Printed material aboard

[Pedro -Dawn-]

What sort of printed material do you have aboard?

Hey everyone! I am finishing a 1988 sailboat refit. I am looking for recommendations of printed materials that should be helpful to have on the boat, things like engine service manual, VHF reference sheets, colreg reference sheets, etc. What do you think is helpful to have? What do you carry around and find yourself using a lot?

Thank you all!!
Pedro @dawnexpedition

[sailormed]

All documentation of everything installed in the boat, VHF, engine, watermaker, MFD, autopilot, galley, engine part numbers, solar panels......

[Mike OReilly]

• Manuals for all the systems on board.

• A few general maintenance/repair reference guides (Calder/Cassey books).

• All relevant navigational resources (Chart-1, Tides & Currents, List of Lights, and any key charts).

• Electrical & plumbing system diagrams.

• I even have a set of blueprints for my boat which I find very useful for maintenance.

[LoudMusic]

Originally Posted by Mike OReilly

• Manuals for all the systems on board.

• A few general maintenance/repair reference guides (Calder/Cassey books).

• All relevant navigational resources (Chart-1, Tides & Currents, List of Lights, and any key charts).

• Electrical & plumbing system diagrams.

• I even have a set of blueprints for my boat which I find very useful for maintenance.

Man I would have loved to have had electrical and plumbing diagrams. I started making my own at one point and the project just petered out. Blueprints of the boat go right along with that.

All the other systems on board I was able to find digital versions of, but the previous owner had kept all the paper copies as well. I rarely used the paper copies. I find digital to be far superior for its searchable capabilities. But you have to have copies on board - do not rely on the internet.

[boatpoker]

ABYC Standards
ABYC Standards Certification Course.
ABYC Electrical Certification Course.
ABYC Diesel Certifcation Course.
ABYC Marine Corrosion Certification Course
IAMI Marine Accident investigation course
IAMI Marine Fire investigation course
US Code of Federal Regulations Title 33
US Code of Federal Regulations Title 46
Transport Canada TP1332 Construction Standards for Small Vessels
Transport Canada TP13430 Standard for the Tonnage Measurement of Vessels
NFPA 302 Fire Protection Standard for Pleasure Craft
NFPA Guide for Marine Fire and Explosion Investigations
American Bureau of Shipping Standards for Reinforced Plastic Vessels
23 individual CE Standards (to buy the whole thing is prohibitively expensive)
USCG Inland Navigation Rules
IMO Collision Regulations with Canadian inland modifications
Chart No. 1.
Georgian College RADAR/ARPA/MARPA Course.
Georgian College Marine Emergency Duties course.
American Machinists Handbook
German Machinists Handbook
and the best money I've ever spent, Ex Nuc -sub Commander Dave Rifkin's Electrical Inspections for Marine Surveyors

Plus 20 other Standards manuals and a manual for every single part on the boat plus schematics for everything plus Atlantic pilot charts along with every chart for the triangle of Duluth MN, Antigua and Galveston TX

[Pedro -Dawn-]

Thanks for the replies so far!! Later I will compile the answers and try to provide a Notion with quick access to any free materials listed here, but also to be used as a checklist for novice liveaboards!

[ChrisJHC]

Originally Posted by boatpoker

ABYC Standards
ABYC Standards Certification Course.
…Snip…

While that looks like a good list (for a North American boat), wouldn’t it be more feasible to carry a lot of that on a tablet rather than printing it out?

[Bobby Lex]

I have all my manuals (engine, electronics, pumps, heads, etc.) on a flashdrive.
I also have my Yanmar owner's manual in book form in addition to the digital copy.
Licenses (Ships radio license, FCC Radiotelephone license, memberships licenses like USPS and Boat US) digital and paper.
Chapman's, book form.
USCG required Inland Nav Rules Book, digital and book form.
USCG documentation certificate, digital and paper.
State registration docs for boat and for dinghy, digital and paper.
Dinghy title, digital.
Insurance Policy, digital. "Declarations" page, paper.
Charts, digital and paper.
Maintenance Log, digital and paper.
Pre-purchase survey, digital.
First Aid book, paper.
Casual reading -- paperbacks, book form
Also several laminated papers, posted in strategic places:
-- diagram of boat showing seacock locations
-- VHF radio operations guide and MOB instructions
-- head operation instructions
-- departure checklist
-- arrival checklist
-- leaving-the-boat checklist
Ship's Log, paper
Guest Log, paper

Off the top of my head, that's about it. Not completely paperless, but try to keep paper to a minimum.

Bob

[PippaB]

Completely tongue-in-cheek, absolutely the most useful printed material on board is a stack (a big one) of these:



as for the rest, I too prefer the digital versions, the manuals, both user/operation and service/maintenance/installation for every piece of equipment on the boat. I have a few on paper, but most are digital (with backups).

[boatpoker]

Originally Posted by ChrisJHC

While that looks like a good list (for a North American boat), wouldn’t it be more feasible to carry a lot of that on a tablet rather than printing it out?

I didn't print anything out. I accumulated the manuals.
I'm an old school guy who has read 3-5 books per week since I was 4yrs old.
I love the feel and smell of the paper and I never have to plug them in or recharge them or worry about computer crashers or
viruses (I've had a couple).

[Tetepare]

The West Marine catalog had (has?) nice one page summaries on all sorts of topics- reading clouds, a diagram of named rigging, sail trim, etc. i tore those out and laminated them so I can show guests.

I also copied key shortcuts for electronics and laminated those. Now if I wonder do I push the right two or left two buttons, I grab the laminated sheet rather than the whole damned manual.

And I made “grubby” copies of key pages from the systems manual- electrical, water, etc schematics. That way if I have to handle a schematic with dirty hands or take it into the dungeon with me, I don’t wreck the original and I don’t have to drag the manual with me.

Other printed material: the box top with mfg and part number for consumables like filters, etc. that way I open the binder and there are the OEM box tops and I don’t have to dig through the manual every year to figure out (again) which friggin belt or filter I’ll need to buy. Yeah I keep spares, but those do have to be re-upped now and then.

[Pedro -Dawn-]

Originally Posted by ChrisJHC

While that looks like a good list (for a North American boat), wouldn’t it be more feasible to carry a lot of that on a tablet rather than printing it out?

I think so as well. I guess long timers end up accumulating materials throughout the years. If they are listing it here, they must have had the need for the paper form. Most of us are not sailing performance boats anyways. IMO picking from the items already listed here will set you off real nice.

[Dogscout]

Paper is just so 1700's. Other than the required ships documentation, certificates of safety equipment, receipts, insurance and crew list, everything is on the PC. Manuals for all equipment, the drawings and schematics I could get from the manufacturer, service manuals, parts manuals, etc. I try to keep as little actual paper as possible. I do keep a handwritten log but thats the only paper I see everyday. I also have some charts and a Connell routes and a Chapmans. Not much paper and not much plastic aboard my boat. Well the boat itself is plastic, but I minimize that even more than paper.