Little tip?????

[Ken Cross]

Hi everyone.
I seem to be more sensitive to rattles than the Admiral, but I've usually been able to fix it. Often a tiny piece of stick on Velcro will do the trick. So my question:

What little tricks have you found to common problems?
(Any problem, not necessarily for a rattle.)
It seems we have lots of brains here that we can all benefit from.
Ken

 

[Stu Jackson]

We stack our plates vertically in a section behind the stove. We have a few pieces of foam insulation strategically placed to eliminate any noise. I too hate ANY noise. We worked hard over the first year of ownership (many years ago) to eliminate them all. I think it's a safety issue: if you hear any noise, you start looking. I can figure how folks sail with noises. It gets in the way of the music or the baseball game!

 

[centerline]

rub a candle on the bottom of the wood drawers/slides to lubricate.... one or two applications will last for years afterwards

we use the small felt dots on the corners of all doors/jambs, drawers and lids so nothing rattles or slams with a bang.

if you have stained teak on the interior (head area?), or other bare wood that needs oiled occasionally, use pledge furniture polish in the spray can, because it applys thick (I like the lemon scented)... spray it on very heavy and let it set for a week while you are away from the boat. when you return the stains will either be gone or minimized, the oil will be absorbed and the wood will have a much richer look. do this again in a month or so and the wood will be protected for a many months without further care.

we wipe the entire interior with it to keep it looking like new... on our old boat.

 

[weinie]

Offload whining crew at the first opportunity. Takes care of most of the unwanted noises.

 

[rgranger]

Offload whining crew at the first opportunity. Takes care of most of the unwanted noises.

 

[woodster]

silicon pads under anything you don't want to move around ...the kind like at wally word sold as trivets for hot pots

 

[Puplox]

silicon pads under anything you don't want to move around ...the kind like at wally word sold as trivets for hot pots

That's a good one. I like the velcro idea too. I'll just put this duct tape away then ...

 

[Ken Cross]

Remember this isn't just about rattles, This is about ideas. I want your secrets.

Ken

 

[rgranger]

Tips....? well for provisioning, I like to pack Folgers Coffee Singles (Tea-Bag Coffee). Might seem like I'm way out in left field here but... the coffee ain't half bad and I don't have to pack a coffee maker and I can heat a cup of water very fast so... This might be more applicable to us sailing smaller vessels but for me it is one way to pack lighter.

For the random leak in the middle of the night... a wad of plumber's putty will let you get back to sleep and you can fix it right in the morning.

 

[Ilanortho]

paper plates

 

[pateco]

LED headlamps are a must. Keep your hands free, and cheaper than most good flashlights.

 

[philwsailz]

Beef jerky and individual pack cheese or peanut butter crackers.

A snack is always ready.

 

[capta]

We use 'overflow alarms', meant for washers in a basement, for auxiliary bilge alarms throughout the boat. They make enough noise to be heard above a gale at the helm, and are battery powered and totally independent of the boat's electrical system. The batteries last well over a year, so it's easy annual maintenance.
We have one in the generator drip pan, one just forward of the stuffing box and another under the rudder packing gland, not to mention one in the deep bilge, just above the float switch high water level.
I prefer the LD-63HS but they are getting hard to find, so I had a half dozen sent from the manufacturer in Taiwan who was nice enough to send such a small quantity. I sleep very well at night with these little babies inhabiting the places where water might sneak in.

 

[Kermit]

Probly obvious to most of y'all but I *finally* learned to leave the docklines at the dock. Makes securing the boat oh so easy. I keep extra lines handy for docking at Liberty on the Lake for lunch.

 

[Charlie Jones s/v Tehani]

Tips....? well for provisioning, I like to pack Folgers Coffee Singles (Tea-Bag Coffee). Might seem like I'm way out in left field here but... the coffee ain't half bad and I don't have to pack a coffee maker and I can heat a cup of water very fast so... This might be more applicable to us sailing smaller vessels but for me it is one way to pack lighter.

I'd much prefer the Malittas cones and filters. Takes the exact same time and is brewed coffee. I'm a coffee nut and DETEST instant or singles

 

[Charlie Jones s/v Tehani]

Probly obvious to most of y'all but I *finally* learned to leave the docklines at the dock. Makes securing the boat oh so easy. I keep extra lines handy for docking at Liberty on the Lake for lunch.

lol Fine if you always come back to the same dock

 

[Kermit]

lol Fine if you always come back to the same dock

That's why I always keep my pillow on the same bed.

 

[Crazy Dave Condon]

If your electronics ever went out at night for example in the middle of the Chesapeake Bay, what would you do for direction and also include your batteries died too like on the smaller boats? Carry a portable AM radio with a state highway roadmap. Know where the local AM channels are located. Turn the radio until you get the strongest signal and obtain at least two and cross plot on the road map. It works. It is like the old RDF many and I mean many moons ago. It will at least get you to the general area. In my case, I was in the Bay at night to include fog and when all said and done, I was appx. 700 feet off when arriving..

 

[Ken Cross]

We have a stick on battery tap light installed in the roof of the refrigerator.
Sorta like Kermit's idea: We have fenders attached horizontally in the slip. I carry others if we need to tie up elsewhere.
Ken

 

[Kermit]

Sorta like Kermit's idea: We have fenders attached horizontally in the slip. I carry others if we need to tie up elsewhere.
Ken

Me too!