Repair & maintenance guides

How to Touch Up Paint and Corrosion on an Outboard or Sterndrive

Bare aluminum on a lower unit or sterndrive corrodes fast, especially in salt water. Learn how to find the cause, clean off corrosion, prime and repaint with the right products, and what must never be painted, such as anodes and sensors.

How to Use a Pump-Out Station: Finding One, Hooking Up and Rinsing the Tank

Find a pump-out near you with state maps and free apps, hook up to the deck fitting without spills, rinse the holding tank, leave the station clean for the next boat and know the rules for no-discharge zones and mobile pump-out boats.

Hull Blisters (Osmosis): How to Tell Cosmetic Pimples From Serious Pox

Learn what osmotic blisters are, how to inspect a fiberglass bottom at haul-out, which blisters you can fix yourself with epoxy, what moisture meter readings can and can't tell you, and when to hire an independent surveyor.

Hull Potential Survey: Checking Corrosion Protection with a Reference Electrode

A silver/silver-chloride reference electrode and an ordinary multimeter show whether your underwater metals are really protected by their anodes, whether every fitting is bonded, and whether shore power or the slip is upsetting things. Learn how to take the readings, what under- and over-protection mean in plain terms, and when to call a marine electrician or corrosion specialist.

Hydraulic Steering: Check Fluid, Bleed Air and Fix Stiff or Loose Steering

Check the fluid in your hydraulic steering helm, bleed out the air that makes steering spongy, and track down the usual causes of stiff, loose or noisy steering. Includes notes for boats with mechanical cable steering.

Ice Makers and Drinking-Water Dispensers on Boats: Cleaning, Filters and Winterizing

Keep onboard ice and drinking water clean and tasting good. Sanitize and descale the ice maker, change filters, keep the condenser breathing, fix common faults, and drain and bypass everything before freezing weather.

Impressed Current Corrosion Protection on Yachts: How It Works and How to Keep an Eye on It

Larger aluminum and steel yachts often use an impressed current system instead of, or alongside, sacrificial anodes. Learn what the control panel, anodes and reference electrodes do, how to log and double-check the readings with a portable reference cell, why over-protection can strip paint and attack aluminum, what to do at haul-out, and when to call a corrosion specialist.

Inboard and Sterndrive Engine Mounts: Signs of Failure and How to Inspect Them

The rubber mounts under an inboard or sterndrive engine soak up vibration and hold the engine in line with the drive. Learn the warning signs of a failing mount, how to inspect all of them in under an hour, and why a mount replacement always ends with an alignment check.

Inflatable Boat and Dinghy Care: Cleaning, UV Protection, Leaks and Storage

Keep your inflatable or RIB tender holding air for years. Rinse and clean it the right way, protect the tubes from sun, check pressure with a gauge, find slow leaks with soapy water, service the valves, patch small holes with the correct glue for PVC or Hypalon, and store it clean and dry.

Marine Head and Holding Tank Care: Odors, Clogs, Pump-Outs and Winterizing

Keep your boat's toilet and holding tank working and odor-free, clear common clogs, pump out the right way, and winterize the system. Also covers the Y-valve and the federal no-discharge rules every owner with a head needs to follow.

Marine Sealants Explained: 5200, 4200, 4000UV, Polysulfide, Silicone and Butyl Tape

Pick the right sealant before you bed a cleat, a through-hull, a window or a transducer. The wrong goo either leaks in a year or glues a part on so hard you damage the boat getting it off.

Marine Vinyl Stain Removal: Ink, Sunscreen, Grease, Mildew and Pink Stain

A stain-by-stain plan for boat seat vinyl that follows your vinyl maker's own cleaning list, starts with the mildest method, and keeps you away from the products that strip the protective top coat, rot the stitching or crack the vinyl.

Marine Water Heater Care: No Hot Water, Relief Valve, Anode and Winter Draining

Most boat water heaters warm up two ways: a 120-volt electric element at the dock and a coil that borrows hot coolant from the engine underway. Learn the safe owner checks when the hot water quits, what a dripping relief valve means, and how to drain and bypass the tank for winter.

Mounting Hardware Where You Can't Reach Behind: Blind Fasteners

Learn how to mount light accessories on a boat when you can't get a hand behind the panel, using blind rivets, rivet nuts, well nuts, toggle anchors and bonded studs, when to cut an inspection port instead, and what must never be held by a blind fastener.

Oil or Fuel in the Bilge: Safe, Legal Cleanup

What to do when you find oil, diesel or gasoline in your bilge. Soak it up with oil-only absorbents, keep it from being pumped overboard, dispose of it properly, report any sheen on the water to the National Response Center, and find the leak so it does not happen again.

Outboard Hydrofoil Fins: Do They Help, and How to Install One Safely

Learn when a bolt-on hydrofoil (the fin that mounts on the anti-ventilation plate) can help a boat plane sooner or stop porpoising, what it can cost you in top speed and handling, and how to mount one without drilling into an anode, trim tab or speed pickup.

Outrigger Care: Poles, Halyards, Release Clips and Bases

Keep your outriggers strong and working by rinsing them after every trip, checking poles, halyards, pulleys, release clips and through-bolted bases for wear and corrosion, storing them down and secured, and handling them safely under way and near power lines.

Protecting a Docked Boat: Mooring Whips, Bumpers, Fender Boards and Chafe Gear

Set up your dock or slip so wakes, wind and tides don't grind your hull against it, using mooring whips, dock bumpers, fender boards, spring lines and chafe gear, and know what these can and can't do in a storm.

Replacing a Built-In Boat Fuel Tank: What's Involved and Why It's Usually a Pro Job

A leaking built-in gas tank is a fire and explosion risk that has to be fixed, not patched. Learn the signs a tank needs replacing, why foamed-in aluminum tanks corrode, what a compliant replacement tank and label look like, how access, grounding, hoses, vents and foam should be handled, and how to plan and check the work.

Replacing a Seacock or Through-Hull Fitting

When a seacock is frozen, corroded or really a gate valve, it has to be replaced with the boat out of the water. Learn what a proper seacock is, bronze vs Marelon, why the through-hull and backing block usually get replaced too, how the job is done, and when to hand it to a yard.

Rudder, Rudder Bearings and Steering Gear Inspection (Sailboats and Inboards)

Check your rudder for play, water inside the blade and stock corrosion, inspect the rudder tube and its seal, and go over cables, sheaves, quadrant and stops so the steering does not fail when you need it. Includes how to find, fit and practice with the emergency tiller.

Smelly Head Hoses: How to Test, Choose and Replace Sanitation Hose

Find out if your toilet and holding-tank hoses are the source of that sewage smell with a simple hot-rag test, then pick the right sanitation hose, route and clamp it properly, and get rid of the old hose cleanly.

Spiders, Wasps and Insects on Your Boat: Prevention and Safe Cleanup

Why boats attract spiders, mud daubers, wasps and swarming lake insects, how to clean webs and droppings without harming gelcoat or canvas, and how to keep nests out of the vents, telltales and fittings your boat needs to breathe.

Sterndrive Corrosion: Paint Blisters, Anodes, MerCathode and Galvanic Isolators

Learn to spot the early signs of corrosion on an aluminum sterndrive, check the anodes and the MerCathode or Volvo Penta ACP system, and understand when a galvanic isolator or a hull potential test is needed. Caught early, corrosion costs a few anodes; caught late, it can cost the whole drive.