Checks And Balances

KEEP YOUR BOAT RUNNING SMOOTHLY BY WATCHING THESE CRITICAL DETAILS

- Bob Arrington

If seamanship is the practice of safely handling a vessel at sea, then keeping said vessel running is a critical piece of that practice. Most power vessels don’t safely lie at idle in anything but a dead calm sea; they’re most stable when under way. That means it’s crucial for you to make sure everything is running right each time you go out. However, in order to know when your boat is running right, you have to first know what “right” is.

This is best done by establishing a baseline for all systems against which you can compare future performance. For engines, start at the instrument panel. Analog gauges (or a digital representation of analog gauges) work better for this purpose than a numerical value digitally displayed on a screen, because it’s easier to assess performance when you only have to glance at the needle position.