Repair & maintenance guides

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 Load Your Boat Safely: Capacity Plate, Balance and Stability

Too much weight, or the right weight in the wrong place, is behind most small-boat capsizes and swampings. Learn to read the capacity plate (persons, weight and horsepower), add up your real load, balance it side to side and fore and aft, and adjust for rough water, water aboard and towing riders.

How to Prepare for a Free Vessel Safety Check

Volunteers from the Coast Guard Auxiliary and America's Boating Club will inspect your boat's safety gear for free, with no ticket if something is missing. Learn how to request a Vessel Safety Check, what the examiner looks at, how to get your boat ready and what to do with the fix list.

How to Prepare Your Boat for a Hurricane or Tropical Storm

Make a written storm plan before the season, then haul out or secure the boat with doubled lines and chafe gear, strip off everything that catches wind, and check it safely after the storm. Never ride out a hurricane aboard.

How to Protect Your Boat, Motor and Trailer From Theft

Practical, layered security for boat owners: outboard locks, trailer coupler and wheel locks, disabling the boat, GPS trackers, engraving and marking, photo and serial number records, safer storage, and exactly what to report (HIN and serial numbers) if your boat is stolen.

How to Refuel a Boat Safely (Gas Dock, Gas Station and Portable Tanks)

A step-by-step fueling routine that keeps gasoline vapor out of your bilge and fuel out of the water: shut everything down, close up, keep the nozzle in contact, stop short of full, ventilate, run the blower and sniff before you start. Includes portable tanks, personal watercraft and what to do about a spill.

Ignition-Protected Parts: Why Car Starters and Alternators Don't Belong in a Gas Boat

On a boat with a gasoline inboard, sterndrive or generator, every spark-producing part in the engine space must be ignition protected so it can't set off fuel vapors. Learn what the term means under 33 CFR 183.410, which parts need it, how to read the markings, why cheaper automotive parts are dangerous, and how to check what's already in your engine compartment.

Inflatable Life Jacket Care: Inspect, Test and Rearm

An inflatable life jacket only saves a life if the cylinder is full, the inflator is armed and the bladder holds air. Learn the quick check before every trip, the overnight leak test, how to read replacement dates and how to rearm it after it fires.

Launch Day and Haul-Out Checklist for Trailer Boats

A step-by-step checklist for getting your boat off the trailer and back on again safely and quickly, from the drain plug and tie-downs to the blower and ramp etiquette. Following it in order prevents the classic mistakes that sink boats and back up the ramp.

Lightning and Your Boat: Protection, Storm Safety and After-Strike Inspection

How lightning damages boats, what a professionally installed protection system (ABYC and NFPA 780 guidance) can and cannot do, what to do when a storm catches you on the water, and a step-by-step inspection checklist after a strike, including the haul-out, compass, electronics, through-hulls and the insurance claim.

Make a Fire Escape Plan for Your Boat: Exits, Extinguishers, Roles and Shutoffs

Map two ways out of every cabin, put extinguishers where you can actually reach them, assign who does what, and practice shutting off fuel and power and getting everyone off upwind. A boat fire leaves only a few minutes, so the plan has to be made and walked through before you need it.

Man-Overboard Recovery Gear: Throwables, Lifesling, Ladders and MOB Alarms

Set up and check the gear that gets a person in the water back aboard - a throwable within reach, a floating rescue line or Lifesling-style sling, a boarding ladder someone in the water can pull down, and MOB alarms or AIS beacons - and practice the drill so it works when it counts.

Missing or Faded Capacity Plate: How to Read It and Get a Proper Replacement

The capacity plate tells you how many people, how much weight and how much horsepower your boat can safely handle. Learn what each line means, which boats must have one under 33 CFR 183, how to order a replacement from the builder, what to do if the builder is gone, and why homemade numbers are a bad idea.

Portable Gas Cans and Fuel Storage: Filling, Storing at Home and Aboard, and Getting Rid of Old Gas

Gas cans and portable boat tanks are handy and dangerous in equal measure. Learn what makes a modern can compliant, why you always fill it on the ground, how to store gasoline at home and on the boat, how long ethanol fuel really lasts, and how to dispose of old gas legally.

Reading Your Boat's Capacity Label (Old and New 2026 Format) and What It Means for a Repower

Learn to read every line of your boat's capacity plate, including the new ABYC S-7 label the Coast Guard accepted in July 2026 with its maximum outboard motor running weight, and use it to check a load or a repower before you spend money. Practical guidance, not legal advice.

Satellite Messenger vs PLB vs EPIRB: Which Emergency Device Should You Carry?

A PLB or EPIRB calls government search and rescue through the 406 MHz Cospas-Sarsat satellites with no subscription; a satellite messenger like an inReach or SPOT sends an SOS through a private network and adds texting and tracking for a monthly or yearly fee. Learn how each one alerts rescuers, what registration, subscriptions and batteries they need, what to carry for lakes, coastal and offshore boating, and how to test without causing a false alarm.

Seasickness: How to Prevent It and Care for Seasick Crew and Guests

Almost anyone can get seasick in the right conditions, but a few habits make a big difference. Learn why it happens, where to sit, what to eat and drink, how over-the-counter remedies fit in (and why the person running the boat must be careful with drowsy ones), how to look after someone who's sick, and when it might be something more serious. General information only, not medical advice.

Set Up Your VHF Radio: MMSI, DSC, GPS Hookup and Radio Checks

Get a free or low-cost MMSI number, program it into your DSC radio, connect your GPS so a distress alert sends your exact position, check the antenna, and learn the Channel 16 rules and the right way to do a radio check.

Smoke and Heat Detectors on a Boat: Where They Make Sense, What to Buy and How to Test

A fire in a closed cabin, engine room or lazarette can grow for minutes before anyone notices. Learn where smoke alarms and heat detectors make sense aboard, why boats are hard on household alarms, how to power and test them, how they fit with CO alarms, and how automatic engine-room extinguishers and engine shutdown tie in.

The Pre-Departure Safety Briefing: What to Tell Every Passenger (with a Printable Checklist)

A five-minute talk before you leave the dock turns guests into a crew that can help in an emergency. Cover life jackets, the engine cut-off switch, the fire extinguisher, how to call for help on the VHF, what to do if someone falls overboard, staying seated, seasickness and carbon monoxide near the stern, then use the printable checklist every trip.

Tow Ropes, Tubes and Watersports Gear: Inspect, Rig and Retire

Check ski, wakeboard and tube ropes, handles, towable tubes and your boat's tow points before every outing, rig them the right way, and know when to throw gear out. Includes the safety basics (spotter, flag, life jackets, prop and carbon monoxide) that vary from state to state.

Towable Tube Care and Repair: Find Leaks, Patch the Bladder and Know When to Retire It

Inspect a towable tube's bladder, cover, valves, handles and tow point, find and patch leaks the right way, and dry and store it so it lasts. Also covers rider ratings and the damage that means the tube should be retired, not repaired.

USCG Required Safety Equipment Check by Boat Length

Walk through your boat and confirm you carry every piece of safety gear the US Coast Guard requires for your boat's length and type, and that none of it is expired or worn out. Missing or expired gear is one of the most common tickets on the water, and it is the gear you need when things go wrong.

Visual Distress Signals: Flare Expiry, Storage, Practice and Safe Disposal

Make sure your flares, smoke signals, distress flag or electronic distress light meet the Coast Guard rules for day and night, are not past their 42-month date, and are stored where you can grab them. Then get rid of expired flares the safe and legal way instead of letting them pile up in a locker.