... About Maintenance..

[scarlet]

Probably a stupid question.. but, where do you learn the skills necessary to do the repairs and maintaince on boats? Am I "handy"? absolutely! My husband and I have completely remodeled our home by hand.. I know how to put in a variety of floors, drywall... basic electrical and plumbing... paint, build... etc.. etc.. etc... I'm fearless when it comes to those things... But, I've had a dad who has taught me well.. and there is always Home Depot and Loews where you can ask questions... etc.

But, when it comes to maintainance on a boat?! That is keeping me up at night.

So, where do you learn how to repair marine engines, and electronics.. and pumps, and rigging, etc?!

[boatman61]

The appropriate manual.. trial and error and great patience..

[Neo]

Originally Posted by boatman61

The appropriate manual.. trial and error and great patience..

+1. The same way you learned to remodel homes, by doing it. If you enjoy it, you'll learn it quick enough.

[scarlet]

I hope the manuals come with a free case of vodka!! I just may need it!

[jeepbluetj]

Buy a boat.

Don't pay others to work on it.

You'll learn. Or you'll have a broken boat.

There's a wealth of info available - after all , the sum of the worlds knowledge is now available 24/7 via the interwebs.

There's also quite a few books. Like Amazon.com: Boatowner's Mechanical and Electrical Manual : How to Maintain, Repair, and Improve Your Boat's Essential Systems eBook: Nigel Calder: Kindle Store

[BandB]

Originally Posted by scarlet

Probably a stupid question.. but, where do you learn the skills necessary to do the repairs and maintaince on boats? Am I "handy"? absolutely! My husband and I have completely remodeled our home by hand.. I know how to put in a variety of floors, drywall... basic electrical and plumbing... paint, build... etc.. etc.. etc... I'm fearless when it comes to those things... But, I've had a dad who has taught me well.. and there is always Home Depot and Loews where you can ask questions... etc.

But, when it comes to maintainance on a boat?! That is keeping me up at night.

So, where do you learn how to repair marine engines, and electronics.. and pumps, and rigging, etc?!

A couple of comments. One place you can learn a good bit is in a maritime school. But you're not going to learn in a short time what someone working with engines 20 years knows. In fact, one of the key things to learn is how far you should go and when you should turn it over to a professional.

Another way of learning a lot is to work as a "hand" in a way of speaking with people who work on your boat. Now some won't let you but others will and you learn from then as you observe.

Sounds like, depending on what kind of boat you have or choose, many of the routine "home" types of things you'll pick up in no time. The more difficult will be the electronics and the engines and generators. As to the engines, I'd ask what work do you do on your car engines and what do you let professionals do? That is probably where you'll start on a boat too and then build perhaps so you can do more.

Brett

[Hud3]

Hang out with old guys who know a lot about boats. They're almost always more than happy to offer help and guidance.

Wait! That's what you're doing here on CF, right?

[scarlet]

BandB... the answer to that question is.. um.. ZERO! I have a Camaro, and I don't know if you have ever looked at the engine in one of them.. but, everything is covered...no visible mechanicals anywhere to be seen. I went to jump my husband's car a few weeks back, and I couldn't even find the battery terminals.. (or the battery for that matter) on my car. they don't make cars like they used to anymore...

Jeepbluetj.. thanks for the book recomendation. Sounds like that is one I will want to have in my library....

BandB... intersted in an extra hand to help you out?? sounds like you know a little about mechanics..

[ontherocks83]

What is your mechanical knowledge/background? If we know any of that it may be help to relate certain things back to that and or guide you in a direction. (i.e. do you know how to repair your lawn mower, car, chain saw, bicycle, do you know how to use a multi meter, do you know what suck squeeze bang blow is referring to (and no I'm not being dirty)

It sounds like you have the drive which is awesome!! It really now comes down to how much studying do you like/want to do. I'm kind of nerdy and like to read/study my boats wiring diagram when it's slow at work but that's just me. You don't have to go that far but it would be helpful if you know how to read/interpret various manuals.

[tomfl]

Originally Posted by scarlet

SNIP

where do you learn the skills necessary to do the repairs and maintaince on boats?

