Replacement Bolt

As you know, there is always something to do on a boat. The handle on the head seems to regularly break. The dipstick in the gear box shears. Or, as what happened to me last, the bolt securing the throttle lever to the post sheared inside the post and the throttle came completely off. Fortunately, we were in low moving from one side of Elizabeth Harbor, Georgetown (Grand Exuma) to the other. As a control measure, I took a pair of vice grips and clamped the throttle so I could have some control over the speed. That allowed us to get to our anchorage spot, stop and secure the boat.

The challenge then became removing the bolt what was seated inside the post. Being a lawyer and not a full-time mechanic, I am not completely aware of the functions of all the tools on the boat. But, I searched through the limited tools I have on board hoping to spark some idea for a solution. I even shared my dilemma with some of my cruising friends.

Fortunately, the trusty West Marine tool set had a selection of bit sets. I have no earthly idea their use, but one appeared to be a size that, if I were able to drill a small hole into the bolt fragment, it might create enough of a wedge for me to tap the fragment loose. With the cordless drill and a small drill bit, I was able to start a hole in the bolt. Then, I tapped in the bit set and rather easily dislodged the bolt fragment from inside the post.

Then came the task of finding a replacement bolt. That’s a story in and of itself and is continued below.

Replacement Bolt, Continued

Getting the bolt out proved to be only half of my problem. It was a ¾” by ¼” stainless steel bolt with a 32-fine machine thread. As I was soon to find out, this is not your garden-variety marine bolt. I certainly didn’t have one aboard, so I utilized the Georgetown Sailor’s Network to announce my problem and ask if anybody in Elizabeth Harbour might have it.

Ray Thompson, on our buddy-boat Windy Liz, had a great supply of nuts and bolts, but not what I needed. I had a call back from a boat named Margaritaville. They suggested that I come over and look through their selection. I dinghied over to Sanddollar Beach and went aboard an absolutely gorgeous sailboat that the owners, Al and Lynn, had made themselves. They had the most incredible array of screws, nuts, bolts, washers (and everything else a sailor might need) all neatly stored in multi-drawer containers. The marvel to me was, not only did they have them, they had them labeled, knew where they were and what they were for. Alas, the finest thread we could find was a 24. I left Margaritaville with the promise that if I couldn’t find what I needed, Al would come over to Up Jinks and re-tap the bolt for me.

Ultimately, I had to go into town. I made a futile attempt to find the bolt at the Top 2 Bottom Hardware Store. Then, someone suggested I might find what I needed at the lumber yard which was about three miles north of town down Queen’s Highway. I rented a scooter for $20 from the hardware store and, with fear and trepidation totally focused on staying in the left-hand lane, scootered to the lumber yard.

The man at the yard proved to be very helpful and most creative in solving my problem. Although he didn’t have the exact bolt, he did have a 1-1/2” Hexhead steel bolt with the right thread. He suggested that I could shorten the bolt to the ¾” by using a nut. We settled on that solution. To get what I needed, he had to climb up a ladder halfway to the ceiling. By the time he came back to the counter, I remembered that old sailing adage “if you need one, buy two.” He very pleasantly climbed back up the ladder. The total purchase for both bolts and nuts was 60 cents. Of course, I had to add the $20 for the scooter to the outlay.

When I came back to Up Jinks, it took only a couple of minutes to screw the bolt into place and lock it down with the nut. The throttle handle was secure and moved easily forward and back. With a great deal of satisfaction, I placed my spare bolt and nut into a zip lock back to store away. It was a good thing because the next day we were pulling up anchor to move to a more protected place in Elizabeth Harbour and the bolt on the gear handle sheared exactly like its counterpart on the throttle had done two days before.

This time, I was ready with the knowledge and tools I needed. What had taken two days to fix before took only fifteen minutes this time. Hopefully, my experience will be helpful if this should ever happen to you.