Cheap Boat Hook.

The blog has strayed away from the Subject of Sailing on a Shoestring recently, as all I've blogged about is sailing. Which is fine, but returning to the spirit of the blog, here's my latest cheapskate project:

I lost my boat hook the other week. Not sure what happened to it, but I left it on the cabin roof and it wasn't there a week later.

So my latest task has been to replace it. Cheaply.

I got a hook from eBay for £6.50:

but the handle took a bit of finding.

DIY stores were no use, lots of cheap unfinished pine handles, lots of too thin handles and a dowel with the correct 30mm diameter was 15 quid, just as expensive as a ready-made boat hook.

So back to eBay.... nope, nothing there. I even resorted to looking at curtain poles to see if I could find something. Which gave me an idea.... We have a store called The Range, which has curtain poles and a lot more. Plus curtain poles come in a range of finishes and wood stains.

So I stopped of at The Range on the way home from work and browsed the curtain pole section.

Without success.

Undaunted I had a look at the garden tool section. Hmm, looking at the rakes and Hoes, I reckoned I could get one, take the head off and fit the hook  But £9.99 was a but too steep for a wooden pole, even though it was woodstained.

Then around the corner was a load of yard brushes... in kit form. Lovely stained wood handles you fit stained heads to. Decent weight too so not rubbish. For £2.99. Bargain.

Here's the result:

Yes the handle even has a rubber cap on the end. It looks very professional.

Just need to get it on the boat now. And not leave it on the cabin roof.