Repair & maintenance guides

How to Inspect and Clear Cockpit Scuppers and Deck Drains

Most boats that sink at the dock fill up from the top, through clogged scuppers, cracked drain hoses and leaky hatches during a heavy rain. Learn how to trace every drain, clear clogs, check flappers, hoses and clamps, flood-test the cockpit and keep drains working in freezing weather.

How to Inspect and Exercise Seacocks, Through-Hulls and Hose Clamps

Check every hole in your hull below the waterline, work each seacock open and closed, and inspect the hoses and clamps attached to them. A single failed fitting or hose is one of the most common reasons boats sink at the dock.

How to Inspect and Maintain a Boat Lift (Cables, Pulleys, Motor, Bunks and Storm Prep)

Inspect the cables, pulleys, motor, wiring and bunks on your boat lift, center the boat correctly, and prepare the lift and boat for storms and winter. Cable failures and overloading from rainwater or snow are the most common ways lifts drop boats.

How to Inspect and Troubleshoot Hydraulic and Electric Trim Tabs

Keep your trim tabs working with a simple seasonal check of the blades, anodes, fluid, lines and wiring, and track down the usual faults when a tab won't move, only one side works, or the tabs stay stuck down.

How to Inspect Sailboat Chainplates for Leaks, Cracks and Hidden Corrosion

Check every chainplate above and below deck for leaks, rust, cracks and a wet deck around it, reseal the ones that leak, and know when the plates need to come out for a proper look. Chainplates tie the mast to the hull, and one hidden failure can bring the rig down.

How to Inspect Wakeboard Tower, T-Top and Bimini Hardware

Towers, T-tops and biminis carry tow ropes, speakers, boards, electronics and wind loads, all on a handful of bolts. Learn how to check the welds, bases, backing plates, bolts, folding hinges and accessory loads before a crack or a loose bolt becomes an accident.

How to Inspect, Clean and Replace Vented Loops (Anti-Siphon Valves)

A vented loop is a small, easy-to-forget fitting that stops seawater from siphoning into your engine or through your head and into the boat. Learn where they live, why they must sit well above the waterline, how to clean a sticky or clogged valve, when to replace it, and how to spot the hydrolock damage a failed one can cause.

How to Install an Inspection Port (Deck Plate) in a Deck or Bulkhead

Add a screw-out or pry-out deck plate so you can reach hidden nuts, wiring, hoses and through-hulls, or check a deck core for rot. Learn where it is safe to cut, how to pick and size the port, how to seal a cored deck with epoxy, and how to bed the ring so it never leaks.

How to Install EVA Foam Decking (SeaDek-Style Pads) on Your Boat

Closed-cell foam decking makes a hard fiberglass deck grippy and comfortable underfoot. Learn when a peel-and-stick DIY job makes sense, how to template, cut and prep, the temperature and gap rules, how to lay pads without trapped air, and how to clean, repair and eventually remove them.

How to Keep a Dry Bilge, Including Dry Bilge Pump Systems

Standing water in the bilge causes odors, mildew and corrosion, and hides new leaks. Learn why your main pump leaves water behind and how to get rid of the last inch: cut the sources, clear limber holes, route AC condensate and showers to a sump, and add a small self-priming diaphragm pump if needed.

How to Keep Your Boat Fridge, Freezer or Icebox Cold (and Off Your Batteries' Back)

Most boat fridge problems are not a dead compressor: they are trapped heat, low voltage, leaky seals or too much frost. Learn the owner checks for air-cooled, water-cooled and keel-cooled units, how to estimate power draw, and how to store the system for winter.

How to Lift or Jack a Pontoon Safely on the Trailer or the Ground

Raise a pontoon a few inches to rinse and inspect the tubes, drain them, adjust bunks or set it on storage blocks without bending a tube or getting hurt: where it can and can't take a jack, how to spread the load, why you block as you lift and never go under it, and when a dealer's forklift or lift is the right tool.

