Boat maintenance and how to stay on top of it

Here are a few simple tips to ensure that your boat stays safe and ready to enjoy, any time of the year

boat-maintanence-how3.jpg

Even though some jobs may seem unimportant when it comes to boat maintenance, it's vital that you keep on top of looking after your pride and joy throughout the year. Small tasks mount up and big undertakings come out of the blue. Don't get caught out.

Keep to a schedule

If you're caught short trying to repair something you've found to be wrong with your boat, it's likely to not only affect your bank balance negatively but there may be other issues you've not considered that need sorting out sooner than you'd like.

It's incredibly important to keep to a schedule of regular maintenance, rather than leaving something until the last minute. While wintertime is more popular for out-of-use maintenance bookings, there will be plenty of jobs that are much more enjoyable in the summer. Whether you are maintaining your boat yourself or getting the experts in to help, have a schedule for the year and don't deviate from it.

Material matters

Use the offseason or scheduled maintenance time to ensure that materials, mouldings, decks, topsides are not only clean and aesthetically pleasing, but checked for damage and repaired if needs be. Investigate whether any cracks need superficial reparation or more in-depth work.

Keep your fuel tank full in the offseason

The debate rages on as to how much fuel to leave in your tank when winterising your boat. However, with diesel engines, it's recommended to fill the tank so that you prevent diesel bug from taking effect.

For anyone unfamiliar with the term, the more space in your tank, the more chance there is for condensation to form. It's here, between the diesel and collected water that microbial organisms (that's slime, to you and I) forms, leading to sediment in your engine or interfere with injectors.

If you suspect that you've already fallen foul of the diesel bug, a cursory Google will lead to you an almost endless list of engine additives that deal with any organism growth quickly.

Ask around for help

Whether it's forums, workshops, fellow owners or any other enthusiast, you'll hear a lot of advice and information about what to do or what not to do. This article only scratches the surface, so be prepared to put the research in, even if you're getting the experts to undertake the work.

Do the obvious stuff and make a list

There are some ownership responsibilities that are straightforward - rigging checks, safety checks, changing filters, changing oil, Vaseline around seals, ensuring that coolants are not only topped up but anti-freeze has been added if you're heading into cold weather.

While you could reel all these off the top off your head down the pub when asked, it's easy to forget something important when it's time to actually do it. List everything you need to do as you remember it throughout the year, and refer to this list when necessary. You'll then have the master list to add to at any time. It sounds simple, and it is! Thank us when everything goes smoothly during service and maintenance time.

Related articles

Monthly Newsletter

Not signed up to our monthly newsletters and would like to keep up to date with a variety of products? Select from below which products you would like to receive.