When You Need a Step Up: Neighbors to the Rescue
John Kearney solved the masthead Windex problem on his Express 27 Salty Hotel with help from his neighbor’s boat, Michael Moradzadeh’s Santa Cruz 50 Oaxaca.
Sailors are known as can-do, resourceful people. That’s because sailboats can be a bit complicated and often require on-the-spot fixes crafted from whatever a sailor has at hand. When the Windex at the top of John Kearney’s Express 27 Salty Hotel wasn’t functioning properly, he took advantage of the tall, neighboring mast and the help of crew on the docks to make things right.
Sailors can do a lot with duct tape and the improper use of a winch handle, so we’re rarely surprised by, and always appreciative of, the creative ways they find to solve a problem. It reminds us of the guy who stepped his mast by driving his boat under the Petaluma River bridge and dangling the mast from the bridge with a block and tackle.
What’s been your most creative boat fix?
There was that time in Mazatlan, when I needed a mounting bracket for an outboard, on my stern rail…but didn’t want to pay marine supply store prices…
So, I went to Walmart and purchased a wooden toilet seat, and some U-bolts.
I call it “Hillbilly Ingenuity”.
My wonderful crew and splendid sailor in his own right- Steve Clark, made a new mast partner in less than 1 minute out of our dock lines after the wooden partner was reduced to splinters. This was while we were in third place in the race during the 2021 110 Nationals in Hull Mass. His quick work saved the mast from breaking and we only dropped one place in the race !
Plan on Improvising