DIY maintenance a benefit

[robertj]

Having maintained my own boats for the past 45yrs not by choice but because of being poor, would it be considered that my yacht is less well maintained than if by professionals.

I’ve maintained or replaced nearly everything , engines both onboard and outboard, keel bolts, woodwork, linings, clutches, electrics, pumps, winches etc etc., all except windows, the sails which my diy skills would not be up to it fell in the hands of the sailmaker.

I sometimes think that a little knowledge could be a dangerous one.

 

[NormanS]

There is no reason to suppose that a yacht, or anything else, maintained by a dedicated amateur, should be less well looked after than one maintained by professionals. It all depends on the amateur's level of knowledge and thoroughness. It also all depends on the professional's level of knowledge and thoroughness. The professional may do the job in less time, but is that because he knows precisely what he's doing, or is it because he's cutting corners? Too many imponderables.

 

[Bobc]

I do my own maintenance because at least I know it's done properly. Having had a boat "professionally maintained" for a number of years, I got fed up re-visiting things because they weren't done to the standard I was happy with.

You also have the benefit of knowing how everything works, should something fail en-route.

 

[DJE]

You also have the benefit of knowing how everything works, should something fail en-route.

+1 A huge benefit.

 

[Stemar]

I've always believed that a good amateur job will always be better than a professional's, because the amateur has the time to do all the extra little nice to haves, rather than just the job itself, in a minimum of time, which is the professional's limitation.

 

[Poignard]

I do my own maintenance because at least I know it's done properly. Having had a boat "professionally maintained" for a number of years, I got fed up re-visiting things because they weren't done to the standard I was happy with.

You also have the benefit of knowing how everything works, should something fail en-route.

+1

 

[BelleSerene]

would it be considered that my yacht is less well maintained than if by professionals.

Can't really be answered, can it. You're right that slapdash or incompetent maintenance by an owner creates an illusion of reliability, but 'professional maintenance' is in practice usually just specific tasks the professional has been hired to fix such as engine service, antifouling, periodic rig check, only done when specifically requested by the owner which is usually when something has failed. It's like selling your car saying it's always had an MoT, which may be true but says nothing about the countless unheeded faults the vehicle is developing.

It depends who's doing the 'considering' that you talk of. Presumably you mean a potential purchaser? They are going to form a view of your authenticity in claiming that you've maintained the boat, and of the competence with which you would have done so. And they may be more or less qualified than you!

The more interesting question, which some have addressed, is whether there is value to us, the boat owner, in maintaining our own boats. For all the reasons given, I wouldn't have it any other way.

 

[Minchsailor]

I think it all depends on the skill set of the boat owner. My present boat I have spent the last 4 years correcting all the things the previous owner did wrong - some of which I knew about when I bought her, most of which I subsequently discovered.

But I find that with (not very) used cars when I buy them - a lot of niggly little things which the previous owner was obviously happy to live with, but I am not, and they have a full service record.

Doing my own maintenance I do know my boat inside out, which I think is quite important when at sea. I do know boat owners who, frankly, don't have a clue on the most basic things, and I do worry a bit about their competence - but then I am sort of professional engineer and have certain standards.

 

[johnalison]

I am definitely not an engineer, so that boat maintenance represents something of a challenge. My earlier boats required little specialised skill, and the Volvo 2002 was simple enough for me to do its basic service and winterising. My current 2030 is a bit more complex, so that I am prepared to pay an engineer rather too much for the security of knowing that everything has been done, though this faith is sometimes misplaced.

The rigging I inspect myself but will pay when new standing rigging is needed. I have also paid for new running rigging in order to get neat splices and joins.

I find the electrical system very complex. So far it has not needed attention, and I have added extra 12 & 240v sockets myself.

Instrumentation, I was pleased to pay for a replacement plotter/radar/AIS to be fitted, though I imagine that this would be within many people's capabilities. I got some satisfaction from upgrading one instrument, which involved nothing more than disconnecting one SeaTalk cable and connecting another.

General boat maintenance, hull, wood and antifouling, I will continue to do as long as I am able.

 

[savageseadog]

I've seen some very good work by yards and also very poor and expensive. The work I do is average to good and cheap so I do my own.

 

[blackbeard]

I once spent some considerable time and sea miles on a Very Very Nice Yacht, on which the yard had done all that the owner asked them to do. The yacht was in the Med and the owner only very infrequently sailed on it.
With retrospect, there were a number of issues, some serious, which should have been fixed but were not. It wasn't the yard's fault, they had done everything the owner asked and were, so far as I could see, entirely competent. It was just that they didn't know - had no means of knowing - just what needed doing, and the owner either didn't know what the problems were or forgot about them, or at any rate didn't tell the yard.

The moral of this story is that you need to sail the boat often, and have a close and frequent relationship with it. Ideally, it you have time, you should do all the work that needs doing and lies within your competence. Then you can keep an eye on things and be sure that all continues to be well. If you can't do the work yourself, then get the experts in, and tell them what needs doing before it slips your mind.

The boat with problems is likely to be the one which is infrequently sailed, or when the owner neglects to fix faults or get them fixed. Whether the person doing the fixing is a competent amateur or a professional.

 

[oldmanofthehills]

Personally I enjoy working on our boats. I am a professional engineer now with access to a handyman son's toolbox, but most of task are just DIY, and simply a nice change from the "drafting board" and computer analysis of my day job. I will hire in if a task is too big for my available time or requiring equipment I don't have - like cranes or other yard facilities.

Of course I am not always as fast as those who do it full time and I must ask advice for some new tasks but at least when it is finished I know if I am content with the outcome

 

[capnsensible]

I changed a fuel fiter this morning, no mean feat with a bit of a hangover. I was sneeky though, I told the filter that I was actually going to do the job tomorrow and I was getting things ready. Thus, it went smoothly.

 

[GHA]

DIY maintenance a benefit

Absolutely.

No real need for another excuse to buy more tools but every little helps

 

[GHA]

I am definitely not an engineer,

No need to tell us, we know.

If you were you would have said it it several times in every post

 

[Poignard]

My default position is that if anything on my boat needs repairing, I will do it.

The only reasons I why I would get someone else to do it are:

- it requires skills I don't have, eg repairing electronic equipment;

- it requires specialist tools that I can't justify buying, eg swaging tools for rigging;

- it's tedious, eg scraping off anti-fouling.

 

[Boathook]

I changed a fuel fiter this morning, no mean feat with a bit of a hangover. I was sneeky though, I told the filter that I was actually going to do the job tomorrow and I was getting things ready. Thus, it went smoothly.

That was sneeky. I suspect that the filter will be after revenge and will gang up with the oil filter.

 

[capnsensible]

No need to tell us, we know.

If you were you would have said it it several times in every post

 

[capnsensible]

That was sneeky. I suspect that the filter will be after revenge and will gang up with the oil filter.

Ah, thats the cunning part, I changed the oil and filter last week!

 

[RupertW]

I am much happier if I've been able to do it myself as I will know exactly what goes where if it goes wrong again, but I find professionals beat me hands down in two areas - firstly in diagnosing the problem if they've seen it a hundred times and its the first time for me. A good example of that is if the water pressure pump keeps going on for a few seconds every now and again but no obvious taps on or leaking - told to go check the cockpit shower and hey presto. Secondly for knowing what the spare part needed is called and numbered, and having access to a quick local supplier - a good example of that last year was a worn out stainless wheel that is part of the steering gear under the deck. A call was made by the engineer to a local agricultural machinery company on the island who supplied it within 2 hours instead of the 2 days of flying it in from France from a yacht supplier.