In reading the recent thread where an owner asked if he should replace a $7 shaft log hose that seemed to be in good condition, I wondered how all of you approach the issue of when to replace the various and many parts and pieces on our boats. Is it a matter of cost? Length of time in service? Ease or difficulty of the job? Or is it more a case of if it "don't squeak, don't fix it?" Yet everything on our boats eventually wears out, even the captain. You can't replace everything -- at least I can't.
In long years of boat ownership and maintenance, I've come to believe that boats really do "talk to us" when they need attention of some sort. Just like with dogs barking, the issue is are we listening and what do the sounds really mean? I've come to know the sound of my diesel engine when its innards are happy. But when its heart misses a beat, so does mine -- and I'm not happy or relaxed until I find out the reason for the fibrilation. Unusual water pump squeaks, sails flapping, or standing rigging vibrating when they should not are all similar examples. Do we ignore these barking dogs or try to find the reason for
them? All of us are probably guilty, at one time or another, of just ignoring the bark and hoping it'll go away. Sometimes it does, but mostly it only gets worse. And then we all know and apply a number of rules of thumb, like "x" hours of operation to change filters/impellers and the like. So how many times have you opened the water pump, removed the impeller, and found it to in excellent condition? What then? Buy and install a new one and keep the old as a spare? Put the old one back in service?
So while your boat is talking to you, sometimes it's not so easy to decode the language. How many of us have gone out in a blow and, while heeled way over, looked up at that aging standing rigging and wondered if today is the day it'll come down? Or sponged up that little leak next to the raw water intake seacock and never gave it another thought? Or pushed in that popped circuit breaker and just kept on going?
You get the idea. How do you balance cost versus safety and reliability and dependability on your boat?
In long years of boat ownership and maintenance, I've come to believe that boats really do "talk to us" when they need attention of some sort. Just like with dogs barking, the issue is are we listening and what do the sounds really mean? I've come to know the sound of my diesel engine when its innards are happy. But when its heart misses a beat, so does mine -- and I'm not happy or relaxed until I find out the reason for the fibrilation. Unusual water pump squeaks, sails flapping, or standing rigging vibrating when they should not are all similar examples. Do we ignore these barking dogs or try to find the reason for
them? All of us are probably guilty, at one time or another, of just ignoring the bark and hoping it'll go away. Sometimes it does, but mostly it only gets worse. And then we all know and apply a number of rules of thumb, like "x" hours of operation to change filters/impellers and the like. So how many times have you opened the water pump, removed the impeller, and found it to in excellent condition? What then? Buy and install a new one and keep the old as a spare? Put the old one back in service?
So while your boat is talking to you, sometimes it's not so easy to decode the language. How many of us have gone out in a blow and, while heeled way over, looked up at that aging standing rigging and wondered if today is the day it'll come down? Or sponged up that little leak next to the raw water intake seacock and never gave it another thought? Or pushed in that popped circuit breaker and just kept on going?
You get the idea. How do you balance cost versus safety and reliability and dependability on your boat?
