Tools

This came with my boat ...looks to be just a bent piece of stainless rod...

Works great as I can stick a finger in it and spin it quickly. Easy to tie a float to. Hangs up easily on my key rack.

Buy 2x the rod length and bend up 2.

An added bonus is that many of the plates have holes a little closer/farther apart...these spread easily enough.

Speaking of tools...
Here's a deck plate key, shackle key, garboard drain plug wrench and bottle opener I made from a piece of stainless strap. Do you know, it took me about 3 dog beers to get that bottle opener right?

Clectric,I grease the fuel caps as well.
Rwidman, The bulwarks keep the tool safe, without them a safety line is a must, I tie a line to the drill, screwdrivers etc,the Swiss Army knife has a neck lanyard. The tool cost was hidden in a big bill.
I like psneeld`s and jeffnick`s devices too.

Seems like a lot of effort to do the same job, and less, than a $8 part:

Davis Universal Deck Plate Key

A pair of angled needle nose pliers works well too when you can't find the other thingy.

caltexflanc said:

Seems like a lot of effort to do the same job, and less, than a $8 part:

Davis Universal Deck Plate Key

A pair of angled needle nose pliers works well too when you can't find the other thingy.

Click to expand...

Too small for leverage and no garboard drain plug wrench or bottle opener...nothing worse than sinking at the ramp without a beer.

caltexflanc said:

Seems like a lot of effort to do the same job, and less, than a $8 part:

Click to expand...

I hear that line a lot George and it makes complete sense to me. The difference is I have a welding shop and the time to play. Besides that, I enjoy stuff like this as another form of relaxation

Jeff, that is one cool design that needs further "research" on my part

jeffnick said:

Too small for leverage and no garboard drain plug wrench or bottle opener...nothing worse than sinking at the ramp without a beer.

Click to expand...

Actually it can do those last two. As for the first, what are you doing, welding your deck plates in after every fill? Or just don't boat enough to use them very much? A little petroleum jelly goes a long way. Shouldn't need anything put your fingers for that drain plug, BTW. And you never want a single point of failure for opening beer. Ironically, my water fill is on the aft deck, and is slotted as well, and I use the end of a bottle opener on it.

A toll that I missed during my cruise was a battery check. I think that is very important.

I should have also included a small wet/dry shop vacuum; I was using old faithful yesterday while doing some bilge cleaning. What a great device for a cruising boat.

Oh yes! Shop vac for sure! Very handy. We have a very small one to fit under the sink in one of the heads. As I used it last weekend I was thinking how great it is to have.

A great alternative (I have found them to be really just the same in power) is the bucket top vacs available at Lowes. Mine was $19 and fits all sizes and shapes of 5 gallon pails. I have 3 and 5 gallon pails for all sorts of uses that are available if need be...but one dry and one wet just for the vac.

That way one doesn't get all muddy if I switch over. One is a little on the oily side so it gets the really nasty vacuum jobs as well as any oil jobs.

Jeffnick, very clever and nicely done. The plug and tool are right where you need them. How is the holder fastened to the transom?

We have two small Sears wet/dry shop vacs. When you have the breed of dog we have the vacuum cleaner becomes the most important item on the boat. We have two because one is set up with a filter bag and the other is set up with no bag for vacuuming the bilge dry or sucking up water spilled during plumbing projects and whatnot.

A tool we are getting this weekend is a proper rigging knife. The Leatherman Wave I wear on my belt has a very good serrated line cutting blade but we've found that something with a line blade, a marlin spike, and a shackle key would be very handy to have on occasion. After doing considerable research we've decided to get a folding rigging knife from Myerchin.

Marin, I have had this one for 6 years:

http://shop.myerchin.com/images/1338930927406-1524338761.jpeg

Pretty nice, but the unlock method has to be done carefully.

I do like that bucket vac idea, but no reason to change now, I like the portability factor, though been a few times when I wish I had that 5 gallon capacity; we have a small upright vac for most "dry" vacuuming.

caltexflanc said:

Marin, I have had this one for 6 years:

http://shop.myerchin.com/images/1338930927406-1524338761.jpeg

Pretty nice, but the unlock method has to be done carefully.

I do like that bucket vac idea, but no reason to change now, I like the portability factor, though been a few times when I wish I had that 5 gallon capacity; we have a small upright vac for most "dry" vacuuming.

Click to expand...

Supposedly Myerchin has a second generation out now that features an improved one-hand open and lock feature.

The shop vacs we have are the small Sears model, just 2 gallons I think. I don't know if they still offer them although they still carry the filter bags.

caltexflanc said:

Marin, I have had this one for 6 years:

http://shop.myerchin.com/images/1338930927406-1524338761.jpeg

Pretty nice, but the unlock method has to be done carefully.

I do like that bucket vac idea, but no reason to change now, I like the portability factor, though been a few times when I wish I had that 5 gallon capacity; we have a small upright vac for most "dry" vacuuming.

Click to expand...

The Lowes bucket vac that I got was made by Shop Vac as far as I can tell...exact look-a-like and all the parts, filters, etc have fit as if made for it.

One thing you can do on the shop vac is line the inside with a small garbage bag. When done with the job you can lift it out and dispose of it with little to no mess.

ezdipper said:

One thing you can do on the shop vac is line the inside with a small garbage bag. When done with the job you can lift it out and dispose of it with little to no mess.

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I like it, great idea thanks

Just wanted to chime in on tool storage. First let me say that I think we have more tools on our boats than anyone else in our marina. Just last weekend everyone was coming by to borrow things - I think we may hang a sign and start charging. (Kidding, we don't mind helping out.). Anyway, we started with a hard side tool box for the most common tools, then went to a soft side becuase it fit better in the space available. Last year I picked up two tool rolls, and love them. I have one with screw drivers and pliers, and another with wrenches and ratchets. They also have pockets for sockets. The rolls make it really easy to keep track of things, and no more skinned knuckles reaching into the bag. They are also really compact when rolled up. Just our experience.

Yep, I do the same Carolena, they work well.

A unit with out a 2 inch suction hose is a waste of time.

HopCar said:

Jeffnick, very clever and nicely done. The plug and tool are right where you need them. How is the holder fastened to the transom?

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Command Large Water-Resistant Refill Strips, 4-Strip:Amazon:Home Improvement