Essential tools?

[KB1973]

Any recommendation on a basic set of tools to carry on the boat?

[Cyric30]

well on of them i can think off is the recommended tool set for your particular engine. so definitely would get that squared away.

[Frank]

So much is engine dependant....
Diesel or OB etc BUT you will use tools more than at home and you will never be sorry for a few extra onboard.
I have SAE and metric wrench's and sockets
All pliers and screw drivers
Feeler gauge
Oil filter wrench
Allen keys
a battery drill (charge on sunny days) that gets used more than expected
several tapes
SS wire
Paint brushes
Rollers and tray
Sand papers
Lots more that I can't think of right now.....
Seldom have "too many"

[Owly055]

     Tools are one of my concerns, as I'm looking at multihulls, and multihulls have far less payload per length than monohulls.   A payload of a ton sounds like plenty, until you start adding up everything that is part of payload.... engine & ground tackle take a big bite out of it, then on a long passage... say 4 weeks, just food and water is going to add up to 500 lbs at a minimum for two people, tools, spares, dinghy, personal gear, electronics, batteries and charging system, cooking fuel, etc......   it just keeps piling up.   I had to abandon the idea of a Searunner 31 trimaran, due to the 1500 pound payload for that reason.......... The last thing I want is to go to sea in an overloaded multihull.  I strongly believe in the adage about buying the smallest boat that will do the job, not the largest I can afford to buy, as up front costs are just the beginning.   I consider a multihull "non-negotiable" for a number of reasons, but want to keep the size and the rig size as small as possible and still do the job.   I'm currently looking at a cat with a 2600 pound load capacity..... I can live within that limitation.
     I'm used to being able to fabricate things in metal as well as wood, and feel helpless when I cannot.  A great deal can be accomplished with little more than a hacksaw, a drill, some files, a dremel or die grinder, and a big helping of ingenuity.......... a good solid vice......... need not be heavy, is pretty much non-negotiable for any kind of repair work, wood or metal..... even rope work.   It is also useful to have a piece of solid heavy steel to pound on and shape things over... It need not be particularly heavy if it is well supported with wood underneath it.  When venturing into remote places, self reliance is important.   Somewhere one has to draw the line, and only experience will tell what you actually use, and what had just as well be left ashore....... and what you wished you had....

                                                       H.W.

[CharlieJ]

The vise is important. I had one on my tri, mounted on a board i could clamp over a hatch opening

Ano0ther thing is a 12
V cordless drill, modified with a cord to plug into ships service. Used the dickens out of that

[Owly055]

The vise is important. I had one on my tri, mounted on a board i could clamp over a hatch opening

Ano0ther thing is a 12
V cordless drill, modified with a cord to plug into ships service. Used the dickens out of that

I have a 1/2" 9.6V Milwaukee that I adapted to connect up to a 12 volt auto battery with a cord...........  I often carry it with me traveling.   It'll do a lot of work and has lots of power.   Makita has some nice cordless power tools specifically for 12 volt battery packs..... beats running an inverter for 120 vac.   A very simple drill press stand rigged for a cordless drill would also be a real asset, and would weigh almost nothing if designed right.   My thinking is that on a catamaran, the one hull has the galley, and the same space on the other side is a "what do we do with this space" kind of area that is usually designated as an oversize chart room.   I would use it as a "shop area" for various projects.   With the bridge deck cabin and cockpit being the main living space, and lots of it, when talking about a 30' cat 18' wide, it's only natural that that area be a shop.  On a live aboard cruising boat, one is going to be constantly working on something or other...........

                                                          H.W.

[rorik]

The owners of Ganymede - an engineless gaff rigged Cape George 31 - have a 3' piece of  2x10  with a 2x2 foot near either end to which they can clamp a vise or hand cranked grinding wheel.
I copied them. It works well. You can place the feet so that the board will cross the cockpit and the feet will keep it sliding from side to side.
For woodworking, a low angle block plane, an egg beater drill, brace, yankee screw driver, some rasps/files, a decent set of 1/4, 3/8, 1/2 & 1" chisels, and the usual measuring/marking tools. A couple of short saws (rip & crosscut), a coping saw and a small flush cut saw. A ball peen hammer and a dead blow hammer. A drift pin set. Clamps.
Oh, and a hand crank grinding wheel and a good honing setup.
It's a lot to put in a small boat, I know, but I found room....