How have you used rescue tape?

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On the Beast (old gasoline engine) one of the exhaust hoses was not properly secured. The fan belt rubbed it. Rather than replace the hose I strapped it up and added a bunch of rescue tape. Problem solved.

Next, one of the water mufflers (the tube type) had a crack at one end that oozed water. Wrapped it in rescue tape. Problem solved.

Friend on a Westsail32 had a stuffing box issue. It leaked like a sieve. While aboard he could keep the batteries charged (generator) but when away? No. Anyway, 1/2 roll of my tape and the leak stopped.

The guy replaced it with a bargain brand that was not the same -- much thinner, didn't adhere as well and generally was a waste of $$. He paid $5 for it at HomeDepot and that was $4.99 too much.

Friend had a leaky spray nozzle on his sink in a house. The problem whas where the nozzle attached to the hose. I brought over my rescue tape and solved the issue.
 
Disclaimer: the guy who owns Rescue Tape is a close friend of mine. That being said, I've used it for quite a few things, including a leaking fuel hose. Always works. Best boat repair was it fixed a leaking steel exhaust fitting (hose ran from the engine to the fitting which went through the transom). Held for quite a few months until we hauled out and replaced the fitting. Here's a short video we made of the repair:

https://youtu.be/IzHo9Q_zp-Y

John Kretschmer once told me he made a temporary repair on his boat crossing the Atlantic (can't remember exactly what it was). He sheepishly admitted the Rescue Tape was still there a year later...

Use it correctly and it will work.
 
Repaired lower circulating hose.

Molded hose failed on coastal delivery, repair lasted several weeks until factory hose delivered. Old deck drain , still in service, consider it repaired.
 
I have numerous rolls of different colors in my dock box and boat--it is great stuff. Everyone should have a roll or two on board for emergencies.
 
PO of our boat was a mighty over tightener of all things. One of the coolant petcocks had a slow leak because the o-ring was damaged.

Found a slightly larger inside diameter, but thinner o-ring in an old partially used Racor rebuild kit. Gave a couple wraps of Rescue Tape around the petcock so the o-ring would fit snug, then some more wraps over the o-ring to bring it up to the needed outside diameter. No more annoying leak :thumb:
 
There's a 2.5" wire-reinforced white plastic tube routed from our cabin roof to the console of our minimalist upper helm. It protects the wiring and hydraulic steering hoses. After ~14 years it developed a crack where it took a fairly tight 90-degree bend. Would have been an incredible pain to take everything apart and replace with new tubing.

Rescue tape saved the day! Easy to make several wraps, color matches perfectly, looks great, and it has withstood so far ~3 years, including ~12,000 miles blasting along through the wind and rain on the road between here and Prince Rupert.
 
My port engine 3" exhaust hose had a drip, so I wrapped it with Rescue Tape and it is still in service three years later.
 
Most of the RT is 1 in wide and 12 ft long, 20 mil thick. I probably have 5-10 rolls onboard the boat and more at home. I bought an industrial roll that's 2 in wide, 36 ft long (I think) and 30 mil. It's 50% thicker and 100% wider and very heavy for its size. The one roll cost me about $50. I'm saving it for that EXTRA special rescue requirement.

I have a "bucket o' rope" onboard that's hundreds of feet long that I can cut to any length needed. Before I cut the line, I wrap 6-8 inches of RT to prevent unraveling. Then I cut the line in the middle and both ends are 'whipped'...at least temporarily. It allows me to get the line in service immediately and come back later to whip the end correctly.

As a reminder, all RT repairs are intended as temporary in nature. It's not expected to be the final repair. It's always best to go back and replace the part or properly repair it.
 
I had never heard of the stuff, until the good folks at Active Captain informed me that they were sending me a free roll. After all the recent hype, I can safely say that I'm looking forward to it more than I've ever looked forward to a roll of tape coming in the mail.
 
We cracked an engine block about 2 years ago, wound the rescue tape on, had some trouble getting the right shade of red to match the engine paint, been good as gold ever since. :D
Ok, that`s all BS. The tape sounds good, I`m going to get some. A man would be a fool to himself and a burden unto others not having a roll on board.
 
Just one question...what is rescue tape..? :blush: :hide:

Ok...sorry...belay that...I looked it up. I think I have the same sort of stuff, but by a different name. :D Never needed it...so far...
 
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Rescue tape comes in two widths 1" and 2". What size are people using?
 
Bay Pelican said:
Rescue tape comes in two widths 1" and 2". What size are people using?
Click to expand...

