Skip: I sent you my spares inventory off list in a Word document, if your
e-mail isn't spoofed. The most useful thing I have on board is a good
cordless drill. As far as "special" tools, I have one of those big razor
cutters that looks like a big pair of scissors, but with a long razor blade
on one side as the cutter. I use it all the time for hoses, ropes, etc. I
also use an infrared thermometer to take all kinds of temp measurements.
Things like the alternator, each injector on the ME, the shaft log, the A/C
units, etc. I have a HUGE crescent wrench, 24" I think that is worth it's
weight in gold occasionally. A chain type vise grip gets used sometimes;
almost nothing else will do. I also have a strap wrench that gets used
fairly often. I have a Fein multimaster that is great for finish sanding,
working on teak decks, and other things.

--


Keith
__
"My sister's expecting a baby, and I don't know if I'm going to
be an uncle or an aunt."
-Chuck Nevitt , North Carolina State basketball player,
explaining to Coach Jim Valvano why he appeared nervous at
practice, 1982.
"Skip Gundlach" wrote in
message ink.net...
Well, the reality approaches, and while I have a pretty well equipped
landside tools and spares selection ("Dad's hardware store"), I'm curious
what those who have done it would suggest.

It's a 46 foot ketch with a Perkins 4-154 and a Northern Lights 8kw
genset,
both in the "mature hours" segment of their lives but surveyed as sound.
It
has the usual assortment of electrical stuff which I hope to mostly keep
happy with ample solar and some wind generation plus more storage than is
currently (pardon the pun - about 440AH) available, as peace and quiet is
high on my list (vs running engines and gensets). Unfortunately to my
taste, a great deal of the electric stuff is 110, but it's got lots of
inverter capability, so the trick will be to keep power happening (see
solar, etc., peace and quiet, above).

The storage available is pretty good, so space isn't a particular
challenge,
though, of course, every boat has a limit. For at least the expected
first
year, we'll be island hopping, working our way from Ft. Lauderdale or
equivalent to Trinidad or so, and back to our expected Saint Thomas base,
ETD/ETA Nov 04/05.

So, the question is, for a full-time cruising boat equipped as above, what
tools and spares would you bring along? Would you bring specialized tools
(such as some electronic diagnostic/reading stuff) or spares (ability to
rebuild stuff)? If they're not commonly available, I'd appreciate
sources,
as well.

Thanks...

L8R

Skip and Lydia

--
"And then again, when you sit at the helm of your little ship on a clear
night, and gaze at the countless stars overhead, and realize that you are
quite alone on a great, wide sea, it is apt to occur to you that in the
general scheme of things you are merely an insignificant speck on the
surface of the ocean; and are not nearly so important or as
self-sufficient
as you thought you were. Which is an exceedingly wholesome thought, and
one
that may effect a permanent change in your deportment that will be greatly
appreciated by your friends."- James S. Pitkin

Speaking of cordless drills, I have a couple Skill TopGun Pros (one for home
shop and one for boat) each has two 12 volt battery packs and charger..

I've found that the automatic battery charge doesn't like to operate off the
inverter for some reason. Gets very hot.. So I only recharge the batteries
when on shore power or gen. set..

Not a good arrangement in am emergency situation..

So, what I have done is convert one (opened and remove the cells) of the old
dead battery packs to 12 vdc cord and plug.. Now I can plug it directly into
the boat 12 volt system or use the one remaining good battery pack.. As much
as I like the portability of the rechargeable arrangement, I have found that
the drill has twice as much torgue when 12vdc cord powered..

Just something I thought I should pass on..

Steve
s/v Good Intentions

Speaking of cordless drills, I have a couple Skill TopGun Pros (one for home
shop and one for boat) each has two 12 volt battery packs and charger..

I've found that the automatic battery charge doesn't like to operate off the
inverter for some reason. Gets very hot.. So I only recharge the batteries
when on shore power or gen. set..

Not a good arrangement in am emergency situation..

So, what I have done is convert one (opened and remove the cells) of the old
dead battery packs to 12 vdc cord and plug.. Now I can plug it directly into
the boat 12 volt system or use the one remaining good battery pack.. As much
as I like the portability of the rechargeable arrangement, I have found that
the drill has twice as much torgue when 12vdc cord powered..

Just something I thought I should pass on..

Steve
s/v Good Intentions

Nice issue - let me add my experience to the discussion. We cruised 7
years in the Pacific from the Aleutians to New Zealand, from Japan &
China to LA and many islands. We have a 52' glass boat, 4-236 Perkins
and 6 KW Northern Lights genset. Getting ready to go again later this
year.

