A home-store commodity fit the bill
Issue 85 : Jul/Aug 2012
Turnbuckle boots last a long time, but not forever. Cracked and broken, mine were showing their age. I needed six boots 1 1/2 inches in diameter. The local marine store had two in stock and they were $9 each.
Not wanting to search around for four more from another store and not happy with the $9 pricetag for what is essentially a thin vinyl tube, I went to a big-box store where I bought a 10-foot length of 1 1/2-inch-diameter vinyl plumbing pipe for less than $5. I was able to cut six boots out of it.
The inside diameter of the plumbing pipe is slightly larger than that of the marine boots, so the top closures sat loosely in the pipe. A few wraps of vinyl tape made them a snug fit.
All that remained to do was to remove the writing on the plumbing pipe. A wipedown with acetone did the trick.
Larry Schremmer has owned his 1968 Seafarer since 1985. He has been messing about with good old boats, power and sail, for 50 years and sails his Seafarer out of New Haven, Connecticut, on Long Island Sound.
Thank you to Sailrite Enterprises, Inc., for providing free access to back issues of Good Old Boat through intellectual property rights. Sailrite.com
