DIY Wrench For 6- and 8-Inch Screw-Out Plastic Deck Plates

A homemade wooden wrench gives you a snug fit and better leverage on stubborn plastic deck plates—and floats if it slips overboard.

By
Drew Frye
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2
The DIY wrench in use. (Photo/ Drew Frye)

I first experienced stuck deck plates over 40 years ago when I kept a beach cat on the beach. Sand could really weld them shut. When I had a child, I made a DIY wrench so that she could open hatches on our cruising boat (Stiletto 27, at that time). My current boat, a Corsair F-24 MKI, has nine 6-in., screw-in deck plates, six of which must be accessed every few weeks to pump water. I keep them clean and lubed, but if I tighten them enough to keep the water out, now and then, one becomes stuck.

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Drew Frye
Drew Frye
Drew Frye, Practical Sailor’s technical editor, has used his background in chemistry and engineering to help guide Practical Sailor toward some of the most important topics covered during the past 10 years. His in-depth reporting on everything from anchors to safety tethers to fuel additives have netted multiple awards from Boating Writers International. With more than three decades of experience as a refinery engineer and a sailor, he has a knack for discovering money-saving “home-brew” products or “hacks” that make boating affordable for almost anyone. He has conducted dozens of tests for Practical Sailor and published over 200 articles on sailing equipment. His rigorous testing has prompted the improvement and introduction of several marine products that might not exist without his input. His book “Rigging Modern Anchors” has won wide praise for introducing the use of modern materials and novel techniques to solve an array of anchoring challenges. 

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2 COMMENTS

  1. As a FibreGlass boat Repairer, I used FG. to get an exact shape. U may use peel ply – plastic?, plenty of ‘WAX’, & or Poly Vynal Alcohol, release, & don’t make Resin ‘Too HOT’, (melts on!), or ‘Too Cold’, (styrene etches into some plastic!). I hope that helps some. Remind me, Please, Why ‘Tandem Anchors’, (set in line, 1 set as ‘kellet’?) may have problems? I read it in 1 of U’re excellent articles, it made great sense, but remembering is a ??? Thanks ‘B J’.

  2. As a FibreGlass boat Repairer, I used FG. to get an exact shape. U may use peel ply – plastic?, plenty of ‘WAX’, & or Poly Vynal Alcohol, release, & don’t make Resin ‘Too HOT’, (melts on!), or ‘Too Cold’, (styrene etches into some plastic!). I hope that helps some. Remind me, Please, Why ‘Tandem Anchors’, (set in line, 1 set as ‘kellet’?) may have problems? I read it in 1 of U’re excellent articles, it made great sense, but remembering is a ??? Thanks ‘B J’. Also, I have ‘Strong Safety Opinions’, from ‘Deep Thinking’, Age, Experience, & or Obsession, I.E. The boat NOT! coming back to get U, if unassisted, & U could easily wear an ‘Air, Sea, Rescue’ coloured ‘Life Saving, ‘Back Pack’, for Safety Gear, 2 ‘Tiller lines’, & or a Safety Harness, if solo! Check U can get back aboard, (when tired & or drunk?), use topping lift, boom & main sheet as derrick for WoMOB, & or practice days at clubs, etc, etc. U R in a ‘Very Resposible Position’ for ‘Safety Education’. Every ‘disaster’ teaches, (if we learn), but ‘do we’ ?, (it won’t happen to ‘ME’!). How many die, B 4 we learn that it ‘MAY’! Safety ‘MUST’, be part of ‘fun’! ‘B J’.