Jacopo

Thanks, I'm on a mooring so heat gun not an option for me, I'm going to have to get creative. I might give it a try with a BBQ lighter, or I might buy one of those kitchen blowtorches...

Thanks for the suggestion. "42 degrees" sounds very precise 😀, is it a typo? Google tells me that for example to unlock thee loctite red stuff you need 250 degrees! https://www.henkel-adhesives.com/nz/en/applications/all-applications/how-to/how-to-remove-red-threadlocker.html

Yes I definitely want to avoid this happening, that's why I was cautious in applying brute force!

Yeah I thought about that as a plan B but in my case that doesn't look like an easy task either, and definitely something I'd prefer to attempt at home, not on the water.

My tiller is badly in need of a revarnish so this Sunday I went on the boat to take it home. I was assuming it was just a matter of undoing the bolt connecting the tiller bracket to the rudder shaft block. The nut came out easily but the bolt itself would not budge. I tried twisting the bolt head and hammering from the threaded side, it would not move, it felt like it was cemented there, perhaps it had been epoxied there for some reason by previous owners? The tiller moves fine up-down so only the part through the rudder block was ‘cemented’. Anyone come across something like this before?

Thank you all for your comments. I'll have a go with a small tube + cable tie loop, but I think my chances are slim. The dipstick fell through a vertical inlet pipe probably 200mm long so I think I'll only manage to reach the area of the tank directly below the deck filler. The tank is stuck behind the engine so I'm pretty sure the engine needs to be taken out to access the tank. But reading some of your comments I might just leave the dipstick there and only consider taking the tank out if I ever have to do major works on the engine or replace it - hopefully never! I'll definit

So today was my first day on my new Raven 31 boat and I did something very stupid. As I was figuring out how things were working on the boat I dropped a wooden dipstick in the fuel tank. I don’t think there is any way to fish it out through that small hole, so my plan is to leave it there for the next few weeks and then in January, when I have a haul out scheduled for an anti foul, get someone to take the tank out and hopefully extract the dipstick. I’m afraid this is not going to be a cheap exercise as I think you need to get the engine out before you can get the tank out. I’m thinking i