Do we over think, over analyze and stress too much over our boats/engines?

I think that part of what drives me to be a bit more fastidious over the boat than, say, my cars, is that I can't just coast off the side of the road and walk away to a safe distance were something to go terribly wrong. The thought of bobbing in the water in my life vest while watching the old girl burn down to the waterline makes me more particular about making sure everything's cool every time we go out.
'Ever flown a small plane? Then you know just how much in tune you tend to be about how everything's working. If the engine stumbles, every hair is on end!
@b_arrington, thanks for your compilation; I fall under your #4, but don't see it so much as an obsession, but more to the point that I actually enjoy working on mechanical stuff! Once I retire (next March!) the boat will be a focal point. Fortunately, the wife also really likes the boat.

I'm a blend of 3 and 4.

I was sitting on my boat on our marina's dock talking to a dock hand when a pontoon pulled into a slip. The owner asked the dock hand what the mechanic did to fix his rough running outboard. The dock hand said "he put oil in it, it was dry. Nothing showed on the dip stick". The owner was truly perplexed. After a minute he said "didn't they check the oil when they dewinterized?". It was the end of August and the guy had not checked his oil all season. He actually asked the dock hand "who is supposed to check my oil?" He was clearly not obsessing about anything boat related....

I'd say closer to a 0 than a 1.

SeaNile said:

LOL. Specifically didn't mention "changing turbos at the slightest bit of soot" thinking that would be a low blow.

Hell, without your contributions to these threads of your updates and work this site wouldn't be nearly as fun!

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when I sold my last boat I had so many records of stuff I replaced the buyer actually said "ok, we get it, just give me the binder" because he didn't want to hear any more...

I like the line "Everything on your boat is broken...you just don't know it yet!"

Nater Potater said:

I think that part of what drives me to be a bit more fastidious over the boat than, say, my cars, is that I can't just coast off the side of the road and walk away to a safe distance were something to go terribly wrong. The thought of bobbing in the water in my life vest while watching the old girl burn down to the waterline makes me more particular about making sure everything's cool every time we go out.
'Ever flown a small plane? Then you know just how much in tune you tend to be about how everything's working. If the engine stumbles, every hair is on end!
@b_arrington, thanks for your compilation; I fall under your #4, but don't see it so much as an obsession, but more to the point that I actually enjoy working on mechanical stuff! Once I retire (next March!) the boat will be a focal point. Fortunately, the wife also really likes the boat.

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I too like to work on the boat. Sometimes more than I like taking it out, I'll admit. I probably spend more time on boat maintenance than house maintenance.

One of my wiper motors went out the other day from a tiny part inside and had to be replaced. I was lucky enough to source an an unopened exact replacement from a friend that didn't need it, then swapped it out while my son was hanging on the boat with his buddies. It required a little mechanical knowledge, some mechanical persuasion, a bit of electrical work, and some final fine tuning. Took about 2 hours. At the end I had the satisfaction of a job well done, as well as knowing I likely avoided a huge cost of someone else doing it.

Contrast that to a recent plumbing repair at home. Had a partially plugged line that needed a power snake. The sewer guy couldn't access the line because of the sink drain was configured with no clean out so a plumber had to be called to redo the PVC drain and trap. I normally do any plumbing work at home, but this was over my head and I had a time crunch. $500 later for 35 minutes of work made me truly appreciate how being able to do maintenance at home and on the boat really pays off.

From all of the bad rap online regarding the Cat 3196's and the aftercooler failures I felt borderline crazy for purchasing a boat with this power last year. 2000 510DA, 1995 hrs on the clocks, good service history and great oil samples. That being said, turbos's, injectors, and aftercoolers were original. Boat still ran very well but had traces of black smoke on take off. I couldn't stand that these items were 20yrs old with 2000hrs and I also can't stand any soot on the back of my boat. First replaced the turbos, that cleaned up 90% of smoke. Over the winter replaced aftercooler cores(they were original and in perfect condition despite all the talk of these failing). This spring replaced all 12 injectors and adjusted the valves and now it runs super clean. So 30k later the boat runs flawless and the piece of mind I have is priceless. I now have close to 2100 hrs and am extremely confident in these engines. I still analyze every sound, vibration, and smell but I am very happy with my well maintained & proven 2000hr 3196's despite their less than favorable online reputation.

Then there are folks who just do what manuals say and don’t sweat about it. We never had mechanical issues with our boats. We bought them new, kept them around 10-15 years and did what the owner manual said to do. Never had to replace a water heater, transmission, engine, a/c, cook top, duck bill valve or any mechanical piece of equipment. This stuff has good longevity if you follow the directions. We do the same with cars. No oil changes every 3000, flushing radiators, blah, blah. Just follow the directions.

Christopher Mesker said:

I like the line "Everything on your boat is broken...you just don't know it yet!"

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Laughed til tears. Oh man, may be best line ever!

Strecker25 said:

when I sold my last boat I had so many records of stuff I replaced the buyer actually said "ok, we get it, just give me the binder" because he didn't want to hear any more...

