Repair & maintenance guides

Hiring a Diver for In-Water Hull Cleaning: How Often, What It Does to Your Paint, and What to Ask

If your boat lives in the water, a hull-cleaning diver keeps growth off the bottom, prop and through-hulls between haul-outs. Learn how often to schedule cleanings, why scrubbing wears away ablative paint, the local rules some harbors (like San Diego and Marina del Rey) put on in-water cleaning, and what a good diver report should tell you about zincs, the prop and the paint.

Hose Clamps on Boats: Choosing, Installing and Inspecting Them

A rusted or wrong hose clamp can sink a boat at the dock, leak fuel or let exhaust into the cabin. Learn which clamps belong on a boat (all-316 stainless, embossed band, T-bolt where needed), when to double them, how tight is tight enough, and how to find the ones that are about to fail.

How Much Is a Used Boat Worth? Pricing Guides, Comps and Condition

Work out a realistic price for a used boat, whether you're buying or selling: check sold and listed comps, read J.D. Power, BUCValu and ABOS values the right way, value the engines separately, adjust for hours, condition, upgrades and location, and know when a valuation survey is worth paying for.

How to Add or Replace a Swim Platform on Your Boat

A swim platform makes swimming, fishing and climbing back aboard far easier, but it hangs off the most heavily loaded part of the hull, right next to the propeller and the exhaust. Learn the bolt-on options, how to check the transom and engine clearance, how to through-bolt with real backing plates, and the propeller and carbon monoxide rules that come with it.

How to Add or Upgrade Boat Cleats (Sizing, Placement and Backing Plates)

Most cleats that fail don't break; they pull out of the deck. Learn how to size a cleat to your dock lines, where to put new cleats for docking and spring lines, how to through-bolt them with real backing plates, how to protect a cored deck, and what's different about pop-up and pull-up cleats.

How to Adjust and Replace Trailer Bunks and Rollers So Your Boat Sits Right

Set up your boat trailer so the hull is supported in the right places: bunks and rollers clear of the strakes, the transom fully supported, the bow snug against the winch stop and the weight balanced on the tongue. Also covers replacing rotten bunk boards and worn carpet or rollers.

How to Break In a New or Rebuilt Boat Engine

The first hours on a new or rebuilt engine decide how well its piston rings seat and how long it lasts. Learn how to follow your maker's hour and RPM schedule, why you should keep changing the throttle, what to avoid (constant RPM, early full throttle, long idling), what to check every trip and when to do the first oil change.

How to Build a Damage-Control Kit: Plugs, Patches and a Plan for Leaks

Put together a labeled kit that can slow or stop water coming into your boat - softwood plugs tied at every through-hull, rescue tape, spare clamps, rubber and plywood patches, plastic sheeting, underwater sealant, a manual pump and the tools to reach a hidden leak - and practice with it so your crew knows where everything is.

How to Care for Boat Solar Panels, Connectors and the Charge Controller

A boat solar setup is quiet and almost maintenance-free, but salt, shade, loose connectors and a wrong battery setting quietly cut its output or hurt the batteries. Learn the cleaning, inspection and controller checks to do each season, and how to leave the system for winter.

How to Change the Oil and Filter on a Four-Stroke Jet Ski (PWC)

Pump the old oil out through the dipstick tube, swap the filter, refill and check the level the way your model requires. A yearly oil change (or at the hours your manual lists) is the single most important service for a four-stroke Sea-Doo, Yamaha WaveRunner or Kawasaki Jet Ski.

How to Check and Care for Boat Trailer Surge Brakes

Understand how the hydraulic surge brakes on your boat trailer work, check the fluid, use the reverse lockout correctly and rinse salt out of them after every dunk. Simple habits that keep the brakes from seizing, dragging or failing when you need them.

How to Check, Mount and Replace Boat Fire Extinguishers

A monthly five-minute check of every fire extinguisher aboard, plus how the 2022 Coast Guard rule changes affect you, where to mount them, and when to recharge or replace. A boat fire spreads in seconds, and an extinguisher with a dead gauge, missing pin or expired date will not help you or pass a boarding.

How to Choose and Fit Life Jackets for Children and Babies

Pick the right Coast Guard-approved life jacket for each child by weight, check the fit so it can't slip off, look for head support and a crotch strap on little ones, and learn the federal and state wear rules. Inflatables are not for kids, and a life jacket never replaces an adult watching.

How to Choose, Install and Adjust Trailer Guide-Ons (Posts or Bunks)

Add or tune the side guides on your boat trailer so the hull lines up in wind and current, the posts stay visible at the ramp and nothing rubs the gelcoat on the road. Covers post vs. bunk guide-ons, lighted posts, mounting height, side clearance and yearly care.

How to Choose, Install and Maintain an Onboard Battery Charger

Pick the right marine charger for your batteries (how many banks, how many amps, flooded, AGM or lithium), mount and fuse it safely, set the charge profile, and use it to keep batteries healthy all season and through the winter. The AC (shore power) side is a job for a marine electrician.

How to Clean and Care for a Boat Windshield (Acrylic, Polycarbonate or Glass)

Clean your windshield without scratching it, tell acrylic, polycarbonate and glass apart, deal with haze, crazing and small cracks, stop frame leaks, and keep wipers and the walk-through door working.

How to Clean and Care for Clear Vinyl (Isinglass) and Polycarbonate Enclosure Panels

Keep the clear windows in your dodger, bimini curtains or full enclosure clear for years by cleaning them the right way, storing them without scratches and avoiding the cold-weather and chemical mistakes that ruin them. Covers soft clear vinyl, coated vinyl like Strataglass, rigid panels and zippers.

How to Clean and Protect Boat Canvas, Bimini Tops and Vinyl Seats

Wash your bimini, covers and enclosure the right way, beat mildew without wrecking the stitching, keep vinyl seats soft and stain-free, look after zippers and snaps, and store everything so it comes out clean next spring.

How to Clean Your Boat's Bilge (Legally, and Without the Smell)

Get oil, sludge and debris out of the bilge without pumping pollution overboard, choose absorbents that actually work, track down bilge odors, clear limber holes and the pump pickup, and dispose of the mess the right way.

How to Clean, Protect and Inspect Stainless Steel Boat Hardware

Remove tea stains and rust from rails, cleats and fittings without scratching them, passivate stainless so it stays clean longer, understand why 304 and 316 behave differently, and spot the hidden crevice corrosion that weakens fittings from underneath.

How to Clean, Protect and Restore Non-Skid Decks

Get dirt, fish blood, rust and mildew out of textured non-skid without wearing it away, learn why ordinary wax makes it dangerously slick, and decide when worn non-skid needs a deck paint with grip additive or traction pads instead.

How to Clean, Remove Oxidation and Wax Your Boat's Gelcoat (Plus Pontoon Tubes)

Wash your hull the right way, bring back chalky, faded gelcoat with compound, and seal it with wax so it stays glossy and protected from the sun. Includes how to clean and protect the aluminum tubes on a pontoon boat.

How to Detail Your Boat's Interior (Vinyl Seats, Carpet, Storage and Drains)

Give your cockpit and cabin a proper detail. Clean marine vinyl without stripping its UV protection, wash snap-in and glued-down carpet, clear out cup holders, storage boxes and their drains, beat mildew and pink stains, and know which household cleaners to keep off your boat.

How to Do a Compression Test on an Outboard, Sterndrive, Inboard or PWC

A compression test tells you whether the pistons, rings, valves and head gasket in each cylinder are sealing. Learn when to do one, how to do it safely, how to read the numbers by comparing cylinders, and what a wet test and a leak-down test add.