The most awkward space you've had to climb into?

[jellyellie]

There's that old adage when it comes to boats that it's not necessarily the actual task that is difficult, but rather the access that makes it impossible to get to.

A few particularly cramped jobs stand out in my mind - having to climb into the cockpit lockers on my 34ft ketch to access the nuts to remove the davits bolted onto the stern; trying to get access to the morse cable under the saloon sole when the old one seized; and literally taking about two hours to remove one bolt from the bottom of the starter motor when replacing it.

Last night saw some more acrobatics - no matter how big your boat, it seems there is always an awkward space to squeeze into...

The story behind it: http://elizmor.co.uk/blog/no-matter-how-big-your-boat/


What awkward spaces have you found yourself in?

 

[Graham_Wright]

What awkward spaces have you found yourself in?

The anchor locker. Top access is impossible after age of 8 at least for the whole body and blood rush makes thought impossible with just head and shoulders. I cut an access through from the forepeak sealed with a 15mm thick HDPE panel that allows me to slide in on my back. Quite comfy really!

 

[Sailfree]

Rubbing down the inside of the front buoyancy tank on a wayfarer.

Luckily wife came out to ask if i wanted coffee as i was stuck - winnie the poo type stuck!!

 

[Spirit of Glenans]

My previous boat was a UFO27, which had been re-engined with no alteration having been made to the access panels on the starboard side. My only way of accessing the rear of the engine ( air filter, gearbox, exhaust bend, rear end of HE, shaft gland etc) was to lower myself into the port cockpit locker and insert myself feet-first through a hatch, 20"x20", moving them towards the stern, then crawling in backwards, into a crouching position over the propshaft. I felt a little guilty when the man who bought it turned out to be a bigger, heavier man than I

 

[chewi]

Head first into a cockpit locker, move to the space below the cockpit floor, turn over to get further aft & reach the backstay fixings, but fail to reach , back out, try again shuffling over the fuel tank from one side to reach it on the other side. Still fail to reach.

Despatch skinny early teenage son into the gap so he can lie across the tank and reach. Job jobbed!
I hope I never have to get there again 'cos he wont fit there now, nor will his little sister.

Cobra 750

 

[Stemar]

Head first into a cockpit locker, move to the space below the cockpit floor, turn over to get further aft & reach the backstay fixings, but fail to reach , back out, try again shuffling over the fuel tank from one side to reach it on the other side. Still fail to reach.

Despatch skinny early teenage son into the gap so he can lie across the tank and reach. Job jobbed!
I hope I never have to get there again 'cos he wont fit there now, nor will his little sister.

Cobra 750

I'd really like to check the port backstay fitting on my Snapdragon, but it's in a locker, a metre from the hatch and behind the fuel tank. No one but an emaciated 5 year-old could get to it. The most awkward job I managed to do was changing the rudder tube. Into the hatch, squeeze over the engine and go to work with the angle grinder. No way to reverse out - too many engine bits hooking on clothing (no clothes would be worse, and not just for onlookers ), so all the way in, turn round in a space narrower than the length of my spine and out, a painful, 10-minute manoeuvre.

That was 10 years ago. I doubt I'd get in now and, if I did, the fire brigade would probably cut the transom off to get me out.

 

[John 32i]

Are you still launching today Ellie ?

 

[Ripster]

Threading additional cables from the helm unit to the main fuse panel amidships mean't crawling into the transom and reaching around the rudder mechanism and poking the cable through a hole I could not see only feel. by the time I had done it, I was folded up in a small ball for too long and could not move. SWMBO had to help pull me out and deal with the cries of pain and things came back to life! Not something I want to do again.

 

[Poignard]

Cockpit lockers. If I'm on my own I make sure I have my mobile phone handy in case I get stuck! I haven't needed it so far but, unless I start some serious dieting, the day may not be far distant when ......

 

[Falling Star]

Worst job, so far anyway, was fitting side cleats to my Merry Fisher 805. Starboard side was relatively easy, but the port side required access by sliding up inside a narrow space alongside the wardrobe. Bad enough getting in, but getting out took even longer! To be fair. Jeanneau said it can't be done. - Wrong.
Tip: if anyone reading this ever has to do this job, I suggest tie a rope to an ankle before going in.

 

[KellysEye]

Getting to the generator to change (say) the engine diesel filter. It was under the starboard cockpit seat so there was little headroom, you had to lay on the generator and work with your arms down.

 

[Davegriff]

Once crawled into the (empty) fuel tank and around two baffles of a forty footer to clean. Wouldn't do it again - tank was still in situ in the boat and hell of a job getting out again. Now that I think about what fumes may have been in there......

 

[DanTribe]

Cockpit lockers shrink!
Every year it gets more difficult to get into mine, even more tricky to get out.
A job I've been dreading is fitting a heater exhaust into the transom of my UFO 31. Can I hire a trained gibbon from somewhere?

 

[capnsensible]

No. 5 torpedo tube on a Swiftsure class submarine because it angles a bit downwards.

But that's probably the wrong sort of boat.

 

[Norman_E]

The space left after removing the gas bottle locker on a Jeanneau 45.2, in order to replace a broken toe rail bolt.

 

[maby]

Cockpit lockers shrink!
Every year it gets more difficult to get into mine, even more tricky to get out.
A job I've been dreading is fitting a heater exhaust into the transom of my UFO 31. Can I hire a trained gibbon from somewhere?

My cockpit lockers have windows and can be configured as pilot berths!

I did try to climb into the anchor locker to fix a broken wire to the chain counter, but soon realised that I might have needed a crane to get me out of there - taught the wife to solder instead!

 

[AntarcticPilot]

The Eberspacher and calorifier on my Moody 31 are at the aft end of the cockpit locker. Luckily, I'm small enough to get into the cockpit locker to access them, and my wife is even smaller! But anyone of the 6 foot persuasion would struggle to access them; it's not much fun for me!

 

[Twister_Ken]

When I had the Twister re-engined, the boatyard engineer moaned about how terrible access was. To be fair, it was.

"When I started out, most boats were this size, but we had 14 year old apprentices, and we'd just shove'em in there and shout instructions."

 

[boguing]

Worst, same as others, getting to the void inside the transom on a First 305. Can't remember why, but head first into locker on my back, roll over and shuffle back to the tiny hole.

Boat, most awkward. Single handed delivery on a 36' motor boat. Enormous bottle screw linking the two rudder arms fell off. Trying to get that re-engaged was one of those 'crying in agony' jobs. Boat wouldn't steer without it, and I was just off Selsey's rocks. Really didn't want to get towed!

Absolute most awkward, changing the starter motor on a Land Rover. And I've done it too many times. Always reminds me of the staircase sequence in Douglas Adams' 'Goodbye and thanks for all the fish'.

 

[VO5]

Reading all of this and the reality it brings to mind, I think an important cluster of skills all owners ought to strive to acquire is upside down carpentry, shrunk engineering and boxed in odd job capability.
Phew ! I've had my share...from refitting under shower tray pipes to resiting pumps in akward corners to engine room contortions, but fortunately all in port and not in a heaving sea thank god.