Everybody loves getting out on the water and often it can be a mad rush to get ready for your next boating adventure.
Whether you are starting your boat prep after a big day at work, doing the early morning rush, or your getting ready to move on to your next destination after being at anchor. These pre-boating checks are still so important and shouldn’t be overlooked.
By doing some quick checks before you even start loading the boat, you can avoid being that person that thinks they are ready to hit the drink and the boat wont start or worse, ruining your day and often your friends and family’s day as well.
These 7 steps don’t even need to be done the day/night before they can be done anytime before your big day on the water.
Obviously the closer to your boating trip the better for accuracy. (a battery can go flat overnight for example)
A lot of these steps are going to sound like common sense and most of them are but you would be surprised to know how often these steps get overlooked and result in a lost day boating.
7 steps to trouble free boating
1 – Check fuel
2 – Check fluids
3 – Check for leaks
4 – Check battery and start engine
5 – Check for leaks again
6 – Check steering, trim / tilt, gears
7 – Go boating!
Step 1 – Check your fuel.
Do you have enough to get you to your destination and back again?
Does your fuel look and smell how you expect it should?
By this I mean have a look at any pre filter clear bowls and pop the fill cap off and have a sniff, don’t go putting your face too close to the fill tube, you will be able to smell it from a short distance away.
Petrol goes off over time, if it isn’t a strong sweet smell or your not sure, I would recommend putting some fuel stabilizer in the tank and adding some fresh 98 octane fuel to dilute the bad stuff, or drain and fill with new fuel.
Having a good look at the clear fuel bowls if you have them will show you if there are any contaminants in the fuel that could enter your engine, like diesel bug or water.
Step 2 – Check fluids.
This means checking engine oil level, coolant level, power steering fluid level, gearbox oil level, any component that has a dipstick and can be topped up.
You may have components that require special tools or knowledge to check, these are fine to leave for your service centre to check at service time.
Step 3 – Check for leaks.
Its a really good idea to get to know your bilge and/or your outboard engine pan.
Getting to know your bilge can quickly and easily alert you to any possible upcoming issues hopefully saving you time and money in the long run.
Obviously a clean bilge is going to be easier to see any possible leaks, but if that’s not an option just take note of the condition of the bilge, most importantly how much if any oil/water etc… has collected in the bottom, taking a photo can be handy for this step.
You can compare before and after photos to give you an idea of any changes.
Step 4 – Check your battery.
Has your battery/batteries been charged lately?
How old is your battery/batteries?
Turn on your battery switches and go ahead and turn on the boat ignition.
If you have a volt gauge you can check this first before starting, for a 12v system 12.4v or better before starting and around 13/14v when running is ideal.
Time to get ready to start the engine/engines, make sure you have water connected ready to start.
Start your engine/engines.
If they don’t start or are hard to start you could have flat or faulty batteries, remember batteries don’t last forever, if you can get to them easily you can check the condition indicator on the batteries to give you an idea of their condition.
FYI the indicators on batteries only give you the condition of one cell, 12v batteries have 6 cells.
The best way to test a battery is by using a load tester, the second best is using a multimeter but with a multimeter you can’t test the battery loaded, meaning you can only get a voltage reading before or after starting.
A loaded reading simulates the starter motor drawing current from the battery, witch is the hardest thing the battery has to do, if it cant do that then you aren’t going anywhere.
Depending on a battery’s condition you might get away with just charging it up and trying again when it’s fully charged.
If your unsure of the condition of the batteries I would recommend replacing them.
Its not worth boating with batteries you don’t trust, having batteries fail far from home is not ideal and definitely not a fun time.
Step 5 – Check for water flow and leaks.
OK now you have your engine/engines running, do you have water coming out your tell tale or exhaust of your drive?
If you have low or no water flow, double check your tap, hose connections, ear muffs and/or poke a wire up the tell tale tube sometimes insects like to make nest’s in them.
If none of this helps It is likely you have something else going on and your engine/engines will overheat and will need the raw water system looked at by a professional.
While your checking the water flow also re check your bilge for any active leaks.
If you do notice active leaks in the bilge now is a good time to get them looked at and rectified.
Step 6 – Check control systems.
Check steering, trim / tilt, gear engagement, FWD and REV.
Does your steering feel tighter than normal?
Does it go lock to lock?
Is there any funny noises?
Is your drive physically moving?
Does trim / tilt work?
Briefly engage FWD gear does it engage and spin your props?
When you go back to neutral check you are actually getting neutral, does your prop stop spinning?
Then engage REV briefly before returning to neutral.
If any of your control systems fail your tests get the problem looked at by a professional as soon as possible.
These control system checks are critical for safe operation and any failure can cause serious injury or death if not working properly.
Step 7 – Go boating.
By this step you should have a very good idea of how mechanically sound your vessel is and if you are happy with everything you checked, then you should be confident you are going to have a trouble free day on the water.
If you made it to step 7 and you now have a list of issues, that’s OK.
Think of it this way, a lost days boating is way better than breaking down out on the water or worse having an accident.
By doing these checks you are building a list of issues that are going to be very helpful when it comes to getting the issues fixed.
You already have a good idea what is going on in and around your boat so when you do decide to get things fixed ether by yourself or by a qualified marine mechanic it should be a simple matter of working through the list you have created.
Wrapping up.
So by making it through my 7 steps to trouble free boating you should now have all the tools you need to make the big decision to go boating or the even bigger decision to call it off and get some repairs done first.
Either way you have gained some valuable knowledge of your own vessel.
Boating is an expensive hobby no matter witch way you look at it, the marine environment is a harsh one causing corrosion to metal parts and rot to timbers and porous materials.
The main thing to remember is if your wanting to reduce your time off the water you have to be proactive.
Some minor maintenance now is going to save you BIG in the long run, both in time and money.
Keeping your vessel in top shape doesn’t have to be difficult. Explore The Everyday Captain for more, actionable advice, step-by-step guides, and helpful resources designed to keep you safe, save you money, and make boating more enjoyable. Whether you’re tackling a repair, improving maintenance, or just learning the basics, The Everyday Captain has you covered.
