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Golf
Ball Grommets: An Unconventional, Yet Effective
Emergency Tarp Repair
By Rich Finzer
Oh the woes of Great
Lakes sailors once the leaves begin to turn red. The
snow will soon be coming and the
 ice
will soon be coming, and we must haul out and
tarp/protect our boats against Old Man Winter. Our
southern cousins with their ice free harbors and
their snow free Decembers never perform this
seasonal ritual, but we must. And after we do, we
must still endure the penance of regularly checking
our vessels. For when the wintry winds that blast
down from the “Great White North” pipe up to
tropical storm force, grommets and tarps are
frequently shredded and ripped asunder. With the
possible exception of an impromptu IRS audit,
nothing disturbs a sailor’s tranquility quicker than
discovering that their carefully tied tarp has been
shredded like a politician’s promises.
  Not
long ago, a buddy and I made the monthly pilgrimage
to the yards where our old girls spend the
off-season. As his boat was stored some 20 miles
farther to the west of mine, he offered to do the
driving. I grabbed an extra spool of tie-down line
and he brought along his tools. We discovered that
his boat tarp had fared quite nicely. It was snug
and had shed the snow and ice load in fine fashion.
My tarp was another story. It was old and tired, and
several of the grommets had been ripped out. The
edges were flapping in the breeze like the
 lips
of the town gossip. My grommet repair kit was back
at the house; 25 miles away. Worse yet, it was
getting dark and beginning to snow. I began musing
about the old joke: “other than that Mrs. Lincoln,
how was the play?” Ever the cool head, my buddy
fetched his tool box and reaching inside, tossed me
of all things, a golf ball. A golf ball? Yep, a golf
ball. Better yet, he told me exactly what I could do
with it!
“This is easy” he
said, “now watch.” He pushed the golf ball against
the inside of the tarp and then twisted the material
to temporarily hold it in place. There was now a
nice big lump along the outside edge. I cut some
line from the spool, formed a loop in the center and
tightened it around the golf ball. Then I took the
two ends and tied them securely around part of my
swim ladder. Bingo, problem solved.
Remember just one
thing though. The golf ball grommet is a temporary
repair. If the line holding it stretches, and the
tension is relieved, the golf ball will fall out and
then you’re right back where you started. So plan on
adding new grommets as quickly as you can. Better
yet, do what I did, buy a new heavier tarp, and of
course, a sleeve of golf balls. You just never
know....
Rich Finzer earned
his power boat operator’s license in 1960 at age 11,
and began sailing in 1966. He also runs a winter
boat storage business, has worked on a commercial
fishing boat, and is an accomplished racing sailor
as well. Currently, he cruises Lake Ontario aboard
his Hunter 34' “Pleiades.” When he’s not sailing, he
supports his aquatic addiction as a
technical/freelance writer.
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