When your cordless drill goes "splash"

[Jaxfishgyd]

So I was working on the boat today (uh, and that is different from what other day....) and was moving the navagation lights up 9" to clear the air horns on the starboard side (and 3 existing antennas) and was almost done when I started to walk back to the cockpit to get a tube of caulk when I heard "SPLASH".

KNEW right away it was my DeWalt 18v "XRP" cordless drill.....Am sure it's someone's fault but as I was the only one on the boat at the time, am still trying someone to blame for it.

Went into the water and found it, (only 5' deep at the time) pulled it up and hit the button... WIRRRR it went.......

Drenched it in WD-40 then took it apart and cleaned everything I could and then again drenched it in WD-40 (hey, it's what I had on hand).

The good part is, I'm 35 miles from the ocean so not a "lot" of saltwater around plus it was low tide, which means most of the water here now is freshwater....

Will be interesting to see how it does a week from now though...

[MikeP]

It'll probably be fine, Charlie - WD 40 is one of the best things around for such mishaps!

I'm confident that it wasn't your fault; I have spent quite a bit of time on occasion trying to find someone/something to blame and have usually managed to do so. Sometimes it just takes more time to assign the blame.

[Captned]

Speaking of splash, how come whenever you drop something on a boat deck, it doesnt just bounce and stop, it some how finds the only possible way to go flying overboard? Yesterday, I dropped a large SS allen head screw from my flybridge, it hit the cockpit deck and shot out of my transom door. (my dog likes to look out, I leave it open). What are the odds? I couldn't do it if I tried...

Captned
Miami Beach
46 78 CON

[MikeP]

True

I dropped a Snap-On screwdriver on the deck - I mean the MIDDLE of the deck - at least 6 ft in any direction from water. It landed on the end of the handle and, as if made of super-ball material, leaped from the middle of the deck into the water. I would have said it was impossible if I hadn't seen it.

Despite my usual protestations, I'm wondering if somehow the laws of physics aren't somehow distorted around boats in water. Hmm, could be quantum physics which no one understands anyway.

[SKYCHENEY]

I was working in the engine room with the Ryobi 18v flashlight a couple of weeks ago. I left to run up to the bridge since I was troubleshooting a sounder issue. When I returned, the light had fallen into the bilge and would not work. I disassembled the battery pack and let the water drain out. Then I replaced the bulb and snapped on another batt pack. It worked fine, as did the wet battery after it dried out.

I still don't know how it fell into the bilge though. There were no wakes and it seemed secure when I left it. Maybe those tools have a mind of there own.

[Starman]

Some years back I was doing a job on an old Chris Craft at Seapath in Wilmington. It was frigid out that day and I was the only fool on the docks. As I stepped from the boat to the dock my steel case holding my 14 volt dewalt drill, two batteries, a charger, and several driver bits opened up.

What could I do but drive straight to Lowes and buy an 18volt drill.


The other tool story is pretty ironic.

Remember how Sears used to replace broken Craftsman tools ? I found a broken tape measure in the road and a few days later got a replacement at Sears.

The next day also at Seapath, I was coming off the boat and the tape caught the hand rail on the steps. It hit the dock, bounced and landed on the splash rail on the boat.

Well a little while after that, I did the same thing again and this time, it slid off the splash rail into the water. I guess it was not meant for me to own that tape.

[Imthebeachgirl]

You guys are so right and it happens to everyone! I assist my husband, Jim with alot of our diy projects (home & boat) and as much as he is the most organized person I know, somehow, there will be a nut or bolt or washer that disappears into what I call the "black hole" never to be seen again. I think the "tool gremlins" are to blame....Cheers! Laurie

[34Hatt]

I did almost same thing 14 volt screwgun that I left up on the hard top! I too still looking to blame someone and that was back in 2001 when I did the outside over.
Well went to bring the boat out east went past another boat heard something slide on roof, then heard a clunk. Well it hit the edge of cabin roof on the way to the water put a little scratch in. My buddy was in the cockpit and yells up a big black thing just flew past my head!!!! I said I think it was my screw gun he say you going back? I said NO, up on cruise saltwater, first It would it would be a miracle to find it and then a second miracle to get it to work! Went out like Starman and bought a 18V complete kit with sawsall and skillsaw!!!

[MikeP]

Ahh but the other side of this is the situation where you are cleaning out the bilges (or whatever) and find a lost tool. My most recent was a 11/16 Snap-on box/open-end wrench that had gone missing. As often seems typical "discovery" usually occurs shortly after you bought the new item to replace the one that was "lost."

Yes, I have TWO nice Snap On 11/16 wrenches on board!

[nor'easter]

I have had 2 cell phones go over from my boat. One was my wife, in the middle os san diego bay. It did a high jump worthy of the olympics. When it hit the deck, thought it was safe as is was in the middle of the cockpit. Over it went. The other was a friends that he lost while disembarking at the dock. He insisted in retrieving it. You can guess whether it worked or not.
Funniest/lamest was mine. Just after buying NE'r, I took the soft top and enclosure off to give it a good cleaning at home in my driveway. One of the curtains resting on the minimally crowned Hatt foredeck started to slither towards the water. It seemed to move in absolute slow motion as I hurried towards it, feeling like I was in quicksand. I actually think it slowed its progress to taunt me as it went over. It really needed to be cleaned after it came out of the muck!