1st, your location - you'll be in the easy access islands in the
Caribbean - you're not going to Mars, or even the space station. St.
Thomas is regular US territory - complete with NAPA, Autozone, UPS, US
Mail service, etc. You can buy oil filters, Racor filters, hose
clamps, wrenches, even rice and farm raised fresh salmon to your
hearts content. Trinidad is not exactly the remote Amazon basin
either. You're not going to be in Papua New Guinea for 6 months like
we were. What I saying is that all cruisers (even us starting out)
spent way too much money on "what-if" stuff (food, tools, spares) and
dragged too much never needed crap around. Save the money and the
weight. You'll need the space for duty-free liquor.

2nd, some stuff is hard to buy (or very expensive) even in relatively
civilized places - like really good batteries. Friends had a gel 8D
battery crap out in Fiji - they only had 2 8D's. Ended up flying one
in from LA. Big $$$. Don't leave home with crappy batteries. Buy new
now and buy flooded ones. Also things like the rudder - you can't take
a spare and it's hard to get one built - triple check it for integrity
before you leave - even if you have to drill a dozen holes in it to
ensure it's clean inside. Friends lost their rudder (broke off and
sank) 20 miles before arriving in the Marquesas - cost them $1200 for
the tow in and 2 months of talking, waiting, wasting time.

3rd, the stuff that breaks and causes big immediate problems are
things like the alternator and belts, impellers, the autopilot, the
stove & propane system, rigging spares, depth sounder, outboard spark
plugs, steering system, windlass, fresh water pressure pump, those
kind of things. They impact you immediately. You need to prepare for
these situations. Eg, you can get an auto elect shop to sell you or
build for you an exact duplicate drop-in alternator - so you can
change out a dead one in 10 minutes - no spacers, no belt size diffs,
no wiring connector changes. Why take spare bearing and diodes and try
to repair yourself.

4th, other junk like the wind generator (you'll be getting rid of this
if you really like peace and quiet), winch grease, and the other 1000
things can wait - you can live without for a few weeks if something
happens.

I still have 1200 ft of 5/8" nylon line new but 15 years old (and
never used - or needed), old sanders I never use, and on and on -
clogging up the boat.



On Wed, 04 Feb 2004 19:21:42 GMT, "Skip Gundlach"
wrote:


It's a 46 foot ketch with a Perkins 4-154 and a Northern Lights 8kw genset,
both in the "mature hours" segment of their lives but surveyed as sound. It
has the usual assortment of electrical stuff which I hope to mostly keep
happy with ample solar and some wind generation plus more storage than is
currently (pardon the pun - about 440AH) available, as peace and quiet is
high on my list (vs running engines and gensets). Unfortunately to my
taste, a great deal of the electric stuff is 110, but it's got lots of
inverter capability, so the trick will be to keep power happening (see
solar, etc., peace and quiet, above).

The storage available is pretty good, so space isn't a particular challenge,
though, of course, every boat has a limit. For at least the expected first
year, we'll be island hopping, working our way from Ft. Lauderdale or
equivalent to Trinidad or so, and back to our expected Saint Thomas base,
ETD/ETA Nov 04/05.

So, the question is, for a full-time cruising boat equipped as above, what
tools and spares would you bring along? Would you bring specialized tools
(such as some electronic diagnostic/reading stuff) or spares (ability to
rebuild stuff)? If they're not commonly available, I'd appreciate sources,
as well.

Thanks...

L8R

Skip and Lydia

Nice issue - let me add my experience to the discussion. We cruised 7
years in the Pacific from the Aleutians to New Zealand, from Japan &
China to LA and many islands. We have a 52' glass boat, 4-236 Perkins
and 6 KW Northern Lights genset. Getting ready to go again later this
year.

1st, your location - you'll be in the easy access islands in the
Caribbean - you're not going to Mars, or even the space station. St.
Thomas is regular US territory - complete with NAPA, Autozone, UPS, US
Mail service, etc. You can buy oil filters, Racor filters, hose
clamps, wrenches, even rice and farm raised fresh salmon to your
hearts content. Trinidad is not exactly the remote Amazon basin
either. You're not going to be in Papua New Guinea for 6 months like
we were. What I saying is that all cruisers (even us starting out)
spent way too much money on "what-if" stuff (food, tools, spares) and
dragged too much never needed crap around. Save the money and the
weight. You'll need the space for duty-free liquor.

2nd, some stuff is hard to buy (or very expensive) even in relatively
civilized places - like really good batteries. Friends had a gel 8D
battery crap out in Fiji - they only had 2 8D's. Ended up flying one
in from LA. Big $$$. Don't leave home with crappy batteries. Buy new
now and buy flooded ones. Also things like the rudder - you can't take
a spare and it's hard to get one built - triple check it for integrity
before you leave - even if you have to drill a dozen holes in it to
ensure it's clean inside. Friends lost their rudder (broke off and
sank) 20 miles before arriving in the Marquesas - cost them $1200 for
the tow in and 2 months of talking, waiting, wasting time.

