The Essential Tools For Boat Maintenance
Proactive boat maintenance helps prevent issues from happening, keeps issues from getting worse, improves the boat's performance, and extends the life of the boat. It's a small upfront investment with big returns!
Before you can start tackling boat maintenance tasks, however, you will need the proper tools. We've gathered up the must-have items to add to your toolkit below. If you have any questions or want to explore boats for sale, visit Thayer's Marine. We are a boat dealership located in Norwich, Connecticut, and proudly serve those in Springfield, Massachusetts as well.
An Adjustable Face Spanner Wrench
Sure, you can use two screwdrivers to access the deck plates. But this is an unnecessary hassle. A better move is to use a high-quality, stainless steel adjustable face spanner wrench.
This handy item is essentially a deck key, helping you access sea-strainer, water-fill, and fuel-fill caps. It's also a great asset when working on the outboard motor. This one small tool offers a multitude of uses!
Jumper Cables
Jumper cables should be stored on every vehicle that runs off a battery - and this includes boats! If the boat battery ever dies, you will be grateful that you have jumper cables on board. Either connect them to an alternate battery or to another boat. It'll give the battery the jolt needed to get working again.
When shopping for jumper cables, focus on quality. Sure, the cheapest ones offer an enticing price tag. But they usually are made with stiff wires that struggle to provide enough power. They may not be able to get the boat battery working again, which is the whole purpose of jumper cables!
Battery Terminal Puller
When doing boat battery work, it's important to carefully remove and install the terminals. Using the wrong tool can easily result in stripping the terminals. That's where a battery terminal puller enters the picture.
This boat maintenance tool is designed to offer the optimal strength and precision. It'll loosen terminal bolts quickly, efficiently, and without risking damage.
A Sharp Blade
An often overlooked boat maintenance tool is a blade, such as a folding knife, rigging knife, or scissors. The blade can be used to cut rope, trim nets, cut gaskets, undo knows, and even slice lines in an emergency situation. There are many times that a blade comes in handy.
If possible, get a stainless steel or titanium blade. These materials won't corrode, helping the knife last for a longer period of time.
You can even get a model that is designed to float. If the blade gets dropped, it won't immediately sink to the bottom of the waters. You'll be able to reach over the boat, grab the floating blade, and get back to whatever boat maintenance task you were working on.
A Moisture Meter
Built-up moisture can easily cause expensive boat damage. It can start to wear away and damage materials, lead to nasty mold or mildew growth, and cause many other problems. It's important to be on guard against moisture build up, but it can be hard to spot problem areas by simply looking around. That's why moisture meters are a wise investment.
These boat maintenance tools offer a quick digital reading of moisture levels. Use it around the boat to easily find leaks and places where water is building up. Once you identify a problem area, you can get it repaired quickly...before it turns into an even more expensive repair.
A Sailor's Multitool
This boat maintenance tool is incredibly versatile. Models typically include a marlin spike, can opener, small blade, bottle opener, rope cutter, paint scraper, hex-nut wrench, and zipper pull. They are often designed in the shape of a flat card or created as a small folding device. Many boat maintenance tasks can be handled by this one simple tool, making it a useful addition to the toolkit.
We hope you found this boat maintenance guide helpful! For more information or to shop boats for sale, head over to Thayer's Marine. Let our experts answer your questions, give advice, and assist with whatever you need. We are a boat dealership based in Norwich, Connecticut. We also proudly serve those in Springfield, Massachusetts.