What is the Weirdest Thing You Have Ever Found on a Boat

BrianRobin · Mar 29, 2020

I found instructions for a vibrator under my house battery last year, not so sure if that's a common boat find or not?

dlochner · Mar 29, 2020

This past summer I decided it was past time to replace the vent hose on a water tank under the starboard settee. Not a big or difficult job, it did require removing the deck of the settee to access the hose, some time with a drill and screwdriver bit and the deck was off and I had access to the fitting. While disassembling the settee I notice a little water beneath the outlet. No problem I thought, I'll just tighten the screw on the clamp and it will be good.

To double check, I filled the tank with water and went for a beer. I wanted to make sure I had fixed the problem before putting everything back together. I came back, the water had returned and I pumped the tank empty. With the tank empty, I removed the fitting, put new teflon tape on the threads, attached the hose and tightened the clamps. After filling the tank with water I went home.

The next day, upon returning I found, no surprise, more water. Fearing the worst, a split seam on the tank, the tank was drained and I finished removing all the restraining parts to remove the tank. After wrestling with the tank, it yield to my persuasion. The good news, the seams in the tank were intact. Yahoo! And the leak was found. In the bottom corner of the tank that was tight against a bulkhead was an unused threaded hole for an outlet. The outlet had been sealed with a brass reducing bushing and a black iron plug. After 20 or so years the black iron finally failed and created a very slow leak.

Discovering the leak solved a couple of other concerns, a musty smell emanating from the region and a swollen drawer on the other side of the bulkhead that had some mildew and would not slide easily. Fortunately the leak had not damaged the bulk head yet, probably because the boat spends half the time out of the water on the hard so it can dry out.

Mystery of the leak solved, I swung by a big box hardware store on the way home and bought a 50 cent ½" PVC plug to seal the hole. On the next trip to the boat with plug in hand, I discovered the plug was too large. It must be a ⅜" plug I thought. So off to the nearest big box hardware store, a 50 mile roundtrip, to purchase a $5 ⅜" brass plug. Back at the boat and ready to be done with this project, I inserted the plug only to find, you guessed it, it was too small. WTF, it was another chance to practice my sailor speak and look for new words in the Profanisaurus.

Back home, with micrometer in hand I struggled to solve the problem. Perhaps it was a metric thread? A trip to the local industrial fastener supply center bore no fruit, a matching thread could not be found. Then it was off to the plumbing supply house, again, to no avail. Back to the internet and a deep dive into the world of pipe thread standards. Therein lies the answer. In the world there are 2 major pipe thread standards, National Pipe Standards, the NPT and NPS standard we all know and the British Pipe Standards (BST and BSS) and a couple of lesser known and rarely used other standards. My best guess was the thread was a ½" British Standard Taper (BST). But where to find a BST threaded plug in the US?

Where to find arcane bits and pieces? McMaster-Carr, there buried deep in their inventory was a ½" SS BST plug for just $3.10 plus $7 shipping. After waiting anxiously for a day or two for the part to arrive, the threads on the new and old plug matched. Off to the boat, the plug was wrapped in teflon tape and it fit!

While the tank was out, the areas was cleaned and treated with a mildew and mold killer. The bulkhead was inspected and found to be solid. The tank was installed and filled. After a few hours there was no evidence of a leak. Problem solved.

Now all that remained was trying to remember how it all went back together two weeks after starting this quick and simple project.

jon hansen · Mar 29, 2020

on a run from sturgeon bay to chicago for a mac race, i put into algoma wis to run the kids. after they left the boat i was attending to chores when with a loud hiss i was startled by a opossum that was in a cabinet behind the stove. i jumped back from fright, he/she bolted for the companion way hatch, across the deck and onto the shore. maybe was just trying to visit cousins in algoma

.

capta · Mar 29, 2020

Not really odd or weird, but really cool.
When I pulled the mast on my 1909 gaff ketch, after sailing her from Hawaii through the SoPac to NZ, we found a 1909 Double Eagle $20 dollar gold coin in the mast step. This was an old sailing tradition for good luck and when I restepped the mast, I added a NZ gold coin with the Double Eagle.
It must have worked, because we were capsized three times in a hurricane (with lots of damage) shortly thereafter, but the old girl got us back to a safe anchorage. Not without a lot of work on our part, but still, she hung together.
I've actually tried to find out what happened after the new owner shipped her back to the states, but she's been delisted as a documented vessel and the several posts I've made asking folks in the Bay Area if they had seen her, got no responses.
I wonder if she sank in her slip and was broken up, and whether anybody found those coins.

jssailem · Mar 30, 2020

Capta you sly devil.

Now your going to have treasure seekers pulling masts in hopes of finding rare coins at their base.

lehighsail · Mar 30, 2020

When I renamed my current boat in 2014, I thought that part of the tradition was to put a lucky coin under the mast. I used a 1947 Washington quarter (birth year) that I happen to have. For the christening we had a bottle of sparkling Asti-Spumante (bottled just like champagne) that we had bought 43 years prior on our honeymoon to be used for a special occasion. The ceremony was beautiful with many friends and family but instead of breaking the bottle we opened it for all to share. Unfortunately, what came out was brown sludge. The toast was made with beer. I'll have to check to see if the coin is still there.

jssailem · Mar 30, 2020

lehighsail said:
what came out was brown sludge. The toast was made with beer.

