Boating Equipment News Digest

Ask Andrew – Andrew’s Almost Ultimate Spring Commissioning Checklist

It’s that time of year again. The groundhog has been consulted, and we all anxiously wait for the boating season to begin. Here’s a brief outline of maintenance items that you can check off your list when getting ready for launch: Exterior - Antifouling condition – it is lumpy or flakey? Is it patchy? Can gelcoat be seen beneath the paint? A light sand may be needed before touching it up, or applying a...

‘A chain is only as strong as its weakest link’ is a cliche that is quite applicable in boat maintenance. In a literal sense, a weakest link can apply to an anchor rode, and a weak link in this chain can spell disaster. Transport Canada specifies the sizes of anchors required in the Canada Shipping Act, detailed more commonly in the Safe Boating Guide: For Sail and Power boats up to 6 m (19’8”): One (1)...

A boat trip can be ruined (or at least made more cumbersome and annoying) when stepping on board and finding that nature has taken over. Birds, Insects, critters will all love your boat as much as you do – but for very different reasons. Spiders tend to be attracted to the cold damp spaces inside and will love to weave webs and nests particularly in your canvas. Ultimately, though, they’re attracted...

Gilligan’s Island was one of the first pseudo-boating TV programs that I saw as a kid. Most of us know the premise; a three-hour tour that didn’t end well. But, they made it seem like a lot of fun. The island wasn’t awful. There were adventures, comradery, special guests and pretty girls. The opening credits tell us that a typhoon derailed the cruise, blowing them off course and bringing us to the current...

I hear stories about boaters’ experiences with contractors and boat yards. I also hear lots of stories from contractors and boat yards on their experiences with customers. In a perfect world, the stories would align, and everyone would receive a 5-star review. In the real world this is rarely the case, and more often than not, when comparing the same interaction, the customer and contractor viewpoint...

It’s tough not to compare auto repairs with boat repairs. The reality is that the systems that contractors, yards and dealerships will use are often quite different from auto dealerships. Here’s a few things to be aware of: – The assessment isn’t as advanced: don’t be surprised if a boat yard, contractor, or dealership can’t give you a quote over the phone. Every boat is different, and labour rates are based on the...

Unlike a car that moves (and requires control) left and right (and perhaps, if you’re an adventurous type, up and down steep grades), and boat has significantly more range of motion. Port. Starboard. Yaw. Roll. Pitch. The operator controls the boat has best he/she can, through seas that are constantly moving and changing. The nature of the marine engine, again, unlike a car, also comes into play; typically, with...

Last time, we looked at outboard and stern drive tweaking to get the boat planing. Further to that we look at trim tabs as an additional means. The larger the boat, the more difficult this becomes through raising/lowering the outboard or sterndrive on its own. Trim tabs are added to aid in the deflection of water and to allow larger boats to reach the ‘planing’ position faster. By lowering the tabs into the water, they...