There are plenty of good reasons to maintain your boat.  Here are three good reasons that come to mind.  First, is the “fear” factor – your safety, that of your crew and others you may affect by an accident.  As captain of your boat, you are responsible for safety and, therefore, liable for things that break and hurt people. Second is the “greed” factor – protecting the value of your boat and avoiding unnecessary repair costs.  Finally, is the “pleasure” factor - maintaining your boat will give you more confidence and piece of mind when out on the water.  Herein, is some good motivation for to decide to develop a maintenance plan for your boat.

Once you’ve decided to develop a plan, it’s important to have the correct state of mind regarding repairs and maintenance.  Repairs involve fixing something that is broken.  Maintenance is servicing your equipment to prevent breakage.  While preventative maintenance will cost some money and involve some time, repairs are much more expensive and generally put your boat out of service while you are waiting to get it fixed. If you have a good preventative maintenance schedule and perform the service as required, you will rarely be surprised with a breakdown.  Of course, there are other reasons for breakdowns besides a poor preventative maintenance program.  They are equipment defects, improper usage and overloads.  But, as soon as something breaks, no matter how small or insignificant, fix it.  In our opinion, the best practice is to have a good preventative maintenance plan including a policy to repair whatever breaks, as soon as possible.

What are the basic elements of an effective maintenance plan?  The plan should at least contain:

• Objective(s)
• Actions (required to achieve the objectives)
• Assignment of responsibility for performing the action (you or outside contractor)
• A schedule of actions
• A schedule of inspections
• Evaluation and follow up

When determining your objective(s), consider the following categories of boat condition:

1. Bristol Condition –  Near perfect, better than, or as good as new – for those with “Obsessive Compulsive Boating Disorder”
2. Excellent Condition – Like new showing very little wear and tear.  All equipment is operating normally, and the engine(s) is/are in good running condition.   This boat is meticulously maintained and does not require any reconditioning.
3. Average Condition – Clean with no visible damage or defects.  Showing some moderate wear and tear with all equipment operating normally and the engine is/are in good running condition.  May need some minor cosmetic or mechanical work.
4. Fair Condition – Obvious wear and tear with some damage and/or defects.  Some equipment may be out of service and the engine(s) is/are in running condition.  Needs some cosmetic and/or mechanical work.
5. Poor Condition – Excessive w ear and tear.  Significant list of damages or defects.  Engine(s) need(s) service.  Needs significant cosmetic or mechanical work.

First, after considering the above categories, decide on the level of condition you want your boat to be in.   

Second, develop and organize a list of action items that need to be performed to maintain your boat accordingly.  You can break the activities list down into the following major categories:

• Hull Exterior
• Deck, cabin top, superstructure and cockpit
• Mast, boom and rigging (if sailboat)
• Hull Interior and interior amenities
• Propulsion, controls and steering
• Plumbing System
• Electrical System
• Electronics and Navigation Equipment
• Safety Equipment

Specifics for each of the activities need to be determined.  Time frequencies for each of the activities should be established.  For example, you may want to polish all chrome, stainless or aluminum hardware monthly, but you’ll only wax your hull twice a year.  Materials to be used should also be listed for each activity.  Also, who will perform the work?  Will you do the work, or a carefully selected outside contractor?  Organize these activities by month.  Put together a loose leaf book with monthly separators.  List the activities and check them off as performed.  Just add a new page each year for each month and save each year as a record.

Now you have a rough idea of and framework for developing your maintenance plan.  Future posts to this blog will attempt to show you how to further develop, refine and enhance your plan so that it is complete, effective and efficient.  Of course, your comments are welcomed and will be considered for use in this process.