You should look at the boat as if you are looking at an aircraft where you will “board”, after all some technical terms are very similar to those in aeronautics.
If you like DIY jobs, do it in professional areas that are unlikely to endanger your physical integrity or the people closest to you.
Avoid handing over your boat for maintenance by stipulating or exerting pressure to establish a maximum amount to be spent (maintenance budget to make a smooth overhaul) or setting limits otherwise to the action of the contracted service.
Do not set parameters that may affect the reliability of your engine, for example, “It is not necessary to change the spark plugs because they have only a few hours of operation”, only you will lose out and eventually bring boredom, at least, most likely the service cheap will be reduced to the exchange of those components of a maintenance that you would do yourself in your garage.
Avoid placing your boat for maintenance precisely when the summer starts, the service in our specialty decreases during the winter, did you ever think that technical services could offer a better quality of service when there is more availability to do the job? Or do you think that, if the technical service is not available, you will make the maintenance of the boat more expensive? Think about this fundamental principle: both in the maintenance of aircraft and in motor boats, the components are replaced by time use or wear in the number of hours of use, not by monetary criteria, because we must preserve human life first.
Rescue equipment on board is a key priority mainly because it’s needed when it’s really needed, in addition you don’t want to ending the day penalized by the maritime authorities because have not them on board or valid date was expired this surely is the first thing that you doesn’t want happen to you, always remember when you leave with your boat maybe you will really need one of these equipment, so keep them in good working condition, operation, validated and mainly choose to keep them in the best easy place access, do not send them to the basement where they do not disturb anyone or anything, but you can never reach them if you really need to use these resources.
If you intend to purchase a new boat, trie to know which safety equipment in case do you want received as offer because if you don’t do this maybe someone will most likely offer you the worst quality available on the market and which only comply with the law, often products are such poor quality that on time you may need to use them unfortunate they are simply unusable for any reason.
By António Guerra