Repair & maintenance guides

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 Lower Unit (Gearcase) and Sterndrive Oil

Drain and refill the gear oil in your outboard lower unit or sterndrive, and learn to spot water intrusion before it destroys the gears. It is a 30-minute job that protects a gearcase costing thousands to replace.

How to Check and Adjust Boat Shift and Throttle Cables

Hard shifting, a lever that will not go fully into gear, or a gear that lands in a different spot every time usually point to the control cables. Learn how to find out whether the problem is the cable, the control box or the engine, how to adjust the cable ends, and when it is time to replace both cables.

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 and Test a Gasoline Vapor (Fume) Detector

A gasoline vapor detector sniffs the bilge all the time and sounds an alarm long before fumes can explode. Learn how these detectors work, where the sensor belongs, how to test the system the way its maker says, what causes false alarms, what to do when it goes off, and why it never replaces the blower and your own sniff test.

How to Check and Top Up Power Trim and Tilt Fluid

Check and top up the hydraulic fluid in your power trim and tilt unit, then work through the simple checks when the motor won't go up, won't go down or slowly sinks. Most trim problems are a dead battery, a bad relay, low fluid or a release valve left open, and you can find those yourself.

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.

How to Dry or Replace Waterlogged Boat Seat Cushion Foam

Stop the soggy-seat problem: find out why the foam inside boat cushions holds water, dry it out the fast way, and choose the right replacement foam (standard, closed-cell or quick-drying reticulated) so your seats stay dry, firm and mildew-free.

How to File a Boat Insurance Claim: Safety, Mitigation, Documentation and Settlement

What to do from the moment something goes wrong until the check arrives: make everyone safe, stop further damage, report right away, document with photos and your maintenance log, handle towing versus salvage, work with the adjuster or surveyor, and understand agreed value, actual cash value and the common exclusions. Policies differ, so your own policy wording always wins.

How to File a Float Plan: What to Include, Who Gets It and What They Do If You're Late

A float plan is a short written trip plan you leave with someone ashore, not with the Coast Guard. Fill in the free USCG Float Plan or the Coast Guard app, agree on a firm 'call for help by' time, check in when plans change, close the plan when you're home, and give your shore contact clear steps for reporting you overdue.