How to Maintain a Bow Thruster (Anode, Prop, Shear Pin, Gear Leg and Batteries)

Keep your electric bow or stern thruster ready for the moment you need it, with seasonal checks of its anode, prop and shear pin, gear leg oil, motor compartment, batteries and heavy cables, plus how to avoid overheating it. Most thruster failures build slowly from corrosion and weak batteries.

How to Maintain an Anchor Windlass and Inspect and Mark Your Anchor Rode

Keep your electric windlass working with a seasonal clean-and-grease, sort out a dead or slow windlass from the breaker and solenoid to the motor, and inspect, mark and splice your chain and rope rode. Your anchor is a safety system; this guide keeps every link of it ready.

How to Maintain Your Boat's Air Conditioning Seawater System

Keep seawater flowing through your marine A/C by cleaning the strainer, checking the pump and overboard discharge, descaling the condenser coil when flow drops, cleaning the air filter, and winterizing the seawater circuit before a freeze. Most "A/C not cooling" calls are a water-flow problem.

How to Match Gelcoat Color for Small Repairs

Get a chip or screw-hole repair to blend in with your hull instead of standing out as a bright patch. Learn to polish first so you see the real color, find your builder's color code or a matched gelcoat, tint by tiny steps, test cured samples in daylight, and allow for sun fading.

How to Mount Rod Holders, Fish Finders, Cleats and Antennas Without Causing Leaks

Add accessories to your boat the right way, with through-bolts, backing plates, sealed core and proper wire pass-throughs, so every new hole stays dry and strong. Also learn where you should never drill.

How to Paint a Boat Bilge (Prep, Paint Choice and What to Leave Bare)

A freshly painted bilge is easier to keep clean and makes small fuel, oil, coolant and water leaks easy to spot. Learn how to degrease and sand, pick between alkyd bilge paint and epoxy coatings, ventilate safely, and keep paint off the parts that must stay bare.

How to Paint Your Boat's Topsides (Roll and Tip)

When the gelcoat above the waterline is too chalky or crazed to polish back, a one-part or two-part polyurethane paint can bring back the shine. This guide covers choosing the paint, prep, weather windows, roll-and-tip technique and the safety gear two-part paints demand.

How to Prevent and Remove Mold and Mildew on Your Boat

Stop the musty smell and black spots before they start. Find and fix the water source, keep air moving, control humidity safely, and clean mold off gelcoat, vinyl and cabin surfaces with products that won't damage them.

How to Prevent and Remove Scale in Marine Toilet Discharge Hoses

A head that gets harder to pump, flushes slowly or lets water creep back into the bowl often has mineral scale building up inside the discharge hose. Learn a simple monthly vinegar routine, when to use a maker-approved descaler, what never to pour in, and when replacing the hose or switching to a freshwater flush is the real fix.

How to Re-Caulk Teak Deck Seams (and When the Deck Is Beyond Saving)

Spot failing teak deck seams, reef out the old caulk, prep and bond-break the seams, lay in a teak-specific caulk and sand it flush. Done right, fresh seams stop deck leaks and add years to the deck; this guide also shows the signs that a deck is too worn to recaulk.

How to Re-Cover Boat Cushions and Seats (DIY Sewing vs. Upholstery Shop)

Cracked, faded or split cushion covers can be replaced without buying new seats. Learn how to choose marine vinyl or acrylic fabric, which thread survives the sun, how to use the old cover as a pattern, where zippers and drain vents go, and when a walking-foot machine at home makes sense versus paying an upholstery shop.

How to Rebuild a Manual Marine Toilet (Hand-Pump Head)

A manual head that's hard to pump, lets water flow back into the bowl or leaks at the pump shaft usually just needs new valves and seals. Learn how to diagnose the symptom, pick the right service kit, replace the joker valve, flapper and piston seals safely and hygienically, and keep the pump working afterward.