Managing your boat and ensuring that it is safe every time you want to take it out on the water, is easy if you just know some basic maintenance tips. First of all, however, you should be aware of the importance of proper boat maintenance and how much it can save you in the long run. Maintenance is almost 10 percent of the overall price of the boat, annually. This significant number is not just random. Your boat is a big investment and as such requires looking after, which can include painting works, stocking and obviously cleaning. 

All these tasks are essential in preserving the outer shell of the boat as well as the engine itself. You can choose to do all your maintenance before a trip or even at a quiet time, such as winter time, when you rarely take the boat out. Either way, you need to make sure that maintaining the boat is a top priority for you. In addition, you can either do all the maintenance work yourself or hire a crew to do so for you. 

Top 5 basic boat maintenance tips

Here are the most important and basic boat maintenance tips to help you get started.

1. The first and most important tip is to never forget or neglect your maintenance. If you are not a very organized person yourself, you can use applications and software such as TheBoatApp to come to your assistance. This app is accessible online and offline and provides you with a full report of your maintenance tasks as well as alerts, inventory, checklists and more for you to be aware of all you need to know before the actual work starts. 
2. Try to keep the boat as healthy as possible by painting, varnishing, replacing rotten structures, re-planking, caulking, renovating metalwork and re-fastening. Make sure to do all these processes every couple of years if necessary. 
3. Follow the checklist and keep an eye out for the engine, hull, upholstery, moving parts, plumbing, HVAC and electrical system.
4. Divide tasks accordingly so you do not tire yourself out by doing everything yourself and ending up dreading the next maintenance.
5. Lastly, check your inventory and make sure to stock the boat well before your trip!

By following these tips, you will increase your chances of being more vigilant towards hidden dangers. In addition, you will ensure that the whole process is made easier and dare we say entertaining, as you get to know your boat better. Also, keeping track of all the steps you need to take to maintain your boat allows you to be proactive and plan your schedule accordingly. You can, therefore, save costs on materials or staff payments in addition to allowing yourself ample time to finish everything before you need to use the boat.