Boating: Where did all the chandleries go?
An old-time friend asked me for advice about changing a leaking hose going to an underwater through hull on his older sailboat.
Ordinarily I would recommend that he take the boat to a nearby boat yard and have the boat hauled. Under the present economic conditions my friend would find even a short haul-out beyond his budgeted boat allowance. His stock portfolio tanked and he retired 15 years ago so his social security check is small. Boohoo, right, we are all in bad shape one way or another.
We members in the “Dead End Canal Yacht Club” try our best to help each other in any boating matter. ‘Seattle Doug’ has no family close but he lives on our canal. He doesn’t sail his 37 footer anymore unless the sailors in our yacht club go out with him on his boat. He has cocktails on the boat most nights and once in a while a lady friend from church visits the old widower and he spins tall tales about his beloved sailboat.
After two of his sailor friends and I peeked down into the nether region of his boat, it was decided that replacing the worn out hose would be easy IF the gate valve on the through hull could be closed. The circular handle follows the old adage, ‘righty tighty, lefty loosey’ but there isn’t any way to verify the position until the hose comes off. It is very important that the valve works properly which old gate valves submerged in salt water seldom do.
The boat is old but in fairly good condition. What amazed ‘Boston Bob’, ‘Philly Billy’ and I were the gate valves. Many years ago they had been deemed totally insufficient and any marine surveyor would have gigged the boat and insisted they be replaced with ball valves.
“Hey Doug,” I shouted to the boat’s owner, “do you have insurance on your sailboat?”
“It really isn’t worth insuring,” he replied, “I’ve owned her outright for nearly 30 years so what’s the point?”
No insurance, no periodical marine insurance survey. That explained a lot but there was no time to quibble about if the gate valves should have been replaced. “We need a tapered wooden plug,” I said to my companions as I got off the sailboat. “Anyone have a spare?” They didn’t.
I went around the neighborhood, hat in hand looking for a simple tapered plug to have at the ready if we were suddenly presented with an open hole to the sea. Trying to reattach a crumbling hose to the valve would have been nearly impossible and the boat could sink at the dock.
“I’m off to the local discount marine supply store”, I told my colleagues. I will not name this marine retailer because even though I think they are a fine establishment you might take my comments out of context. I was sure they would have a soft Pine, tapered plug from ? of an inch up to three inches. The nice lady escorted me through the brightly lighted, neatly arranged, expansive store directly to the through hull section where she pointed to a package of eight or so plugs with a price tag of about $18.
“I only need that one,” I said pointing to the perfect size.
“They only come in the package,” she said before being called off to serve another customer. For a brief moment I contemplated opening the see through plastic package and slipping the perfect size in my pocket but I fought the urge and won. Many years ago I worked for Boat U.S. for a few years, just to get the benefits they offered.
Stop laughing, they really did offer benefits at one time! They also had a great staffing level and very knowledgeable staff. Since I owned my own marine store eons ago, I was put in charge of the Boson’s locker where I counted each and every individual wooden plug at inventory time. In 1990 they were a buck or two each for the big ones and a buck or less for the small ones. We did have some minor pilferage but nothing much.
Anyway, I searched high and low in every Marina, boatyard, ship’s store and junk shop for nearly a week without any luck. Gone are those chandleries that had everything. They seemed to be everywhere around the water and like the old time hardware stores they are gone. They went the way of the mom and pop clothing stores on Main Street when Wally Mart moved into town. We’ve allowed these giant outfits to become distributors so now they set the packaging rules and the prices. It’s what happens when competition disappears.
I found a small wood shop with a lathe and they fashioned the perfect plug. The hose has been repaired but not after ‘Boston Bob’ got shot up his nostrils. As we suspected the valve is stuck open. Doug will have to dig into his reserves to replace those gate valves in his prize possession. A trip to the boat yard is in his ‘very soon future’.
Please send questions and comments to boatguiEd@aol.com. If you like this column and wish it to continue please contact me. Buy lots of bottom paint @ supershipbottom.com, too!