SAILORS INVISIBLE TOOL SYNDROME (SITS)

20 February 2025

For many years I thought it was just me.  It seems no one wanted to talk about it.  However, once I broached the subject with a group of cruisers I realised that it’s a common affliction and not just an old age thing as I had assumed.  Young and old appear to be susceptible to the syndrome in the same way. 

When working on a boat, doing maintenance or repairs, it’s frequently necessary to get just about all the tools on board out of their resting places.  Often this involves gaining access to little used storage locations on the boat after shifting large volumes of gear to gain access.  Of course, storage space is at a premium on a boat and there are usually multiple layers of storage going on.  In fact, on a cruising boat there will be a multitude of spare parts on board, both new and old including a vast number of miscellaneous items that may not be useful today but are classed in the “May come in handy’ in the future category.

On board Jobs often result in the boat being turned inside out.  The result is displaced gear all over the boat and any flat work surfaces covered with spares, tools, glues, sealants, screws, clamps, tapes and often improvised devices to gain access to hard to reach places.  Once a job is started it is usually necessary to fish out additional tools as unexpected problems arise and the dreaded mission creep sets in.

Once the work areas are fully cluttered and sufficient chaos has been established the conditions are ripe for the syndrome to kick in.  One definition of a syndrome is a recognisable complex of symptoms and physical findings which indicate a specific condition for which a direct cause is not necessarily understood.

That long winded description fits the problem exactly.  For example, when working with a tool (could be any tool), usually a vital tool and the only one that will fit a particular nut or fitting, it suddenly goes missing.  A look around reveals nothing, you can’t find it.  This leads to some head scratching and then a backtracking of movements to see if you have put the tool down somewhere else.  Of course, this further search proves fruitless.  Now the anger and frustration sets in and another search, moving all the other tools and parts around once again usually proves fruitless.    

At this stage the experienced SITS sufferer will walk away from the problem and put the kettle on for a cup of tea, take a walk or any other activity that will distract from the problem.  Only then can you return to the search, usually to find the tool or vital part sitting in full view on the work bench where you left it.    

Of course it was there all the time, the gremlins and goblins haven’t been playing tricks.  It’s something in our heads and minds that can’t see the blindingly obvious. 

One guy told me that he put down a shaft anode he was fitting and then couldn’t find it.  He went back to the chandlery and bought another one only to immediately find the original when he returned to the boat.  Another guy said he went to the tool shop to buy a spanner as a replacement for the one he couldn’t find, only for the original spanner to show up as he was tiding up after the job.

As far as I know only men suffer from the syndrome.  Somehow, I can’t see women being afflicted, their brains work differently.