One Little Tool, With So Much History

Rocco’s tool in question

As we all rem-anise about Classic Boating Magazine, we were all asking about Rocco’s secret cone tool. And of course to many out there. This may have seemed like a obvious question. AND ANSWER, But no to me, or others. Which of course is a harsh reminder that I am clueless of all the goodies available to us.
Here is Rocco’s answer.
“That cone is a tool is actually a wrench to install and remove thru hull fittings ”

So I googled it, and in fact, this is a very common tool. Wrench actually a “Thru-Hull Installation Tool”  And then I asked my special Ai bot, and it said.

“This tool is designed to allow a single person to install standard Groco thru-hull fittings.“

And then I saw it. Groco? Rocco? NOOOOOOOO! It can’t be. How does the universe deliver such fun to me and my twisted mind. Maybe is the slow decomposing brain cells all kinda blending it all together.

So weather Rocco likes it or not. It’s now the “gRocco Hull Tool” here on WB.  And just like that a new word is now in the Wood Boater dictionary. And if you are new here on Woody Boater and are wondering about the dictionary.  There is a link at the end of this long winded grammatical train wreck.

AND, here is how the internet splains the tool.

• How it works: The tool slides over the threaded end of the thru-hull fitting. A monofilament line is tied to the tool’s eyelet, passed through the hole in the boat, and threaded through the locknut or seacock from inside the boat. By pulling the line, the installer can guide and hold the thru-hull firmly in place while tightening the seacock or locknut from the inside.
• Compatibility: This tool is designed to fit Groco thru-hulls from 1/2 inch through 3 inches.
  And here is whyTo Remove an old, stubborn thru-hull, you would primarily rely on a step wrench to get a grip on the fitting, often with the aid of heat or a grinder, rather than the  Groco THT-530, which isn’t designed for brute force removal.
  

Angus Roy Gross, Sr.

And then I dug deeper, and HOLY COW! GROCO company is one very cool company. And right in Maryland. ”

Angus raced early versions of hydroplanes in the 1920’s and briefly held the speed record for one class of boats in 1926 while piloting the Lady Baltimore off the coast of Palm Beach, Florida. In 1929 Angus founded the Corinthian Yacht Club in Maryland’s Chesapeake Bay.

All this, from this little photo! DANG!

GROCO (Gross Mechanical Laboratories, Inc.) was born in the basement of a Baltimore row house in (approximately) 1918, with a pair of workers trained personally by founder Angus Roy Gross, Sr.  This was a time when the entrepreneurial spirit flourished in America and when the industrial boom stood on the shoulders of an expanding steel industry and quickly growing automotive and marine industries.

And it just gets cooler and cooler  Just read their history HERE, and yes 100 years later, still cranking away. I LOVE IT.
And as promised, the Woody Boater Dictionary HERE 

And of course, we all want to know. Does Lady Baltimore as photographed still exist? Good luck Goggling it.