Boatyard Tip
Got an old pair of woolen, tube-type socks kicking around? Don’t throw ‘em away! By Capt. Bill Pike
How to get the most from a jug of paint thinner, plus the easy fix to avoid wrist rash from sharp edges forever.
If you’re a boater who does a good bit of your own onboard work, whether it entails changing the oil or installing a brand-new inverter on a virtually unreachable swathe of bulkhead, you most likely have experienced what I’ll call “wrist rash.” Explaining what the term means may help you identify.
Let’s say you are attempting to apply a ratchet-type socket wrench with an extender to a bolt that is quite inaccessible and, to be successful, you must reach over and beyond some unrelated paraphernalia that has sharp edges. You know, the sharp edges that often attend hose clamps without plastic guards or the insides of lockers where the fiberglass structure is perhaps not as highly finished as it might otherwise be.
What happens? You scrape or nick the wrist you’re using to turn the wrench, often quite painfully. Then, if you’re like most of the rest of us, you make a colorful comment about what’s just occurred and briefly wonder why it’s always your wrists that get banged up. Then you usually lapse into a state of forgetfulness, resume what you were doing, soon experience yet another scrape or nick, forget about that one too … the gloomy little process can go on for hours, or even longer, to such an extent that at the end of any given day you—or rather your wrist or wrists—feel and look like the walking wounded.
What’s the fix? Simply dig up a pair of thick, wool, small-diameter tube socks and cut them to a length that will nicely cover your wrists. Then, before you install that next buss bar or attempt to change the zinc in that almost totally inaccessible heat exchanger, simply slip on your new “Wrist Protectors,” at least for the worst part of the job. You may be glad you did.