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Old 06-17-2014, 12:52 PM   #12
twistedtree
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City: Vermont
Join Date: Jan 2013
Posts: 10,093
I think a lot has to do with where you are cruising. If you are coastal US, then you can get pretty much anything within a couple of days, even one day if you are willing to pay. In this case I'd only carry what I think I would need for a repair that has to be done at sea, adn whatever additional things I would want on hand for convenience. For example, I have always kept a set of filters, impellers, wiper blades, etc. on board because I don't want to have to wait for parts, and I know I'll consume them within 1-2 years.

Cruising outside the US, even in 1st world countries can be very different. When in Canada I fried the plug end on my 50A shore power cord. I went from Quebec City all the way around the Maritimes including stops is pretty much every large port, and didn't find a replacement plug end, or even a whole cord set until I got to Halifax. People offered to order me one, but it would take a week and I wasn't staying anywhere that long.

That's Canada. Now try the Bahamas, Mexico, or someplace really remote. Fogettaboutit. In these cases it's about carry spares because they will otherwise be difficult to get and stall you for weeks or more.

The offshore cruising is another category where there is a whole other scope of problems that you need to be able to solve at sea.

I've never been a fan of keeping used parts as spares. I figure if a part needs to be replaced, it's because it's a bad part and why would I want to turn around and put it back in my boat again? And if I did put a used part in the boat as a repair, wouldn't I want to replace it with new at the next opportunity, thereby having to performing the repair twice? No thanks.

But you make a good point about being certain that the parts you have on hand actually fit. Some parts are move easily confirmed correct than others, so I guess it needs to be figured out on a case by case basis. If the filters on my engine are marked with part number X and the replacement is marked with X, then I'm pretty good with it. Air filters are probably easy enough to pop out and check for a match. A water pump might be a little harder, but I probably would just do a visual/measurement check. I wouldn't tear into the engine to check thermostats, valve cover gaskets, or anything internal. Same with injectors, pumps, etc. I think belts are the big thing that I'd worry about, mostly because engines have different accessories, pulley ratios, etc which can mean different belts, so I might do a test fit if I can't find an exact number match on the two belts. But I'd probably put the old belt back on and keep the new as a spare.
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