Common Sense Rules of Boat Maintenance

Boat Maintenance

For every complex problem there is a simple answer.
The simple answer is wrong.

Every job will cost three times as much and take twice as long as your first estimate -
if you are lucky.

Axioms of Boating:

If it ain't broke only a sailor will fix it.
Murphy was a sailor.

In the long run, all solutions are temporary. -
Go ahead, use duct tape.

The binary theorem of maintenance:
If it doesn't move and it should, spray it with WD40.
If it does move and it shouldn't, wrap it with duct tape.

If all else fails lower your standards.

Cruising is maintaining your boat away from your home port.

If you didn't swallow it, don’t put it in the heads.

Clean (nautical): An imaginary unstable transient state of infinitely short duration
between dirt and dirt.

If anything is dropped on the pontoon, only the most expensive or irreplaceable
items will fall into the water.

Outboard Law:

The probability of an outboard motor starting is inversely proportional to:
Distance to shore x's number of people watching.

The probability of a motor failing increases as a square law as you approach the half way point on the trip. In a strong tide the law is exponential.