Want to live the dream of a cruiser but are unsure if you can meet the expense of your upkeep? In our 2-day Boat Systems Seminar Captain Chris will introduce you and your crew to boat and engine equipment that you didn’t know about. We will also teach you how to maintain, repair or replace this equipment. And no, you don’t have to become a mechanic. But I’ll bet right now you don’t even know what you don’t know. That’s what Captain Chris can do for you and your mate!
Remember your high school years? You did the maintenance on your used Chevy, Ford or Chrysler way back then so why not now on your boat? Before we could use the family car most of our parents taught us to change a flat tire and jump start a dead battery. Maybe when you bought your first car you even did your own oil changes to $ave money.
Well, boats don’t have flat tires but they may have a bad raw water pump impeller or dirty fuel filter. What about periodic maintenance items like oil changes? It’s a cinch to check the sea strainer and save yourself the headaches later. Do you see belt dust or smell sweet anti-freeze boiling over? What about the propeller shaft seal- is it leaking? Is it supposed to? How much should it leak? You might be amazed that you can master these fundamental tasks with a seminar from your cruising coach Captain Chris.
Some boat brokers promote the idea that annual maintenance is X percent of the boat value. That is NOT TRUE. An oil change on a $100,000 cruiser is the same price as a $1 million yacht. It is just oil, filters and labor. The real question is, “do you want to wait for a mechanic to fit you into his schedule at $100 per hour plus travel and materials at retail prices?” or “would you like to learn to do it yourself and save?”
When cruising aboard your own boat we believe you need to understand how things work.
Be the HERO! Save your cruise or vacation by learning how to change raw water pump impellers, rod out the heat exchangers, change your fuel filters, snug your shaft seal, solve a HI P5 fault on your air conditioner or hand-make your own gasket to solve a leak. Even if you do not plan to do the work yourself it is good to understand the system, have the correct spare parts aboard and be prepared to hire the right mechanic to do the job.
We encourage both cruising partners – captain & mate- to recognize what the systems are and know how they work. Even if you are not interested in doing the maintenance yourself we believe you should have an operational understanding of your boat systems so you will realize…What’s that noise? What’s that smell?
Keep cruising your dream without worries when you learn this and more with Captain Chris. Our hands-on Boat Systems seminars in Vero Beach FL will teach you to do it yourself. Cruising is a lot more fun when you know what you’re doing. Ask Captain Chris!