Best books for Boat Maintenance and Repair?

[oilybilge]

Bad idea to read books. You start trying to do everything *properly* and never get sailing.

 

[PeterV]

Since this is a PBO forum.
The PBO maintenance book is very good and inexpensive. The project boat book likewise.

 

[Sandy]

In which case you don't need a book. I agree it's down to the individuals skill set though and no amount of books will teach or give you the skills, they play tell you how to do it though.

I beg to differ. Unlike some I can't recall everything I've ever learnt. I use a book to refresh my memory. @vyv_cox stated that the Calder book is good for what is installed and how it works, that sparks (pun intended) the one remaining brain cell into life.

 

[Fr J Hackett]

I beg to differ. Unlike some I can't recall everything I've ever learnt. I use a book to refresh my memory. @vyv_cox stated that the Calder book is good for what is installed and how it works, that sparks (pun intended) the one remaining brain cell into life.

What are the most complicated things on a boat? The engine and the charging circuit spring to mind and you either know that stuff or you don't and you are unlikely to forget it. Fault finding in both will be the thing that tests your knowledge and I have yet to find a book that goes into any great depth and that includes Calder although I haven't had cause to read any of his books for 20 years so don't know what the current offerings are like in that respect.

 

[vyv_cox]

If you know how it works you know how to maintain and fault find. Perhaps my skill set and experience is different to most.

I totally disagree for the majority. I guess most on here have at least some idea how things work. I will put money that there is at least one query on the first page of this forum that draws at least two answers, quite possibly totally different. There is a world of difference between knowing how things work and knowing why they don't.

 

[RivalRedwing]

Here you are: 5 minutes of sheer enjoyment from YouTube.

be still my beating heart

 

[thinwater]

Yes, you can see the guy do it on You Tube, but that does not tell you if the solution was durable or well-proven. Too many internet influencers are ... I'm not allowed to use the term on a polite forum. I've learned to really hate the term "influencer." It's scary.

Don Casey is another reliable author. Brian Toss for rigging. There are many that have proven their mettle. I think I'm well researched on some topics. The key is to remember that no one knows everything. I'm an idiot on electronics, because they don't interest me. I suck with sewing machines, but I'm pretty fair with a palm and splicing. I can weld a little but I'm better with machining. We're all just bits and pieces.

The best solution is to use both. Proven authors and publications for well-vetted information and full explanations, and the internet for details and feedback. I have a large library and also surf the net a lot. Neither is complete alone.

And for what we pay for a lifetime of boating, a small library is peanuts. After 40 years, I know a few things, and still, it is a rare book I can't gleen a few pearls from. There are whole lot of internet posts and videos I'm pretty sure I can't learn anything correct from.

 

[lustyd]

Yes, you can see the guy do it on You Tube, but that does not tell you if the solution was durable or well-proven.

A book tells you none of these things and neither does it show that the author has even done it so YouTube would seem the better option.

 

[Roberto]

“There are known knowns, things we know that we know; and there are known unknowns, things that we know we don't know. But there are also unknown unknowns, things we do not know we don't know.” ― Donald Rumsfeld

Humbly kneeling in front of one of the few top philosophers of the last 100 years