What Spare Parts & Tools Do You Carry?

[Mr. NiceGuy]

Small things make huge differences when we don't have them.

I lost a clevis pin and split ring off the fin of my Mirage Drive last time I went out. The pedals went slack when the pin dropped out. Luckily, the fin did not slip off the post and sink. I had to paddle the rest of the way back because pedals were useless. Against the wind and tide, it was a mo-fo, but the exercise was good :-)




Plastic rudder pins are important too, when we don't have one. There is an indentation inside the lid of our 8" hatch already designed by Hobie to hold a clip-in spare rudder pin. Maybe I'll glue a couple spare clevis pins, screws, etc. inside the same hatch lid. Silicone glue or polyurethane stretch caulking - something that holds, but easy to pull off.




Once a control string came off the rudder of my brothers Outback. It was a pain in the butt out in the ocean without a rudder. I now carry a small phillips head screwdriver for refastening rudder strings. Much easier than trying to use the tip of a knife.

These things are so small, they hardly make a bump in our vest pocket, so of course we should have them.


What other SPARE PARTS AND TOOLS do you carry for making repairs on the ocean?


Some items on my emergency check list:

- Rescue Tape (radiator hose repair tape that molds and fuses to itself in wet conditions) https://www.amazon.com/Rescue-Tape-R...cue+tape&psc=1
- gauze fabric "pills" from the army surplus store that expand in water to become wrap bandages, tourniquets, eye patch, head band, etc.
- wire cutters strong enough to cut hooks embedded in the wrong places
- WoundSeal powder, stops bleeding instantly https://www.amazon.com/Biolife-LLC-W...%2Bpowder&th=1

- finger wrap size self adhesive bandages that work on wet skin
- tow rope with clip
- hand bilge pump
- 12' of paracord that doubles up to become my hat band and chin strap
- a few long zip ties. Black lasts longer in UV than white.



Food for thought.