Before heading out for a day on the water most of us are pretty well prepared. We generally pack a cooler, plenty of sunscreen, a tackle box full, boat full of rods, heck to be honest most of us carry enough gear to last us several weeks on the water, not just a day! The question is: How prepared are you for a mechanical failure? I recently asked a buddy of mine this question and his response was, “I have towing service what else do I need?”
I agree 100% towing service is by far a necessity, but what about this scenario; you are 30 miles offshore trolling and your engine starts smoking allot and is sputtering and finally shuts down and you cannot get it to restart. You had been considering heading home right when this occurs as it is late in the afternoon and the wind is picking up. You call a towing service. Even if they have someone sitting in the towboat ready to go, it will take them about 2 hours to get to you, it is now 6 o’clock and getting real bumpy, they then tow you back to the hill, more than likely another 4 hours. You finally arrive home at 10 pm. Now I am no mechanic, but I will put money on it that when the mechanic arrives the first thing he checks, and more than likely changes, will be fuel filter/water separator. A spare filter wrench and filter would cost less than $40 to have on the boat and would take less than 10-minutes to change possibly saving you the tow and getting you home at a reasonable time.
As I said before, I am no mechanic, I do have some basic mechanical knowledge, and therefore I do usually carry a few tools and some extra supplies that may help me get home without having to call for a tow. Spending a day on the water without some simple tools in my mind is similar to traveling in a car without jumper cables, a jack, and a spare tire.
Obviously the type and amount of tools and supplies that you carry would be dependent upon your level of mechanical knowledge, and how comfortable you are working on different items while out on the water. L