SNIP

Unless you are looking for work it is not clear why you would want to learn how to maintain boats.

On the other hand if you have a boat, or maybe more than one, you want to maintain it does make sense to learn how to fix things on it.

One common issue with lots of boats is the head. But since there are many types of heads just because you know how to fix one does not mean you will be able to fix others.

Another consideration is what I will call being smart before you buy, or upgrade, a boat. My boat has a composting head, which is much easier to maintain than more conventional heads, especially the electric ones. But guests often find a conventional head easier to use than a composting head.

My boat also has two 9.9 long shaft Yamaha outboards I can easily pull out of the wells instead of an inboard which often only has a small cramped engine locker to work on. Most folks would say a diesel is more fuel efficient and perhaps an outboard powered boat is under powered.

These are just two examples of things that reduce the skill level required to maintain a boat. They are also an illustration of how it is much easier to learn how to maintain your single boat as opposed to being able to maintain all boats.

YMMV

[scarlet]

on the rocks... rotflmao!!!! (on the being dirty part... thanks for the foot note!!)

I have absolutely NO mechanical knowledge at all... I know.. totally pathetic!! unless you consider my husband a machine.. I've been working on fixing him for 21 years now!!!!

[Stu Jackson]

We put off going to a larger boat for many years. I always found it easier to bring the outboard in for servicing, although I did do the lower end oil changes myself. We finally bit the bullet and bought a boat with a known overheating at WOT issue. We bought the boat on July 2 and were to go on a long vacation on July 20, but I convinced myself that i would fix the overheating issue before we left.

I did a lot of reading, primarily the Calder book as well as the Catalina 34 email list (now a fully functional website).

I traced it down to the HX. I took it off and it sounded like a mariachi band! I also found a HUGE build up of slat on one of th einlet ports of the HX, which is why I continually suggest that skippers remove them every few years and check them out.

Once reinstalled the engine worked just fine!

We left on vacation!

I eventually replaced the old 2 inch HX with a larger 3 inch one and things have been fine ver since 1998. The engine had 888 hours on it when we bought it, now is over 2700.

You have to get your hands dirty. You also have to find trustworthy websites with specific information about your systems. Engines are sometimes boat-specific although our M25 was used in many different boats. Electrical systems and plumbing systems are rarely boat specific.

And then, when you have your stuff figured out: GIVE BACK to the community. I spend quite a bit of time contributing to our C34 website and other sailing forums.

There is absolutely no reason anymore to have to reinvent the wheel. Unless ya wanna be a hermit!

[scarlet]

Ahhh.. thanks Tom! I'm a bit "type A".. and I like to have a plan, with goals and subgoals, and tasks.. etc.. So, you are right.. I'm way ahead of myself. I guess I'm just excited to learn...

thank you for the note about the composting toilet.. I have read a little about them, and it seems like people are VERY divided regarding them... they either love them, or hate them.. very little middle ground... defintely something to consider and research more...

[MarkSF]

This forum and Sailnet are excellent resources.

I find this book to be pretty good :

Don Casey's Complete Illustrated Sailboat Maintenance Manual: Including Inspecting the Aging Sailboat, Sailboat Hull and Deck Repair, Sailboat Refinishing, Sailbo: Don Casey: 9780071462846: Amazon.com: Books

As with anything, you don't have to be an expert, you just need the curiosity to inform yourself as to how to do the job properly.

[tomfl]

Originally Posted by scarlet

SNIP

thank you for the note about the composting toilet.. I have read a little about them, and it seems like people are VERY divided regarding them... they either love them, or hate them.. very little middle ground... defintely something to consider and research more...

Check out some of the threads about anchors if you want a topic where folks love or hate something. Same goes for guns on boats. Even on something like catamarans you will find a split between those who like condomarans and the slimmer lighter and faster catamarans.

These three topics are more examples of the vast number of things on a boat that folks argue about. But just because someone says this or that is good or bad does not mean you will agree with them, or that your position on something will not change over time.

One of the best things you can do is start waling the docks. Look at boats, talk to those who own them. In most places you will be able to find folks who will be happy to take you out on their boat and share their experiences face to face. That should make it much easier to narrow the boat you want to buy and what skills you will need to maintain it.