Hi all.

Sadly many boat fuel systems are overlooked, which often results in holiday disaster.

Fuel from bowser’s in remote locations will often be full of all sorts of contaminants, water and very fine dust, giving the biggest problems.

A good fuel filter system  with water separator’s is an absolute must, the cost is tinny compared to a ruined holiday or worst still if your motor pack’s it in while your a long way off shore.

Our 3 cylinder,V4 & V6 two stroke engines are the worst effected, if one carby or one injector becomes blocked then that cylinder or cylinders start to run lean, with insufficient fuel oil mix lubricating the piston and crank, it will only take a few seconds at speed to end up with a seized engine.

Engines that seize in these circumstances are often a throw away, thousands of dollars turned into rubbish all because of an inadequate fuel filtering system.

Check or have your fuel system checked now

And have a great time boating on the water having fun, not stuck in the repair shop “Again”

Merry Christmas to you all

from Chris Phillips

Hi Guys. I still can’t believe with all the information on the net.

People are still being ripped off when it comes to buying  a boat.

Honestly, It doesn’t matter whether your buying from a dealer or a private sale.

DON’T  believe for a minute you can 100% trust what their trying to sell you.

You MUST have some knowledge of your own so you will know what to look for & what to look out for. If your going in blind, with no idea what’s good and what’s not, then your setting yourself up for disappointment.

Boating is supposed to be FUN, not a disaster.

Just recently there has been a number of newly sold boats, bursting into flames when re-fueling.

When I say newly sold I mean these were the first fuel ups for the proud new owners. “Proud” they almost died, and for what. So the seller could make a quick buck without making the boat sea-worthy.

You may be saying : it’s because their not using bilge blowers when refueling,

If there’s no leaking fuel and the fill  and vent pipes are installed correctly, then there is no fuel vapor to start a fire!

Current Economic times are hearting the boating industry, Boats that shouldn’t be sold, are being sold.

It’s your job to know the difference.

Hi guys, I’m not completely gone, This having to sell up caper is taking it’s toll.

The worst part is virtually giving away all my treasures, well my wife says Junk?

I’ve started up a static website, so I can help with any problems you may have Via a contact link.

My website is at a basic stage, Ill improve it once we settle down, where ever it is we end up?

Sorry for the non topic post.

Click on the link below to view my new site.

http://www.boattalkwithchris.com

To all my valued readers.

This will be my last post for quite some time.

My work status has forced us to sell our country property. Moving my family back to more populated areas where employment opportunity is higher.

Always hopeful, work in our current area would pick up, I’ve wasted valuable time, which has now forced us into a sale which will leave next to nothing in our pockets, and no house!  Wouldn’t be so bad if it was just me.

Disappointing time’s.

I have enjoyed the opportunity to share, with my passion to help you, my knowledge of boats.

I sincerely hope a great number of my readers have taken on board, what I’ve offered, and put it all to good use.

Owning a boat can be an endless money pit, you can stack the odds in your favor by following my advice.
If Iv’e made a positive difference to one persons life, the it’s been a success.
Good luck to everyone.

You can make a donation at     http://oldtechnewideas.yolasite.com

And with great appreciation from myself, my wife, our  two teenage children, a big black dog & our cat.

Thank you for your time and support.
Yours sincerely
Chris Phillips.

Hull performance is probably the most disheartening feature for many boat owners.
You can spend good money for a boat, Only to find out it performs terribly.

The No1 reason for poor hull performance, is the shape of the hull’s plaining surface.
The last 6 to 8 feet of the hull needs to be 100% flat over that distance!
This is where the terms, Hooker and Rocker type hulls are refer’ed.
A Hooker hull is very common, It;s a hull which requires a lot of power to get up on the plane, and even more power to keep it their.
A Rocker style hull gives you that annoying porpoise effect, hence the word Rocker.

If you’ve been around boats for long enough, The term Hooker & Rocker is a actual feature made into many hulls, for varying purposes,
In my opinion, it was simply poor mold design, and the defects given a purpose, Hmmmmm????
Nothing performs better than a perfectly straight hull.

It’s easy to tell what type of hull you have.
Simply use a long straight edge, hold your straight edge up against the bottom of the hull, from the very back edge of the transom and pointing forwards.
If the straight edge sits flat against the hull for at least 6 feet, then you have a good hull.
If you can rock the straight edge, you have a Rocker hull.
If there’s a gap in the middle of the straight edge, you have a Hooker hull.
P.s Don’t tell your partner you have a Hooker sitting in your driveway, “Sorry about that”?

If you have either a Rocker or Hooker type hull, You need to find out if your boat was built that way?
If there’s no history of anything other than a flat hull, Then you have structural problems.

This is the part that really piss’s me off.
If it’s a structural problem, These boats should never be sold.
These boats are endangering your life, your family or friends.
A structural problem in the hull, means it;s Weak.
Hit something hard enough in the water while your cruising along, rather than a small leak as a result,
you can end up with a whole section of the hull being ripped out, sending you and your boat straight to the bottom. Dreams and lives sunk!

Like Iv’e said, there are a lot of boats being sold that should be at the dump.

I wouldn’t be saying this if I hadn’t seen this before, But I have.

Not only are these boats a waste of your money, They will require a lot of work, and more money
to get them back to a safe usable state.

By for now
Chris Phillips

Need Finance, Choose  Green Tech Finance.

For all your  Boating Parts & Accessories, your one stop shop  West Marine

Which boat to choose, Cabin or no cabin.
This article is aimed at boats under 25 feet!

The idea of your first boat congers up all sorts of marvelous thoughts,
and so it should, It’s your dream escape.
However most boat owners I know, when they bought there first Fishing boat, even second & third boat, Chose wrong! Well wrong for their needs?

