Bill's Our Man

Tom and Bill with the strainer and custom made tool

If he can't do it, no one can!
While working on the fridge / freezer recently, Tom was unable to unscrew the main strainer cap to get to the strainer and clean it.  He tried and tried and tried.  The fridge guy that come out many weeks back even tried but didn't have any luck either.  Tom decided that the only way was to removed the entire strainer and get it out onto the dock where he could really crank on the top to loosen it up.  This way in the future we could easily open it to clean the strainer. 

Nasty gross - obviously the strainer needed cleaning

Of course this wasn't an easy task getting it out because the attached hose didn't want to come loose - which is usually a good thing.  Tom had to cut the hose to get the whole strainer out and then replace the hose with new later when he reinstalled it.

Shined up strainer back in place

Once he finally got it out on the dock, he found he still couldn't get the top to unscrew.  Not good.
So he bummed a ride from Jessie and headed off to the propeller shop and our man Bill. 

Our new customize tool for removing the strainer cap

Bill has been a welder forever and worked at Dominey's propeller shop for the last 35 years.  He is also the guy that make our galley shelf bracket.  Bill's the man to know when it comes to anything to do with metal.  Let me tell you, he has worked on some very interesting stuff - good stories.  Big, huge props and shafts are just the start of what he has worked on through the years.

Strainer with customized tool

He delivered it back out to the marina the next evening.  He said there was NO WAY Tom would have ever gotten that cap off.  He had to apply heat and use a big vise with a special tool he made just for getting the cap off.  Apparently he looked around the shop and found a big stainless steel plug that would fit perfectly.  He put 3 notches in the plug thus allowing it work on our cap.  Once he got it off, he discovered a catch in the threads and realized we would have issues getting the cap off in the future without the help of this special, homemade tool so he gave it to us.  Very kewl! 

Strainer, cap and tool

We almost didn't recognized our own strainer because he bead blasted it clean to the point of looking brand new.

Easy-peasy removal of the cap now with our customized tool

Tom said "Bill, what do I owe you for getting this off and making this custom tool?"  Bill shrugged, made a funny face and said "$20?"  Tom tried to give him $30 but he wouldn't take it.  What a guy.  We are luck to have found Bill.