3rd, the stuff that breaks and causes big immediate problems are
things like the alternator and belts, impellers, the autopilot, the
stove & propane system, rigging spares, depth sounder, outboard spark
plugs, steering system, windlass, fresh water pressure pump, those
kind of things. They impact you immediately. You need to prepare for
these situations. Eg, you can get an auto elect shop to sell you or
build for you an exact duplicate drop-in alternator - so you can
change out a dead one in 10 minutes - no spacers, no belt size diffs,
no wiring connector changes. Why take spare bearing and diodes and try
to repair yourself.

4th, other junk like the wind generator (you'll be getting rid of this
if you really like peace and quiet), winch grease, and the other 1000
things can wait - you can live without for a few weeks if something
happens.

I still have 1200 ft of 5/8" nylon line new but 15 years old (and
never used - or needed), old sanders I never use, and on and on -
clogging up the boat.



On Wed, 04 Feb 2004 19:21:42 GMT, "Skip Gundlach"
wrote:


It's a 46 foot ketch with a Perkins 4-154 and a Northern Lights 8kw genset,
both in the "mature hours" segment of their lives but surveyed as sound. It
has the usual assortment of electrical stuff which I hope to mostly keep
happy with ample solar and some wind generation plus more storage than is
currently (pardon the pun - about 440AH) available, as peace and quiet is
high on my list (vs running engines and gensets). Unfortunately to my
taste, a great deal of the electric stuff is 110, but it's got lots of
inverter capability, so the trick will be to keep power happening (see
solar, etc., peace and quiet, above).

The storage available is pretty good, so space isn't a particular challenge,
though, of course, every boat has a limit. For at least the expected first
year, we'll be island hopping, working our way from Ft. Lauderdale or
equivalent to Trinidad or so, and back to our expected Saint Thomas base,
ETD/ETA Nov 04/05.

So, the question is, for a full-time cruising boat equipped as above, what
tools and spares would you bring along? Would you bring specialized tools
(such as some electronic diagnostic/reading stuff) or spares (ability to
rebuild stuff)? If they're not commonly available, I'd appreciate sources,
as well.

Thanks...

L8R

Skip and Lydia

Steve wrote:

Speaking of cordless drills, I have a couple Skill TopGun Pros (one for home
shop and one for boat) each has two 12 volt battery packs and charger..

I've found that the automatic battery charge doesn't like to operate off the
inverter for some reason. Gets very hot.. So I only recharge the batteries
when on shore power or gen. set..

Not a good arrangement in am emergency situation..

So, what I have done is convert one (opened and remove the cells) of the old
dead battery packs to 12 vdc cord and plug.. Now I can plug it directly into
the boat 12 volt system or use the one remaining good battery pack.. As much
as I like the portability of the rechargeable arrangement, I have found that
the drill has twice as much torgue when 12vdc cord powered..

Just something I thought I should pass on..

Steve
s/v Good Intentions

Might be a good idea to put a high capacity fuse in the line. If anything ever
happens to the drill motor, the drill will melt from the power dissipated by the
short.

other than that, a good idea.


--

Don't like the looks of nudists? Complain to the manufacturer.

Steve wrote:

Speaking of cordless drills, I have a couple Skill TopGun Pros (one for home
shop and one for boat) each has two 12 volt battery packs and charger..

I've found that the automatic battery charge doesn't like to operate off the
inverter for some reason. Gets very hot.. So I only recharge the batteries
when on shore power or gen. set..

Not a good arrangement in am emergency situation..

So, what I have done is convert one (opened and remove the cells) of the old
dead battery packs to 12 vdc cord and plug.. Now I can plug it directly into
the boat 12 volt system or use the one remaining good battery pack.. As much
as I like the portability of the rechargeable arrangement, I have found that
the drill has twice as much torgue when 12vdc cord powered..

Just something I thought I should pass on..

Steve
s/v Good Intentions

Might be a good idea to put a high capacity fuse in the line. If anything ever
happens to the drill motor, the drill will melt from the power dissipated by the
short.

other than that, a good idea.


--

Don't like the looks of nudists? Complain to the manufacturer.

A
You disappoint me. I was waiting for Skip to do a spreadsheet and shopping
list of everything recommended, then buy it all and watch his boat sink from
the excess weight. Boo hoo. I was going to sell him all the excess junk we
hauled around for 3 years.
Bruce

A
You disappoint me. I was waiting for Skip to do a spreadsheet and shopping
list of everything recommended, then buy it all and watch his boat sink from
the excess weight. Boo hoo. I was going to sell him all the excess junk we
hauled around for 3 years.
Bruce

My 12vdc service outlets are on a 15 amp breaker.. I have outlets all over
the boat for the drill, a 12 vdc soldering iron and a few other 12 gadgets..

Steve
s/v Good Intentions