Wiggo]

What you can and can't do at sea is a fair point, but...

If something fails while you're out, you get back to the berth and still need a toolkit to take the offending part off so you can get it home to be repaired (e.g. alternators, starter motors etc) or to refit spares once you have got to them (water pumps etc). A shredded drive belt is easy enough to do at sea, but only if you have the spanners to slacken and tighten the adjusting bolts.

 

[lovezoo]

I think a lot of this depends on what size boat you've got and where you are likely to be if something breaks. For my size boat (19ft) I'm never going to be more than a few miles away from my berth and there is always going to be someone around to tow me in, so its no big deal if I get stuck.

A new drive belt for my engine costs around £70 and for me its pointless having one lying around as a spare rotting away for the next five years. Sure I will keep the old one as a spare if it ever gets changed, but I'm not going to buy spares just in case.

Different though if you are in the middle of the channel when a belt goes pop.