Another storm was hitting Bangor, storm Goretti to be precise which was named by the French met office. While Beverley was walking along the pontoons, she noticed that a boom was swinging wildly in the wind, so she fixed it for them. Here at Bangor the staff walk the pontoons on a regular basis, so that they can check the boats and fix any issues like a boom swaying or a foresail flapping in the wind. When an issue is small, then it is always best to fix it rather than leave it, it doesn't take long before a flapping foresail is a ripped foresail. While Beverley was walking she decided that we are going to start by rationalising things on the boat. We have collected a lot of stuff that we simply do not use any more.

Tools

In one of my previous lives I was an electrical and electron engineer and as a result I do like good quality tools. There is a saying that a poor workman blames his tools, but I have seen people use poor tools and then can seriously make a mess of stuff. Even something as simple as cutting bread with a blunt knife, can make the final product of a sandwich look dreadful. Better to just sharpen the knife first and then cut the bread. I know I am a tool freak but I simply like good quality tools.

So we have a case of tools which we bought in 2005, they have got us through a lot of jobs, but we have since bought better quality tools, so we will be taking these tools down to Beverley's mums. She had a need for masonry bits which we simply do not.

Multi-tools

I love multi-tools as a concept, but when it comes to actually using them I find them too clunky. If I was the kind of girl who did jobs away from the boat, then maybe they are a great idea, but I have them on the boat, where I will also have the tool that I need. When it comes to using for example actual pliers or multi-tool pliers, the actual pliers win every time, so our multi-tools will go to the laundry room with a sigh saying free to a new home.

Soldering Iron

When you live on a boat, a soldering iron is the least used item because when you tin a wire you are taking something that is multi-stranded and turning it into one strand. Now, a single stand is much more prone to breaks caused by vibration. Now we live on a boat, so that vibration will happen. So if you do have to resort to a solder, then you must support the wire where the single strand changes into multi-stand. So even though I do not recommend having a soldering iron on a boat, I was really glad when Beverley got me a new one with a decent stand. Happy days

The multi-tool cork screw

Now one multi-tool that we are keeping is our corkscrew multi-tool as it has a knife for cutting the metal around the cork, a corkscrew and a leaver to help you take the cork out. This multi-tool is staying as it has all the tools I need for removing a cork in the one place. It even has a tin opener, so fantastic news. Now for the really good news, I can open a bottle of wine with all these, so Cheers.