Nothing Worse

[Qldcruiser]

HI All

Is there anything worse than being a long way from your boat and knowing you have a major maintenance task coming up. For the life of me I cant seem to get my head around all the contingencies that may arise.

I have written a dozen list and just when I near the end I think of more things that I may or may not need.

I will probably take to the boat 90% of what I don't need and 80% of what I do need. And after thinking about I have no idea how people can have their boat in other countries and still manage to maintain them.

Sorry about the rant, just looking for clarity.

Cheers

Rob & Annette

S/V Blue Lady

[redbopeep]

I start stressing the maintenance that is needed even when I have everything at hand to get it done. If it's something we can do ourselves, no problem, but if requires a yard (like a haul out) then I really start to worry. The life of boat ownership.

[Tailwalker]

I might not know about boat fixing or maintenance but stress I do have a lot to say on the subject..

Stand back breathe and put one foot in front of the other and start by taking the first step and live in the moment till you see the way ahead.

it helps me everyday.. keep the focus and start moving.. with one eye on the ball and the other on the way forward.

my thought..

troy.

[redbopeep]

Originally Posted by Qldcruiser

HI All

Is there anything worse than being a long way from your boat and knowing you have a major maintenance task coming up. For the life of me I cant seem to get my head around all the contingencies that may arise.

I have written a dozen list and just when I near the end I think of more things that I may or may not need.

R&A,

Its much easier now that we're living aboard the boat--all the tools are with us (more or less) as well as scads of spares. The sheer weight of all these tools is crazy though. I was just looking into our "hammer" bag and telling hubby that we HAVE to get rid of some of those hammers--we've got a big one (named "Thor") , two carpenters hammers of different weights, a ball-peen hammer, three different dead blow plastic hammers of various sizes, two different caulking mallets, a rubber mallet, a small combined plastic-and-rubber mallet...well, you get the point. Too many hammers! We can clearly get rid of some of these.

As I go through other tools, it's not so clear--I mean, we've 4 pairs of vice grips and they've all got their uses. We've 5 C-Clamps and about 12 bar clamps from tiny to 3 ft long and we've actually been recently working on projects where every one of them was employed. It is really hard to get rid of any of these things but yet know we've got to find a way.

It seems this way with much of what we've brought aboard--all useful things for various projects but all of it heavy and difficult to justify having around but yet the fear factor of "what if I need that while we're "----" (fill in the blank with someplace really remote).

Since we did such a big rebuild of the boat ourselves and continue to install things and do maintenance we are learning which tools are "must haves" and which are sitting in the bin untouched. I hope that fairly soon we'll be able to get rid of a few "extras" so we'll have weight capacity for proper provisioning

Fair winds,

[MMNETSEA]

Red,

A few moments after getting rid of a special ball-peen hammer - a project will appear that requires a ball-peen hammer - no other hammer will do. Not even the 4inch stiletto heel on a pair of fashion shoes!

And, when it comes to nuts,bolts, washers, screws etc, I throw none away. Just cut down the number of each size and type.

I have a programme called Lotus Organiser (IBM took Lotus over sometime ago, the programme was part of a suite containing 123, Wordpro etc )

Here's a snapshot of one simple task using the Organiser :-



The figure 1 circled is the priority.

The Task : change the inboard engine oil, because the manual says change at XYZ hours.

Take correct drain plug tool (spanner/wrench) ?

Buy Oil :- what type? what grade?

Buy Oil Filter :- size ? model # ?

Take oil filter remover (spanner/wrench) ?

What about a receptical for the old oil ?

Rags to clean up ?

Place oil receptical under engine

Remove drain plug

Drain old oil

Replace oil drain plug

Remove oil filter

Screw in new filter

Add oil

Check Level

Run the engine and check oil pressure

Dispose of old oil - responsibly

WHAT'S FORGOTTEN ?

R&A's dilemma regarding organising the project list for tasks that are geographically distant is much appreciated.

[Qldcruiser]

MM, you have warmed my heart. You are WAY more OCD than me. I write lists but that is magic. I have found a whole new way to challenge my mania. You may well have given Annette grounds to have me committed (if she didn't have enough already).

Cheers

Rob & Annette

S/V Blue Lady

[Qldcruiser]

I have to agree Redbopeep, I have at least a small adult in tool weight on the boat. And history has shown that once placed on the boat, if you remove it, you will need normally with an urgency in direct contrast to how far away you have removed it to. Annette's biggest bug bear is tools with the normal statement of "Do we really need all of them". And my reply is always "Do you want to find out?"

I must say that is the only time I don't get an answer that will defeat me instantly.

Cheers

Rob & Annette

S/V Blue Lady

[Lighthouse]

I loved that Lotus Organiser but lost it somewhere along the way with PC crashes, etc.

[Tailwalker]

well that's where i am good at something, come from IT background..

[KAFERTOYS]

I'm sure I will always live by my tools, someone always needs something fixed. The one thing my wife has never questioned is the number of tools I have. I haven't found anything I can't fix when I have the tools.

Don't get me wrong I have Magivered (sp) many repairs with minimal tools but how much more confidant (less streesed) about problems that come up. And I have always said in the restoration business "a bigger hammer can fix anything"

[Nausikaa]

Originally Posted by KAFERTOYS

And I have always said in the restoration business "a bigger hammer can fix anything"

Hammer = Belgian screwdriver(change nationality as the occasion demands)

Aye // Stephen

[Qldcruiser]

Well, I have satisfied at least most of my lists so with less than a week to go I am comfortable. Probably will not be in 5 days but thats life.

Signwriting the boat has been the biggest headache and scarily expensive.

But in all by doing this ourselves we have saved more than $5000 so I have a happy mate.

I will post some before and after photos when finished.

Cheers

Robert And Annette

S/V Blue Lady