What have you found most useful when things have gone wrong?

[onesea]

For me:
A drill (hand not electric),
Engine Oil,
Gaskets gromets,
Some Good Rope/ cordage,
WD40,
Duct Tape,
Saw,
Scraper,
Off-cuts of wood,
Kitchen Towel, Old Towels (Rags * Drying),

This is not a list of what I carry but things I have used. What about you?

 

[maybh1]

Most definitely my husband

May
Xx

 

[ribrage]

A helicopter !

 

[epervier]

The use of a working vhf radio,with someone on the receiving end would be my first choice! followed by in date flares, in date life jacket,life raft/dinghy, the list goes on but I feel sure you get the point.

 

[Deleted member 36384]

My brain! In the likely event that it's not working, money to pay someone to fix the wrong.

 

[Phoenix of Hamble]

A very extensive spares box!

 

[Tony Cross]

A knowledgeable fellow yachtie in the next berth!

 

[GraemeS]

A nice cup of tea, nothing seems so bad afterwards.

 

[greggron]

A cool head, a sense of perspective and a good idea of the options available.

 

[Hugh Foulis]

Scapegoat

 

[flaming]

A fire extinguisher.

 

[WestWittering]

No mention of bungee so far.... repaired a broken fridge door with that on a friends MOBO

Di

 

[vyv_cox]

When we had our emergency, quite a few years ago now, what we really needed was a bilge pump that would drain the saloon. The one fitted to the boat only drains the engine bilge, forcing us to use the pump shown in the link below but at that time attached to a board that I stood on. This was remarkably uncomfortable and inefficient to use.

Subsequently we installed the one shown in the link, which we hope we will never use. http://coxengineering.sharepoint.com/Pages/bilgepump.aspx

 

[FullCircle]

A very extensive spares box!

That'll be me then. Including 2x2 4ft length of hardwood.

And both a 7mm and a 16mm spanner. Some design wonk put these odd size nuts/bolts in bits of our equipment.

 

[michael_w]

Never go to sea without a rubble sack. A very versatile bit of kit, from diverting deck leaks, to pump gaskets, waterproofing leaky seaboots, emergency forehatch, laundry bag, etc, etc.

 

[Evadne]

Disposable nappies. They hold a remarkable amount of engine oil and bilgewater.

 

[Aardee]

Andrex

 

[macd]

Surely the most important thing is your mindset, much as gregron wrote above: the awareness that (unless the problem is truly catastrophic) only you are going to fix it: no RAC, no ring a friend, no popping next door to borrow a spanner. That, and possessing the resourcefulness to do so. Indeed, that's surely part of the reason many of us go to sea.

Oh, and some humongous zip-ties.

 

[dylanwinter]

Scapegoat

good one Hugh

and the origin of the phrase is one of these

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=njpyiyouhLc

 

[prv]

And both a 7mm and a 16mm spanner. Some design wonk put these odd size nuts/bolts in bits of our equipment.

?

I have spanners and sockets on board in both of those sizes. Had no idea they were considered "odd".

7mm is the size for practically all jubilee-type clips, for a start.

Pete