maintenance hacks

Not sure if this is a hack, or a kluge…or maybe just half-assed, but the rubber band worked a treat when I needed the VHF plug held still while I soldered the centre pin conductor.

I needed to get the model and serial number off the fridge unit on our J/109, but the problem is that the plate is on the far side and inaccessible, at least to an arthritic old fart.

I was pondering using my borescope, but controlling it holding the wire would have been difficult.

Then I remembered that I can control the iPhone camera, and even see what it sees, on my Apple watch.

So I attached my iPhone to a selfie stick—don’t ask why I have one, it’s not why you think, I see enough of my wrinkled mug when shaving—and five minutes later the job was done.

And the photo is way higher resolution than that produced by a borescope, so easy to zoom in on the details.

Taking a photo of my Apple watch while in this mode produced a fun graphic, too.

There are many little tricks that can make maintaining a cruising boat easier.

One of them is that all doors should have hooks or latches to retain them open so that air circulates, and should be left that way as much as possible.

This one change can cut mildew growth and general mustiness way back.

I just added a hook to what we call the “mouse door” connecting the head and cockpit locker.

And, if we use a hook and eye, it’s a good idea to also add a second eye to retain the hook when the door is closed, otherwise it will make a very faint, but nonetheless hugely irritating, noise as the boat moves.

The one on the left, that I just added, is a better bet, because of the rubber insert that reduces clinking, than the one on the right, which the builder provided for the aft-head door.

This tip won’t work for active voyagers far from home, but for those of us who commission our boats at the same yard every year and have a place to store them it’s well worth owning our own sawhorses.

The things are always in short supply at a boatyard, and the ones we can hunt down are usually rickety and of mismatched heights.

We need four, three to hold the mast and one extra to tie a spreader to so the mast won’t roll when dressed.

Ours are a bit over-the-top strong and heavy because we originally bought them to support the mast on our McCurdy and Rhodes 56.

Something a bit lighter, maybe in plastic, would work well for smaller boats.

Do you have a brand that has worked well for you? Leave a comment.

Engine access on the J/109 is way easier if we remove the top companionway step, so over the years that’s clearly been done a bunch of times.

And of course with each removal and reinstallation the screw holes in the retaining battens underneath have got bigger and more ragged. So people have replaced the screws with ever bigger and longer ones.

But we can only go so far with that, plus there’s a better way that solves this problem forever wherever a screw will be repeatedly removed and reinstalled into wood (or fibreglass):

Change to machine screws and threaded inserts as shown above.

Here’s the hole (bottom) with the threaded insert screwed in.

And for extra points, change to a round-head screw with a washer, instead of the usual countersunk head that will slowly wear through the step or whatever is being attached.

All that said, don’t try and install threaded inserts without the right tool—only way to get them in straight and true.

Here’s the finished step that can now be removed any time I want to without worrying about stripped screws. The electrical panel is next.

Pretty much any deck fitting should have a substantial backer plate. I like G10 for this function, although fibreglass sheet can work for less money when less stiffness is required. I keep some of each in different thicknesses on hand.

But how do we hold the backer plate in place while we drill the holes?The best way I have found is to epoxy it to the underside of the deck. So doing also stiffens everything up because the thickened epoxy fills any voids or curves.

Cool, but how do we hold the plate in place while the epoxy dries?

Simple, a dab from a hot glue gun. In the photo above I have applied the epoxy, but left a small area for the hot glue. Hold in place for 15 seconds and it stays put. Works a treat.

Once the epoxy hardens up, drill the hole(s).

I’m guessing most of you know this one, but I didn’t when I first started working on boats, so it may be useful.

When cutting a bolt off that’s too long, first put a nut on it as shown in the above. Winding the nut off cleans up burs on the threads from cutting.

But even better, to avoid fragments that will make it difficult to get the nut on, particularly in confined spaces, before winding the nut off, grip it in the vice and use a fine file to clean up the cut end—only takes a moment and makes a world of difference.

¹Bad pun alert

It’s amazing how often I use the stack of dive weights I needed to get neutral when wearing my Arctic-level dry suit, (bought when we were cruising the high latitudes) to hold stuff down or together while glue is kicking off.

In the photo above the weights were invaluable while I was splatting¹ new TreadMaster on our companionway top step.

The heft and curved surface of dive weights works great for this function.

Worth having a few around in the workshop even if we aren’t divers.

¹A technical term Phyllis and I developed while spending three months covering the deck of our McCurdy and Rhodes 56 with TreadMaster.

In this case there is $250 worth of my paint in this can that will likely be ruined by next season.

I have brought this to the attention of the yard in question. All yards make mistakes, but if we want things to get better we need to bring it up when they do, but in a non-confrontational way—more yard management tips here.

As I’m sure most of you know, the right way to seal a paint can is to first press the lid down firmly with our hands and then gently and progressively, while working around the can, tap the rim into place with a wood or rubber mallet.

I confess I used to just flush out the systems on our boat until the antifreeze came out the end looking “pink enough”.

But that approach can either result in a lot of expensive damage if the antifreeze is overly diluted by the water in the system, or end up being wasteful and expensive when we “use one more jug just to be sure”.

A refractometer is a way better way and can be used to check liquid-filled batteries and engine antifreeze as well.

My kit cost a bit over US$100 when I bought it a few years ago, but I see there are refractometers on Amazon for $20. Anyone have any idea if the cheap ones are reliable?