Excited about maintenance!

[Gadagirl]

I know, you think I'm crazy. But planning on being a boat owner soon, so delving into what I should expect and need to learn. I was thinking that my scatter brain would need a list/schedule. A quick online research brought up these results......

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=...jnt3OHLFL7GB3w

http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...e-23330-2.html

http://www.cruiserswiki.org/wiki/Yacht_Maintenance



Basically what I'd like to accomplish is a mesh of all three, a daily, weekly, quarterly, yearly, and the long term, need to learn and maintain the Beast (I meant lovely object of my affection ) . As I'm shopping right now, I'm thinking that these maintenance issues should be reflected in my questions to owners/brokers/surveyors as well. Just so I have a somewhat clear picture of what a boat might require to bring up to par, and going forward, keep her in great shape. I want to include all in my maintenance log, Everything from bottom paint to impeller replacement. I do understand that it's dependent on the systems I have, so let's assume it's not KISS. Let's assume I'll have refrigeration, wind, solar, water-maker, radar, AIS, etc. (hey, I'm still shopping so I dream big! And if what I buy doesn't include those items I'd be inclined to add them)

What does your maintenance log include? What advise would you give to a new boat owner?

[Stu Jackson]

My maintenance log includes all the work I do to the boat. Date, time, engine hours, remarks. Add oil, transmission and fuel filter changes along with HX zinc regular intervals. No so hard.

[ranger58sb]

Originally Posted by Gadagirl

What does your maintenance log include? What advise would you give to a new boat owner?

I just use an Excel spreadsheet, with individual worksheets for each major category: main engines, genset, plumbing, electrics, electronics, hull, ACs, tender (both dinghy and outboard), etc etc etc.

It was relatively easy to start, and it's also relatively easy to sub-divide (further categorize) as it grows.

-Chris

[Kenomac]

I just finished cleaning, polishing and waxing our 53ft Oyster, nothing exciting about that over the past two days.

[gamayun]

Keeping a log is great, but also get a journal so you can write down everything including thoughts on what you want to do, then how you actually accomplished a project, how things are wired/need to be wired, where all the hoses run to, where the through hulls are located, why you decided to use X paint, what issues you ran into, etc. Routine maintenance issues aside (such as engine, teak and deck cleaning, servicing parts, etc.) and depending on the age and condition of the boat, once you sail/use it for a while, your list of things to do is going to just evolve and mature over time. So, don't sweat the lists or schedules. Just take it a week at a time or it might seem too daunting.

[Lepke]

When you paint, caulk, wax, etc.: if you read and follow the directions that come with the products, you will be way ahead of most yacht owners.

[leftbrainstuff]

Maintenance is therapy.

There are 3 types of maintenance. Corrective, preventative and enhancements.

It also helps to categorise maintenance tasks in terms of mission critical, safety critical, sailing related, liveability related and manouvering (motoring, docking, mooring)

For example safety related corrective action gets tackled first and ideally immediately. Liveability enhancements come last when funds and time permit.

We have a ships manual which is now over 300 pages. It's Latex based and published to pdf and html. It's maintained in a git repo and republished when an update is committed. Only safety and mission critical elements are printed.

Our maintenance log is maintained in evernote as key value pair markup. Because we use markup we can extend or add key values as needed. This is also replicated to the ships manual appendix once a month as the log rotates.

We can grep search across the complete log to identify maintenance tasks and their details. We also import the maintenamce tasks into our decision support tool for prioritization when we tackle maintenance sprints. This updates in real time as the work gets completed.

Our maintenance system saves lots of time more appropriately applied to doing maintenance. We just have to trigger a search and prioritize the tasks. Simple and fast.

Planning analysis paralysis with spreadsheets and word documents is common.

Sent from my SM-N900T using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

[barnakiel]

Originally Posted by Gadagirl

refrigeration
wind
solar
water-maker
radar
AIS

What does your maintenance log include? What advise would you give to a new boat owner?

Of the toys you mentioned only watermaker is a maintenance item. It must be flushed after use and preserved between uses. It wants a new membrane now and then and the hp pump requires periodic overhaul. The pre filters must be changed too. Etc. You just follow what the maintenance booklet says and you are fine. And big boats with small crews may not require a watermaker.

A well set up, quality sailing boat is a low maintenance item. From working on some, I developed the following system for finding and following the periodic work loads and requirements:

1) collect all manuals for all onboard systems,
2) read them, take down all maintenance/periods info,
3) create your own file with the above data,
4) sort by periods,
5) apply, AND TICK OFF in the journal (a notepad and a pen are better than anyone's memory)!