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Maybe he was scared of the reality check about expense. I have a thick manila folder with every receipt, manual, etc. when i sell it someday i will hand it to the next owner (after payment in bank) and say “good luck”.

I’ve been told by many as well as my diesel mechanic that if you are going to drop a valve it’s usually when you first start up or shut down after a cruise. So you can imagine my level of paranoia at each startup when we first moved to diesels….lol. At this point I just keep up on maintenance without obsessing as I’ve seen some rust bucket motors online which are 40-50 years which are still crossing oceans.

b_arrington said:

Type 1:

Type 2:

Type 3:

Type 4:

Type 5:

Are these perfect fits? No. But it just illustrates a range of owners and ways of thinking about mechanical systems.

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I grew up in a family that owned a gasoline distributorship and all the gas stations that go with it. When one of our vehicles needed maintenance or a repair the answer was always "Take it down to the station and have them work on it." That was a plus. The downside of that was I never had a wrench in my hand until I got into high school.

Fortunately I went to college (on my own dime!) and learned how to do things where I could make enough bucks to pay to have someone fix my broken stuff.

With the boats I took VERY good care of the marina staff that maintained and repaired them. I took the owner and his wife to dinner, bought lunch for the whole staff about once a month and took them donuts about once a month. I am on a first name basis with the entire staff. How many of you can say that?

I wouldn't say so. I'll write more after I finish color matching all the light bulbs in my cabin and measuring their lumen output.

I say if you boat for any length of time you will be forced into category 4 just by the nature of boating. 2 examples from my 32 years of ownership in/around Puget sound - the Funny and the serious 1) The funny - I used to hang (bachelor days) at Kirkland public marina on Lake Washington -Fun to watch the Public marina lunacy and developed good camaraderie there- One day while tied off for the night, a brand new 30 foot cobalt (think this was around 99ish) pulls in next to me. Probably a 175K boat out the door. Owner hops off and beats feat to the bars. I noticed water pumping out one of the stern side ports - Hmm, a ballast equilization of some kind? After 20 minutes I started to worry. Got another guy involved and we decided to board the boat to check bilge - Sure enough, no bilge plug. We sent a guy up to the bars to track down the owner while I rounded up a plug. About the time we got the plug in and climbing out of water owner shows (Microsoft developer) mad we were on his boat til we told him we prevented from sinking. His tune changed then. We explained he had no bilge plug and his response "whats a bilge plug" - First boat - He had picked the boat up on the water from the dealer 4 hours earlier and had ran around that day eventually tying up next to me at the marina. He's for sure category one. Lucky at the time he tied up next to a category 4 guy. 2) I went from the Pachanga (27 twin) to a Rinker 342 (twin) in 2017. Big difference for me 3 ton to 7 ton . Learned a bunch about motor homes on the water. prior to Labor day weekend 2019 I had mechanic go through the mechanicals in prep for a 300 mile trip through locks and into Puget Sound up to Semiahmoo. Took off through the Locks into Sound. About 50 miles in boat started noticeable list to port. Figured I'd stop at Laconner 1/2 up in Swinomish CHannel. BTW - Lowest tide (super low -3) of the year that day and at 1100ish hours. At West entrance to Swinomish Channel, both engines died (1200ish) and boat coasted down and we heard a load bang in the process. Tried to fire engines, no joy. Called in Vessel assist - two hours away. Tried to anchor while the wind pushed us towards Mud flats -eventually anchor caught in 4 feet of water while outdrives bounced on the mudline. Whew, mudflats avoided. Vessel assist got there - Bridal tied tow into Swinomish Channel (Vessel assist capt and I didnt factor the 7 knot tidal current in direction we were moving in this very narrow shallow channel at lowest tide of the year). Just before Laconner Vessel Assist wanted to re-tie on a side-tie before proceeding down channel to final marina location (3 miles down). When Capt untied and came around side stern, enough time had elapsed a collision was imminent with first small dock and boats at South Laconner. She (vessel Assist capt) saw this too late - She actually bailed from me untied and let us go (while she loittered for final outcome). Good Lord was watching as the Rinker bounced off chris craft and turned 180 in motion and sterned us into the dock planting us between the dock and a steel hull 60 foot catamaran locked by that 7 knot current). Talk about LUCK......and a bunch of butt puckering......I think my sister actually spit some mud! Eventually we did get to the Marina (after a whole lot of discussion with Capt of Vessel Assist on how best to do it with the 7 knot channel current form lowest tide of the year- Mostly from me and little from her). In the end, Here's what happened. Mechanic accidentally shut off Starboard fuel valve when he did the work weekend before. This caused both engines to run on one tank - Ie the port list I noticed, and eventually run out fuel at entrance to swinomish channel second worst possible spot due to expansive mudflats of no return - Thank god was at 1250 when tides were rising (fuel gauges - I had those worked on that weekend before and Mechanic reconnected the Starboard sensor backwards so when full it actually read empty even though I knew it was full so I ignored it-Port tank gauge always "sort of" worked). Bang was due to hitting a rock pinnacle (likely) in the side of channel as we settled when the engines died and I steered out of channel. This blew up the port Power steering unit for some reason (thankfully not the steering ram). Needless to say, weekend of fun to Semiahmoo was shot and my Sister, Brother-in-law, wife, and even the dog will think twice about a long trip with me in the future.

