Boats are complicated and they have gotten more complicated as time moves on, just as everything else has. When was the last time you looked under the hood of your car, I mean, why would you, what is all that stuff? If it quits working just call AAA or the dealer.
With boats, we do have some resources to call upon when our boat quits boating. But it is not quite as easy as your car and for many of us part of the allure of boating to get a bit remote. If you are boating in a remote area and something stops working, then what do you do?
I recommend you spend a little time understanding how your boat works. At this point, I could give you a long list of technical items to review, document, become familiar with. Don’t worry, I won’t, simply try to think of your boat as a floating city. They have their own source of power and water. It has a system to dispose of waste and a system that moves you from point A to B. And finally, a structure that keeps you out of the water below and hopefully shields you from the water above.
Depending on the size and age of your own Little Toot, these systems may be simple or complicated and highly technical. There may be duplication-if you have twin engines, that’s easy to identify, but you may also have two or even three sources of electricity (shore power, batteries, generator) which is less easy. Some items have two functions. Your engine can push you through the water AND charge your batteries.
Now the homework, take the time to identify which components belong to which system and what it does. Not how it does it, leave that to the technical folks, but simply what is the thingamajiggy supposed to be doing. Again, depending on the complexity of your boat, you may need some help identifying and understanding what everything is, and it may take some time, but I promise, it will make your boating less stressful. There is nothing less fun than getting away from it all and suddenly having your boat stop doing what it is supposed to be doing, and you have no idea why. A little knowledge may make the difference between resolving an issue on your own or with a little phone support- or having to call for someone to come out and assist.
Todd Powell Boats 