I have found that on most boats most of my maintenance time is split between:

- keeping her clean (wash, polish, wax, vacuum, etc.)

- doing regular jobs (liquids changes, filter changes, winch servicing, batteries servicing, etc.)

Only then come one off bigger projects related to equipment coming of age, getting destroyed by the visiting owner, etc.

I find the time required is always directly related to boat size and quality. Our own small boat requires only few hours of attention per month. Some older, bigger, more complex boats eat up to and beyond hundreds of work hours per year.

Owners maintenance skills vary from nil to expert. Whichever way you go someone has to do the work or else the boat becomes a horrible mes and a displeasure to deal with in no time.

As a rule, most boat systems give you headaches at start-up (when new) and then again towards the end of their life. A number of boat systems seem to have useful life of 5, 10, or 15 years. A 15+ years old boat that has not been upgraded at her 5 and 10 birthday checkpoints may become a maintenance and cost nightmare to her new owner. Beware.

MY ADVICE FOR ANY NEW BOAT OWNER:

a) fewer systems, higher quality, or else get a professional full time crew to run the shop,
b) fix the small problems before they develop into big problems,
c) if you dislike maintenance, go plastic, avoid teak, varnish, old diesels and house grade wiring ;-)

So this is my 2c from my preferably limited experience with boat maintenance. ;-)

b.

[Gadagirl]

Thank you all!!!! Very helpful and useful information
I'm thinking I'll want to set up a PM schedule with calendar reminder on my phone or computer app. and also keep a log/journal as suggested with details, thoughts, drawings, schematics.
I'm wanting to approach it in a very organized regimented way because I know myself well enough that if I don't stick to a schedule then it won't get done.

Squirrel!!!

Hannah Bowell.

[Polux]

Excited about boat maintenance!!!!! You should be excited about cruising. Bot maintenance is a drag that you have to do if you are not rich enough:

I am doing it since 4 of may: I have repaired a dented lead keel, made the antifouling, re-zinked the anchor, put a new chain and the marks on it, clean the inox, changed some lockers, put new silka on a hatch, repaired the cockpit and seat teka with new silka and I have to make the maintenance on the engine, on the propeller, re-rig the boat, wait a new mast rig to be mounted and mount a new solar set-up.

I work from 8AM to 7PM and I am dreaming with sailing away!!! everyday. How can you be excited about maintenance?

[REsCat]

Originally Posted by barnakiel

snip

A well set up, quality sailing boat is a low maintenance item.


snip


b.

Sorry B but this would get my vote as the most illogical statement I have read in this forum in .... well in.... well at least in the last few hours any way...

Really????

Bob

[Gadagirl]

I'm excited because most things I will be learning, as in I've never done that before. I changed oil in my car, never a boat. Changed light switches and fixtures, toilets and plumbing pipes, door hinges, flooring, carpentry trim, all in a house. I will have five years before I can cruise. So fixing the boat, getting ready, sailing on weekends and vacation.............getting to know her well will be exciting. At least for the first year

[Gadagirl]

Originally Posted by REsCat

Sorry B but this would get my vote as the most illogical statement I have read in this forum in .... well in.... well at least in the last few hours any way...

Really????

Bob

I'm admittedly a newbie, but wouldn't thorough PM extend life of some systems and help in planning replacement schedules so there's little or no catastrophic surprises? catastrophic is often way more expensive than planned replacement and/or care. of course anything can happen but it makes sense that if your confident in repair and function, maintenance becomes a habit. Maintenance is a predicted cost.

[Kenomac]

Originally Posted by Gadagirl

I'm admittedly a newbie, but wouldn't thorough PM extend life of some systems and help in planning replacement schedules so there's little or no catastrophic surprises? catastrophic is often way more expensive than planned replacement and/or care. of course anything can happen but it makes sense that if your confident in repair and function, maintenance becomes a habit. Maintenance is a predicted cost.

Stuff happens. There's no way I could have predicted sailing in gale conditions for two days, then needing $1500 spent to repair both jibs.

Mix most anything with salt water and there's going to be surprises. Especially electrical items or pumps.

[sailorboy1]

There's not really a lot of things on boats that need a big time PM schedule for. If you don't currently have a PM schedule for your house and car what makes you think you are going to do one for the boat? Boaters I think are by definition a little crazy, but sometimes they start going down a path of killing stuff with kindness.