Maintaining a Boat

With owning a boat comes a lot of maintenance and upkeep to ensure that it is working properly. Not performing any routine maintenance on your boat can lead to big problems in the future. Here are the most important things to know when owning a boat.

Motor Maintenance

This is what most of the maintenance will be on your boat is the upkeep with the motor. If you live in a cold weather climate during the year, winterizing your outboard is probably one of the most important things you can do. Especially if you have a stern-drive motor it can freeze and crack and destroy your engine completely. Another things you want to check yearly is that your lower unit lube is ok. You do not want to have water in this at all. Depending on how much you use your boat, getting oil and filter changes done regularly (if you have a 4-stroke engine) is important as well (either 100 hours or annually). Your water-pump impeller should be changed every 3 years or 300 hours on any engine. Spark plugs should also be changed every 100 hours or annually. It is important to make sure these things are up-to-date otherwise this will affect the performance of the engine completely.

Boat Maintenance

Maintaining the inside and outside of your boat is just as important as keeping up with the engine. It is good boat owner care to clean your boat after you are done using it. Cleaning off the build up of weeds, scum, and even zebra muscles can have the outside of your boat looking brand new. Also, using a protective vinyl spray for your seats will help prevent them from cracking over time from sitting out in the sun. You want to make sure all lights on your boat are working, including on your trailer for towing. Another important thing to make sure especially before an outing is to make sure your battery is ok and charged. And making sure if you have battery chargers that they are functioning as well. This can in turn leave you stuck out on the lake if your battery is dead. If you have a portable gas tank or not make sure you are stabilizing the gas after every fill up. This ensures that your gas stays fresher longer and does not cause problems later while running it through your engine.