These are just a few of the "events" for me personally that made me a Type 4 guy. You cannot have enough knowledge and care for boats particularly if you boat in ocean. Obsess for Sure - It can only do you good. Also, you will only remain a Type 1 or 2 guy if you are new to it, or Very Very Lucky as in the case of number 1 - Lucky I was there and inquisitive. My worry now is the age of my 7.4L (800 hrs of unknown care from PO) in the 270 DA and how to compensate should it fail on my next trip from the ramp in Marina at Everett on the way to Roche Harbor in North San Juans. A new Engine? even though it appears to be healthy?

b_arrington said:

I too like to work on the boat. Sometimes more than I like taking it out, I'll admit. I probably spend more time on boat maintenance than house maintenance.

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This......however this year was expensive and also cost part of my Summer. I'm going to take a break next year (that usually changes when I sit all Winter thinking about her stuffed away in storage)

Between 3-4. Well done Brad.

We are blessed with having:
A 460, a 14ft jet boat, a wave runner, a 650 super jet stand up jet ski, a great 70ft covered slip with built in pressure washer and five dock boxes full of all most everything you need on top of that all the non mechanical toys to have fun on the lake.

Our slip is nick named the " ACE Hardware"

Our lake is very unique as the closest hardware store, grocery store, marine dealership is 3 hrs away and on my end of the lake there are no diesel mechanics or boat lift for our size of boat. With that said you have no choice to keep up on the maintenance yourself or it all goes to hell fast.

I am the type of person that likes to stay in front of all the maintenance rather than behind. With all the above comes a lot of work to keep everything going without issues. In a strange way keeping up on it all is therapy for me and gives me pride of ownership.

Just last week I got a little OCD/ and good cocktails in me... with the pressure washer and ended up washing five of our dock neighbors house boats top to bottom and our whole dock walk way. We also keep our finger of the dock sprayed for spiders five times a year. That is 24 slips in all.

The 460 can be a lot of work at times and some days I think of the past when I had a more simple boat with less systems to keep up on and one engine to worry about. Having diesels has been a learning curve and I know what I can work on and all the other stuff I have a good over-the road diesel mechanic come from 300 miles away that does all the rest.

I am very lucky that I have the most amazing girlfriend that understands how important it is to keep up on it all and she helps with all the above to keep things running and clean.

Boating is a lot of work. There are people with more money than time and those that have more time than money and when it comes to maintenance you have the ones that just do the general yearly maintenance then there are the super OCD and then those that use it and abuse it.

I dont get it when I see a dirty unorganized poorly maintained boat however that guy seams to be having the same good time I am!

Yes I obsessed at start up and cool down and yes if you spend any amount of time on your boat you get to know every rattle, vibration, smell and noise however I dont let my OCD bleed over to others on the boat and not ruin a good time.

This year we we have 87 hours of running time, 120 days on the lake and used 1550 gallons of fuel. Right now I have a small vibration from the port motor when in gear at idle and it is driving me crazy as I eliminate things that could be causing it.

We never leave the lake with the 460,14ft jet boat , waverunner, jet ski unwashed, un fueled and oils unchecked all is done along with a look over of the mechanicals before we leave that way the next trip we start them up and go! On top of that I have the boat and slip washed before we arrive for our next trip.

Just this last weekend we had 14 " non boating" family members come to the lake. I decided to rent a pontoon boat as we would be doing day trips out on the lake then back to the slip.
It was kinda nice no caring about the boat and just let the mess happen each day knowing that all I had to do was return it to the rental dock at the end of the weekend.

My girlfriend said wouldn't it be great if we got a plane and we could just fly here. I laugh and said hell no... she asked why and I said could you just imagine how our hanger would have to look on top of how OCD we are about maintenance.

I would love to put a SuperJet on the swim platform of my next boat. I think with the dog we will need a dinghy.

Christopher Mesker said:

I like the line "Everything on your boat is broken...you just don't know it yet!"

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We have a related saying. Especially after a weekend of maintaining the boat, someone asks "So how is the boat doing now." I normally say "Its running great!" And my wife usually follows up "Of course something is probably breaking on the boat at this very moment."

highslice said:

I was sitting on my boat on our marina's dock talking to a dock hand when a pontoon pulled into a slip. The owner asked the dock hand what the mechanic did to fix his rough running outboard. The dock hand said "he put oil in it, it was dry. Nothing showed on the dip stick". The owner was truly perplexed. After a minute he said "didn't they check the oil when they dewinterized?". It was the end of August and the guy had not checked his oil all season. He actually asked the dock hand "who is supposed to check my oil?" He was clearly not obsessing about anything boat related....

I'd say closer to a 0 than a 1.

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I also forgot to mention that when the dock hand asked the owner if he wanted his boat out or put in the high and dry. The owner said "put it up, we're going on a real boat later. A cigar boat is picking us up".....A cigar boat???

Old slang term for a "go fast" cigarette