Whick Toolkit?

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Cheeky Girl

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Hi

Just new to owning a yacht so will be asking loads of questions over the next few months :)

Looking to buy a starter all in one toolkit rather than bits and pieces each time I need something.

Does anyone have any recommendations for a good starter one?

Thanks for any help

Graham
 
There are two sorts of tools on boats:

The ones that you don’t mind dropping over the side. Some chandlers, notably Suffolk Yacht Harbour, make a point of selling cheap tools that you won’t miss.

The good ones, kept in a place of safety.

If the boat is older, you will need Imperial sizes as well as metric (my steering gear actually has a mixture of both!)
 
mjcoon said:
Were you hunting for something in particular? ;-)

(And do you have an inventory?)

Mike.
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I took the pic for an article but it was never used.

I don't have an inventory but sometimes think it might be useful. I have several other toolkits in motorhome, other boat and of course a lot more at home in the workshop. At home I sometimes find myself searching for a tool that is on the boat in Greece.
 
vyv_cox said:
I took the pic for an article but it was never used.

I don't have an inventory but sometimes think it might be useful. I have several other toolkits in motorhome, other boat and of course a lot more at home in the workshop. At home I sometimes find myself searching for a tool that is on the boat in Greece.
Click to expand...

Vyv, could I ask for details of that superb portable vice?
 
I thought Vyv's pic looked a bit intimidating to a newbie, and started to post something along the lines of "of course, most of us don't carry as much as Vyv". Then I actually looked at it and realised that, although he's got quite a large volume of tools there, a lot of it is in a few large items - the riveter, the vise thing, and the holesaws. Take those out of the picture (my riveter and holesaws live at home, and my boat vise is a lot smaller) and my on-board tools are probably not that dissimilar ;)

Pete
 
Kukri said:
Vyv, could I ask for details of that superb portable vice?
Click to expand...

It's a Zyliss, Swiss made. Years ago a man used to have a stand at most major shows selling them. I bought mine at Earl's Court boat show, maybe 1990? I came across his son quite a bit later, maybe 2005, still selling them. Unfortunately no longer made. They do come up on Ebay from time to time and just checked, a really nice one was posted yesterday. eBay item number:233406100038
 
prv said:
I thought Vyv's pic looked a bit intimidating to a newbie, and started to post something along the lines of "of course, most of us don't carry as much as Vyv". Then I actually looked at it and realised that, although he's got quite a large volume of tools there, a lot of it is in a few large items - the riveter, the vise thing, and the holesaws. Take those out of the picture (my riveter and holesaws live at home, and my boat vise is a lot smaller) and my on-board tools are probably not that dissimilar ;)

Pete
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I carry more than the average user because we are based in Greece with little access to a workshop. I do have quite a bit more than that in small items such as taps and dies and suchlike, which at home I would take out to the boat as needed. I also carry several boxes of spares such as nuts and bolts, fittings, abrasives, electrical bits, etc, which again I would mostly buy as needed in UK.
 
The first priority is to be able to get yourself in if the engine or gearbox fails. So I would suggest getting a basic sets of spanners, sockets, screwdrivers, hammer, mole grips plus a mulitmeter etc then servicing the engine and gear box yourself. This will likely throw up any unusual kit needed. The likely causes of failure are belts, hoses, blockages in fuel, dud batteries and cooling water failure or leaks. If you can tackle these problems then you should be ok and can expand your kit over time and as you need it.
 
Ive been pondering this since i saw Vyv’s picture; his collection is much like mine and for the same reason. The boat is in Greece and all too often something breaks miles from anyone to help so I’ve got quite a lot of tools for dealing with things that I might otherwise simply take to a workshop.
I’ve also got a small project boat in UK and the tool set for that is much smaller: appropriate spanners, small socket set, screwdrivers, pipe wrenches, mole grips and a plug spanner for the outboard. Any other jobs Needing more than that and I’ll bring the right tools from home.
What it does mean is that I’ve now effectively got two sets of tools one in Greece and one in UK.
As to a starter set something like this off eBay would be a reasonable https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https://www.ebay.co.uk/ulk/itm/153631760790 .
 
Happilyoverforty said:
Hi

Just new to owning a yacht so will be asking loads of questions over the next few months :)

Looking to buy a starter all in one toolkit rather than bits and pieces each time I need something.

Does anyone have any recommendations for a good starter one?

Thanks for any help

Graham
Click to expand...

I wouldn't buy a "starter kit", it'll have things you don't need and be short of things you do need - so not as good value as they might appear. Make a list of what you need and build it up from there.

Agree with post #3 - a small kit of cheaper tools, easy to reach for immediate use; and the full set of better stuff kept elsewhere - lightly oiled of course!
 
I have the rigging kit with knife, spike and pliers easily to hand on a shelf. Also basic srewdirvers and adjustable spanners in a chart table draw. The main tool locker has a small socket set, hammers, files, Allen keys, more screwdrivers, more pliers, wire cutters, electrical crimps, multimeter, etc.

I also wouldn't be without a good set of combination spanners, its amazing how many times on a boat you just can't get a ring spanner onto a nut. Mine go from 6mm to 32mm and it always seems to be the very big or the very small spanners that you need to get you out of trouble.
 
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