In the true spirit of a sailor you adapted and thrived....

jhagg · Mar 30, 2020

Snake! This lovely little Garter snake seemed to love the warmth of our dingy motor.

dlochner · Mar 30, 2020

Speaking of critters...
Removed the pedestal cover one day to find @Kermit's cousin hugging the chart plotter.

Kermit · Mar 30, 2020

dlochner said:
Speaking of critters...
Removed the pedestal cover one day to find @Kermit's cousin hugging the chart plotter.

Ribbit

Apex · Mar 30, 2020

jon hansen said:
on a run from sturgeon bay to chicago for a mac race, i put into algoma wis to run the kids. after they left the boat i was attending to chores when with a loud hiss i was startled by a opossum that was in a cabinet behind the stove. i jumped back from fright, he/she bolted for the companion way hatch, across the deck and onto the shore. maybe was just trying to visit cousins in algoma.

Similar story, but a racoon in my case. A friend was using the head when he exclaimed a racoon was on the boat. On deck? NO, staring at him just feet away in the v-berth. It holed up ahead of the anchor locker at 3am a fellow club member walked by and lent a hand. Crawled up in the v-berth with the varmint, fed him a peanut butter sandwich. It jumped down (inches from his face), hissed as it strolled by and exited the boat. Later we learned the racoon whisperer was less aware of his actions than we thought. We still have a stuffed racoon aboard as our mascot. (edit: a toy racoon, not the actual)

Timm R Oday25 · Mar 31, 2020

I work for a very large hydraulics manufacturer . We use JIS , Japanese Industrial Standard , BTW .NPT, SAE , BSPP,, ORING FACE SEAL , fittings Sometimes on the same test component !
The strangest thing I found on a boat ? A previous owners idea of how to wire a stereo or the vhf .

BrianH · Apr 2, 2020

We wee about 8 nm out from land in Lake Erie when I noticed something flutter from the top of the mast to the back of the main, near the outhaul. I wasn't sure what it was, until I looked on the leeward side of the sail and there was a small brown bat hanging onto the main near the clew. I left it alone, because I wan't sure what to do. Well it decided for me, it flew down into the open cabin. When I went below to see where it went, it flew in deeper, into an aft cabin. I grabbed a towel and started twirling it around and it flew out into the galley. I found it hiding behind a mounted fire extinguisher and threw my towel at it. Luckily the towel disoriented the bat and they both fell on the floor with the towel over the bat. I scooped them both up and got them out into the cockpit. The bat managed to poke it's head out of the towel at that point so I shook the towel out astern and off it went.

The boat had an in-mast roller furling main, so I assume he had spent the night in the upper cavity in the mast. After I let him go, I felt a little bad because we were so far from shore...

shemandr · Apr 2, 2020

BrianH said:
After I let him go, I felt a little bad because we were so far from shore...

Don't feel bad, maybe a hawk ate him.

PaulK · Apr 3, 2020

BrianH said:
We wee about 8 nm out from land in Lake Erie when I noticed something flutter from the top of the mast to the back of the main, near the outhaul. I wasn't sure what it was, until I looked on the leeward side of the sail and there was a small brown bat hanging onto the main near the clew. I left it alone, because I wan't sure what to do. Well it decided for me, it flew down into the open cabin. When I went below to see where it went, it flew in deeper, into an aft cabin. I grabbed a towel and started twirling it around and it flew out into the galley. I found it hiding behind a mounted fire extinguisher and threw my towel at it. Luckily the towel disoriented the bat and they both fell on the floor with the towel over the bat. I scooped them both up and got them out into the cockpit. The bat managed to poke it's head out of the towel at that point so I shook the towel out astern and off it went.

The boat had an in-mast roller furling main, so I assume he had spent the night in the upper cavity in the mast. After I let him go, I felt a little bad because we were so far from shore...

We were beating into a nasty 25 knot rain about midway between Boston and Provincetown MA (about 30 miles off both) when at about 03h00 something flew in over the lifelines and seemed to disappear below. Mother Carey’s chicken that we’d scared up?? Screwy. A few seconds later it came out and dropped in the cockpit at the base of the pedestal. A brief moment later it jumped up and flew again towards the hatchway, ending up hanging upside down from the stretcher bar for the dodger. He (she?) hung there the rest of the night, swinging gently with the boat as we bashed along. We arrived in Tennant’s Harbor the following afternoon with it still hanging there, preening it’s fur every now and then, then going back to sleep. Very cute. We named it Bancroft. When evening fell, he flew off.

shemandr · Apr 3, 2020

One of the things I love about sailing and being "Out" are the critters you encounter. When returning from Spring Off Sounding Regatta I often see the mating of Sand Sharks going on. Thousands of little sharks in the amorous rituals of life. Entirely entertaining and I have to admit I enjoy sometimes more than than the races. We see all kinds or critters out there like a seal munching on a flounder in the Race. Aint it good?

What is the Weirdest Thing You Have Ever Found on a Boat

.

.

.

.

.

.

SBO Weather and Forecasting Forum Jim & John

.

SBO Weather and Forecasting Forum Jim & John

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.