what basic maintenace do i need to do to my boat

[katty45]

daily ,wekly , monthly maintenance to keep in tip top condition.

[OldGoat]

"Starters for ten"

• Grease prop shaft
• rubbish disposal
• empty toilet
• top up fresh water
• Engine - check oil / top up change oil and filters
• check battery levels and top up
• remove leaves from roof
• wash / polish boat
• ditto any brassware

Hopefully some liveaboard will come along shortly and disavow me of my comments...

[Arthur Marshall]

I'm beginning to worry about these posts.  Have you actually ever been on a boat?  There's an old collection of articles from one of the boating mags called "The Narrowboat Owners Book" and another about fitting a boat out, both of which you can usually pick up on Ebay and are a mine of useful info, whether your boat is narrow or fat.

Apart from that, most of it's obvious - it's keeping the engine going and making sure you don't sink.

[koukouvagia]

I don’t think a rigid schedule is the way to deal with maintenance. As you get to know your boat you’ll know, for example, that you might need to check drips from the stern gland daily; whereas if your engine never uses any oil it’s not necessary to check it each time you start the engine.

Here’s a list of some of the things that need checking:

State of battery. Basically are you consuming more than you put back in? There is a wealth of really detailed advice on this forum how to do this. You can do most maintenance, however, with just a voltmeter and ammeter. This is something I check every day. Make sure the battery is topped up (unless it’s a sealed type) – especially important in summer. Make sure the battery terminals are clean.

Engine coolant. I usually check this most days when I’m out. Checking will depend on what type of system you have.

If you have a central heating system, check the header tank every few days I’m always quite surprised how often mine needs topping up.

Oil/filters. With moderate use I do an annual oil change and have the engine serviced at the same time. I always carry plenty of spares.

Alternator  and water pump belts. Periodic checking. Spares on board.

Water pumps. There’s not much you can do to anticipate these failing. Just carry spares.

Blacking. Every two or three years. If there’s evidence of galvanic activity, deal with this pronto.

Leaks to plumbing. Difficult to anticipate. Periodic checks needed, especially if there’s water in the cabin bilge.

When I think of it I depress the bubble tester and jiggle the PRV on the calorifier, just to make sure. Also it becomes second nature to check electrical contacts every so often to see that nothing is working loose.

Basically you need to keep your ears alert for unusual sounds and your nose will often tell you if things are going wrong.  Until you know your boat and how it behaves you need to check everything everyday 

(Do you have any external woodwork?  That can be a real challenge to keep in good condition.)

 

Edited November 21, 2017 by koukouvagia