Is there a decent yacht maintenance 'bible'?

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Balbas

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Preferably something that covers everything from making GRP repairs, to electronics, to engine maintenance etc?

I know there are lots on the market, but they seem to all have mixed reviews.

I'm reasonably mechanically minded (I run an old LandRover!) and can fix most things just as soon as I understand the process. But understanding where to start is often the trickiest bit. And I don't want / cant afford to pay other people to do everything for me. I want to service my own winches/engine/fix my plumbing/service my seacocks/know when a cutlass bearing needs replacing etc etc.
 
I bought a copy (Edition 4) of Nigel Calder's book last year from Amazon USA for £20.80 which i think included the postage! 944 pages. Do shop around if you are considering purchasing as it's £37 from Amazon UK.

As Graham says, lots of Youtube stuff but you might not get that whilst out on the Ocean!
 
There is one that helps when things get so bad that the only thing left is praying for divine intervention & I am told (but could not possibly comment) another for when you feel like bashing the heck out of your crew
 
I'm intrugued at the idea of a yacht maintenance tome written with the benefit of 20/20 hindsight by a non sailor 300-500 years after any yacht was seen on earth...
And that's just the bit on modern boats!
Section 1 goes right back to the Ark and beyond. Useful stuff for MPs designing floating duck-houses I've no doubt.
;)


Seriously though, there are so many specialist topics covered by the op's question that surely just one book cannot cover it - a shelf of well chosen ones probably will. That's the way I'd go.
 
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Boatowner's Mechanical and Electrical Manual plus the free west system GRP repair manual will have you covered. If you can fix an old land rover then you can fix anything on a boat. No more complicated than a car.
 
Balbas said:
Preferably something that covers everything from making GRP repairs, to electronics, to engine maintenance etc?

I know there are lots on the market, but they seem to all have mixed reviews.

I'm reasonably mechanically minded (I run an old LandRover!) and can fix most things just as soon as I understand the process. But understanding where to start is often the trickiest bit. And I don't want / cant afford to pay other people to do everything for me. I want to service my own winches/engine/fix my plumbing/service my seacocks/know when a cutlass bearing needs replacing etc etc.
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Youtube.

Seriously there are so many how to videos by clearly competent people that you don't need a book. Just make sure you check out a few on each subject to make sure you haven't accidentally chanced on a duffer.
 
I bought a copy (Edition 4) of Nigel Calder's book last year from Amazon USA for £20.80 which i think included the postage! 944 pages. Do shop around if you are considering purchasing as it's £37 from Amazon UK.

Thank you for that - I have just ordered a copy for £22.60 (exchange rate has probably dropped) including postage.
I already have the 3rd edition but as some equipment evolves quiet quickly I thought it worthwhile getting a new one.
I must admit I do not study it as much as I feel I ought to - and it really does need studying not just a quick read. As someone else has mentioned it is perhaps not the book to choose in an emergency. Also, he tries to cover the North American and European markets but perhaps favours US equipment manufacturers slightly and their big boat customers.
 
It can be said of Nigel Calder’s great book, as either Adlard Coles or Peter Bruce said of the equally essential “Heavy Weather Sailing”, that “Like seasick pills it should be taken before it is needed!”

It’s absolutely worth reading to understand stuff, but not Really Helpful for fixing it.
 
Balbas said:
Is there a decent yacht maintenance 'bible'?
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Yes, I am in the process of writing it, however, It is limited to a my boat and the current equipment on it.

OK lets break that statement down and please note I am an engineer. I firmly believe that every owner should build a maintenance bible for their boat as each boat is unique. I use a lot of source material mixed with additional notes to make up a document that describes how I maintain my boat. It can range from a diagram off the internet on the reefing system with my notes on what line I have used, when I replaced it, the condition of the lines the last time they were removed along with a few sentences on when I think they might need to be replaced to copying chapters from a maintenance manual directly into the document.
 
Sandy said:
Yes, I am in the process of writing it, however, It is limited to a my boat and the current equipment on it.

OK lets break that statement down and please note I am an engineer. I firmly believe that every owner should build a maintenance bible for their boat as each boat is unique. I use a lot of source material mixed with additional notes to make up a document that describes how I maintain my boat. It can range from a diagram off the internet on the reefing system with my notes on what line I have used, when I replaced it, the condition of the lines the last time they were removed along with a few sentences on when I think they might need to be replaced to copying chapters from a maintenance manual directly into the document.
Click to expand...

I started doing the same when we took over the boat three seasons ago - typed notes (as my handwriting is terrible) recording anything of value that I don't want to forget (including a lot copied and pasted from this forum with links to find it again). Now up to 48 pages. That's in addition to the thirty folders of information holding various documents and the fifty-odd bookmarked websites.

I thought it was just me!
 
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I keep a 'Maintenance List' on my PC, every time I do something on the boat, even oil changes and so on. It runs to 70 pages now. All the 'problems' with lift outs and ins. I also list everything I purchase, date, cost and from where. It's handy to scroll back to find where you bought whatever, if you need another! I also have 6 A4 typed pages of where everything is on my boat, and it's only a 22 footer! I'm fed up with spending ages searching for 'whatever', only to find I took it home, LOL! I also have a dedicated folder with downloaded or copied important stuff like 'how to do' something on the Yanmar, diagrams, copies of handy hints from Forumites on here, where best to mooor, passage planning and so on. There's really no end to it. And, of course, I always try to take photos of gate valve renewals, engine parts and so on. Today I have to try and find out where the rainwater is getting in on the starboard side, but the Book doesn't tell me that!
 
How to do fibreglass repair; how to calculate battery usage, capacity and charging; how to strip down and clean a heat-exchanger; how to replace and plumb in a new fresh-water system; how to restore a saloon-table; how to wire-in an electric windlass; how to whip the end of a rope; how to service a Furlex, a foot-pump, a Blakes seacock; how to etc, etc.

These things just come with experience with your own boat, from the particular equipment's manual, from websites and video-channels, from advice on a forum such as this, from irritation at the bodge carried out by a previous owner, from chatting to your neighbour in the boat-yard, from divvying-up what donkey-work you can do yourself and what the engineer supplying the new engine really ought to do for you. Yes, also from reading a few books like Calder's - with a few caveats - but only by way of first laying down a general familiarisation on dark winter evenings at home.
 
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