The tape we have on board now is 1 inch. However i suspect I might have had an easier time dealing with our problem last Sunday had the tape been 2 inch. The smart solution is to have both on board.
 
Marin said:
The tape we have on board now is 1 inch. However i suspect I might have had an easier time dealing with our problem last Sunday had the tape been 2 inch. The smart solution is to have both on board.
Click to expand...

What was the problem last Sunday?
 
I mis-spoke; it was actually Labor Day not Sunday. We had a fair amount of water coming into the boat an a roll of Rescue Tape eventually stopped it. The wider tape would have, I think, made the job easier. Or not; easy to second guess these things after the fact.
 
Peter B said:
I think I have the same sort of stuff, but by a different name. :D Never needed it...so far...
Click to expand...

You do need the Real Deal. In some things a grey market (copy-cat) item is okay, however not in this case. Not in my opinion that is.

Rescue Tape is thicker than the knock-off brands. It is also rated for much higher heat than the cheap stuff. $10 isn't a lot to have something you can depend upon.

And I have the 1" (clear) aboard Seaweed. I like white too as it's easy to spot in the engine room.

The 2" stuff is on the "nice to have but not yet" list. It's lots more expensive.
 
I used it to secure the connection between a 50A cord and a 50A to twin 30A adapter.
 

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Marin said:
I mis-spoke; it was actually Labor Day not Sunday. We had a fair amount of water coming into the boat an a roll of Rescue Tape eventually stopped it. The wider tape would have, I think, made the job easier. Or not; easy to second guess these things after the fact.
Click to expand...

Since you won't say why the water was coming in, perhaps you'd at least tell us what size and how many bildge pumps you have in your engine space and if the leak was overwhelming them? Or were they keeping up with the influx?

Also do you have an easy way to use your engine raw water intakes as crash pumps? If not, after this experience would you consider setting one up?
 
Wifey B: Under our kitchen sink at home. It was a holiday and all of a sudden water water everywhere. But in our garage with our boat supplies was rescue tape to the rescue. For people not inclined to such things, I thought we were quite resourceful. When the plumber came he did too. He said "you meant for this to stay sealed. What the h... is this stuff?" It's better than the similar plumber tape. More expensive but our kitchen didn't sink....:D
 
Moonfish said:
Disclaimer: the guy who owns Rescue Tape is a close friend of mine. That being said, I've used it for quite a few things, including a leaking fuel hose. Always works. Best boat repair was it fixed a leaking steel exhaust fitting (hose ran from the engine to the fitting which went through the transom). Held for quite a few months until we hauled out and replaced the fitting. Here's a short video we made of the repair:

https://youtu.be/IzHo9Q_zp-Y

John Kretschmer once told me he made a temporary repair on his boat crossing the Atlantic (can't remember exactly what it was). He sheepishly admitted the Rescue Tape was still there a year later...

Use it correctly and it will work.
Click to expand...
Nothing is as permanent as a temporary repair!:rofl:
 
Capt.Bill11 said:
Since you won't say why the water was coming in, perhaps you'd at least tell us what size and how many bildge pumps you have in your engine space and if the leak was overwhelming them? Or were they keeping up with the influx?
Click to expand...


As a captain Bill, think about this...
You have an onboard experience that has the potential to result in litigation.
Would one of your first moves be to jump on social media with details; any details?

Not saying this is the case, but...
 
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Hawgwash said:
Capt.Bill11 said:
Since you won't say why the water was coming in, perhaps you'd at least tell us what size and how many bildge pumps you have in your engine space and if the leak was overwhelming them? Or were they keeping up with the influx?QUOTE]


As a captain Bill, think about this...
You have an onboard experience that has the potential to result in litigation.
Would one of your first moves be to jump on social media with details; any details?

Not saying this is the case, but...
Click to expand...

He brought it up on social media no one else did. And there was no way that at least some one around here wasn't going to ask the obvious follow up questions. If it is a litigation situation he should never have brought it up in any form in the first place.

But I don't think discribing your bilge pump system is going to open you up to any liability if your boat didn't sink.

I wasn't asking him to discribe why the boat was leaking. It's obvious he's not going to do that.

I just was curious as to what pump set up he had and how well it worked at stemming the flow. Did it just keep up? Or was it more than adequate? Does he have a quick and simple way to use his engines as emergancy pumps? Did he need to use them this time? If he does not, does he think he might add such a set up after this experience? Pretty basic questions that can be answered without the need to go into any detail about what caused the leak.

Although it might be informative to have a ballpark estimate of the volume of water coming in.
Click to expand...
 
...then again, it might have been Fusion Pro. If so, my bad...
 
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