Repair & maintenance guides

How to Get Through Aquatic Invasive Species Boat Inspection Stations

Many states, especially in the West, make you stop at an inspection station before you launch or when you cross the state line, to keep zebra and quagga mussels out. Learn what inspectors check, when they decontaminate, what decals, courses and seals you may need, and how to arrive clean, drained and dry so you're through fast.

How to Get Your Boat Ready to Sell (Records, Title and Prep)

Prepare your boat for sale the way buyers and surveyors expect: gather the title, registration and HIN paperwork, organize your maintenance records and receipts, fix the small stuff, detail the boat, get it ready for a sea trial and buyer's survey, and close the deal with the right documents.

How to Grease Your Outboard's Lubrication Points

Grease the swivel bracket, tilt tube, steering and shift linkages, trim rams and prop shaft splines on your outboard. Grease keeps salt and water out of the moving joints. A 30-minute job once or twice a season prevents seized steering, stuck props and corroded brackets.

How to Identify Your Boat Trailer Axle and Order the Right Parts

Find your trailer's VIN plate and axle lot number, take the key measurements (hub face, spring centers), read the numbers on your bearings and seals, and figure out the brake and hub type, so the parts store sells you parts that actually fit.

How to Inspect a Used Boat Before You Buy

A step-by-step checklist for looking over a used boat, from paperwork and the hull ID number to the transom, engine, compression test, sea trial and trailer. Know what to check yourself, what the red flags mean, and when to pay a marine surveyor.

How to Inspect a Used Boat Trailer Before You Buy

A worn-out trailer can turn a good boat deal into hundreds or thousands in repairs, or a breakdown on the way home. Walk through the capacity plate and VIN, frame, axle and springs, hubs, brakes, tires, lights, coupler, winch and bunks, and the title paperwork before you hand over the money.

How to Inspect and Clear Cockpit Scuppers and Deck Drains

Most boats that sink at the dock fill up from the top, through clogged scuppers, cracked drain hoses and leaky hatches during a heavy rain. Learn how to trace every drain, clear clogs, check flappers, hoses and clamps, flood-test the cockpit and keep drains working in freezing weather.

How to Inspect and Maintain a Boat Lift (Cables, Pulleys, Motor, Bunks and Storm Prep)

Inspect the cables, pulleys, motor, wiring and bunks on your boat lift, center the boat correctly, and prepare the lift and boat for storms and winter. Cable failures and overloading from rainwater or snow are the most common ways lifts drop boats.

How to Inspect and Repack Boat Trailer Wheel Bearings

Check, clean and repack your trailer's wheel bearings so a seized hub does not leave you stranded on the highway. Boat trailers get dunked in water every launch, which makes their bearings fail far more often than those on dry utility trailers.

How to Inspect and Replace Boat Fuel Fill and Vent Hoses

Old fill and vent hoses crack, go soft and leak gasoline into the bilge, often where you can't see them. Learn the signs of aging, which USCG hose types (A1, A2, B1, B2) belong on fill and vent lines, why fill hoses need two clamps at each end, how to check the vent fitting, flame arrester and anti-spill devices, and how a careful replacement is done.

How to Inspect and Replace Sacrificial Anodes (Zincs)

Check the anodes on your outboard, sterndrive or inboard running gear, replace them when they are half gone, and choose the right metal for the water you boat in. Fresh anodes are cheap insurance against expensive corrosion damage to your lower unit, drive and prop.

How to Inspect and Replace Spark Plugs

Pull, read and replace the spark plugs on a gas outboard, sterndrive, inboard or PWC. Fresh, correctly gapped plugs help the engine start easily and run smoothly, and the old plugs tell you a lot about the engine's health.

How to Inspect and Replace Your Bow Eye and Transom Eyes

Check the bow eye and transom tie-down eyes for rust, loose nuts and missing backing plates, and replace and reseal them properly, because a failed bow eye can let the boat slide off the trailer.

How to Inspect and Use the Trailer Winch, Strap, Tie-Downs and Safety Chains

Check the winch, strap or cable, bow safety chain, transom tie-downs and the safety chains to your vehicle, and learn how each one is meant to be used. These parts keep the boat on the trailer and the trailer behind your truck.

How to Inspect Boat Trailer Axles, Leaf Springs and Hangers

Check the parts that actually hold your boat off the road: the axle tube, leaf springs, hangers, shackles, bushings and U-bolts (or the rubber torsion axle on newer trailers). Learn what rust-through, broken leaves and worn shackles look like, how uneven tire wear points to a bent axle, and when it's time to replace instead of patch.

How to Inspect Wakeboard Tower, T-Top and Bimini Hardware

Towers, T-tops and biminis carry tow ropes, speakers, boards, electronics and wind loads, all on a handful of bolts. Learn how to check the welds, bases, backing plates, bolts, folding hinges and accessory loads before a crack or a loose bolt becomes an accident.

How to Inspect Your Boat's Fuel Tank, Fill, Vent and Hoses

A leaking gas tank is one of the most dangerous problems a boat can have, and it usually starts out of sight. Learn how to inspect portable and built-in tanks, spot aluminum tanks corroding from below, know the ethanol risk for old fiberglass tanks, and check the fill, vent, hoses, clamps and sender, plus why tank replacement is a job for a pro.

How to Inspect, Inflate and Replace Boat Trailer Tires

Check your trailer tires the way the pros do: the right type (ST), the right load range, the right cold pressure, and an honest look at their age. Tires are the number one reason boat trailers end up on the side of the highway.

How to Install (and Remove) a Keel Guard on a Trailer Boat

An adhesive keel guard protects the bow and keel line of a trailer or beaching boat from sand, rocks and ramps. Learn when it's worth it, how to prep and apply one the way the maker intends, and how to take it off later.

How to Install a Backup Bilge Pump and High-Water Alarm

Add a second, larger automatic bilge pump mounted above the primary, with its own overboard discharge and a loud high-water alarm wired so it works even with the battery switch off, then test it every month so it buys you real time if the boat starts taking on water.

How to Install an Inspection Port (Deck Plate) in a Deck or Bulkhead

Add a screw-out or pry-out deck plate so you can reach hidden nuts, wiring, hoses and through-hulls, or check a deck core for rot. Learn where it is safe to cut, how to pick and size the port, how to seal a cored deck with epoxy, and how to bed the ring so it never leaks.

How to Install EVA Foam Decking (SeaDek-Style Pads) on Your Boat

Closed-cell foam decking makes a hard fiberglass deck grippy and comfortable underfoot. Learn when a peel-and-stick DIY job makes sense, how to template, cut and prep, the temperature and gap rules, how to lay pads without trapped air, and how to clean, repair and eventually remove them.

How to Keep a Boat Maintenance Log and Organize Your Receipts

Set up a simple maintenance log that records the date, engine hours, work done, parts and who did it, and keep receipts and photos organized. Good records help with warranty and insurance claims, show buyers the boat was cared for and reveal wear patterns before something fails.

How to Keep Mice and Rodents Off Your Stored Boat

Mice love a stored boat: dry, quiet and full of soft nesting material and tasty wire insulation. Learn how to remove what attracts them, close their way in, choose deterrents and traps that actually work, avoid the risks of poison, and check the wiring safely in spring.