That grand idea, being able to sleep out over night with friends or family, Being able to shut out the
cold night air, wind and rain.
Waking up at first light, being able to catch that early morning fish, while your hobbling around in
your sleeping bag, ” Does sound good “.
But you know what: 99% of the time, you’ve been on the water for most of the day, by the time darkness is closing in, the comforts of home are starting to sound a whole lot better, Your tired, cold, hungry, and sick
of tripping over everyone! Maybe next time we’ll stay out all night, ” Yeah Right “.
Honestly the overnight stays rarely happen, If Ever.

So what are you left with?
1: Your boat which offers very little room for fishing.
2: Your boat which uses more fuel, due to the extra weight and wind drag caused by the cabin.
3: Your boat which rocks and rolls far too much, because of the extra hight of the cabin.
4: Your boat sitting out in the open, because it’s too tall for your garage.

I’m guilty as well, Been there done that, ” Never again “.

Being a Marine Mechanic has given me the opportunity to test out boats of all designs.
Personally I would never buy a boat with any sort off cabin, due to the advantages of driving and fishing quality of a run-about, They don’t rock as much as a boat with a cabin. They use less fuel,
Require less HP, meaning a smaller engine, Their faster,
They handle so much better, Especially nearing the boat ramp.
AND they are generally Cheaper to buy!
If all your after is shelter for when the weather turns bad, A fold down canopy with side curtains
works a treat.
There are some crappy looking run-abouts, Have a good look around, there’s a lot of really
cool looking ones too.
With the right accessories, they can look down right awesome!

I can see some people wont agree with me, especially the guys trying to sell half cabs etc.
Like I said Iv’e been there done that, Only run-abouts for me.
Have you ever had the opportunity to compare the difference between a 25 foot fly bridge Bertram,
versus the 25 foot run-about! No comparison the run-about wins hands down.
Sure the Fly bridge looks great,
In my opinion that’s the only benefit. Practicality needs to play a major part?

Cheers for now.
Chris Phillips

Need Finance, Check out Green Tech Finance
For all your boating needs …………….. West Marine >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Your tail, my tail, Tell Tales?

Before I go any further, Being a Marine Mechanic, Meaning we don’t get shuddering thoughts of dis-pare when something goes wrong with a marine engine, every problem has a solution, The simple problems to us which we don’t give a second thought to, maybe a serious issue to you.
I’m here to help, If you have a boating problem let me know, and I will gladly address the issue.
Helping You save money is my main goal for this Blog.

One of the most common questions,
Why is there no water coming out the tell tale on my Out Board motor?

The beauty of tell tales, is the simple fact, most people are totally aware of that continuous stream of water exiting the side of their Out Board motor.  When the tell tale stops,
” They stop and start checking for possible causes “.

So if your tell tale stops while your out on the water, Don’t give up all hope, hollowing out for a tow back to shore, more than often it’s a simple problem easily fixed.
Obviously your first check, is to make sure there’s no plastic bag, or sea weed etc, blocking the water intake just above your propeller, obvious to me “sorry”.
The second thing you need to look for. Start your engine, turn the steering to full lock and check if you can see water spraying out of the exhaust reliefs just below the lower engine cowl at the back of your engine,
If water is spraying out, you now know your water pump is working, If there is no water spraying out from the exhaust reliefs, then yep start hollowing for a tow?
However 9 times out of 10 water will be gushing out those exhaust reliefs, and you simply have a blocked  tell tale, a few grains of sand or slime of some sorts is all it takes to block a tell tale.
A simple remedy is to feed a thick piece of fishing line up and into the tell tale tube while your engine is idling,
And just like magic, your tell tale should start pushing out water again.
” Just be careful not to fall overboard “!
If you have no luck getting your tell tail to work, and your confident water is spraying out of those exhaust reliefs, I would suggest motoring back to the boat ramp at just above idle speed (around 1500 rpm)
Just to be safe.

Do yourself and your boat engine a favor, After your next water pump service,
When your flushing your engine, have a good look at how much water is exiting those exhaust reliefs,
That way you will know with confidence whether your water pump is working well or not so well when your tell tale decides to block up again.
Your tell tale tells you a tale, Your exhaust reliefs tell you the full story.

By Chris Phillips.

P.s For all your boating parts & Accessories choose West Marine.

For personal loans choose Green Tech Finance.

Boat Servicing.

It truly pains me to hear so many people paying  outrageous prices for such simple tasks, When you can easily do them your self.

$100.00 to change a spark plug is not uncommon,   ” Honestly why would you ”.

Yes there can be complications by changing a spark plug,

But if your careful, and you can follow a few simple rules, all will go well.

Rule No 1

When removing a spark plug,  NEVER let dirt go in to the spark plug hole.

NEVER let broken pieces of spark plug go into spark plug hole.

Rule No 2

When installing a spark plug,  DO NOT damage the tread when screwing the spark plug in.

DO NOT brake the spark plug!

Rule No 3

Follow rule number 1  and  rule number 2   That’s it, Your done !

So why would you pay anywhere near $100.00 for that?

Like most things in life, it gets easier with practice.

Do yourself and your boat engine a favor, Buy a genuine workshop manual for your exact engine, You don’t need to learn all the internal workings, but at least become familiar with the workings of your marine engine.

Mechanics is Mechanics, and really nothing much has changed in a very long time.

A spark plug is still a spark plug, Pistons, Cylinders, Con rods, Crank shaft’s, Bolts, Nuts washers, lubricants and grease, apart from quality, They are all still the same. The wheel was invented some 2000 years B.C, It’s still a wheel?

The Key to success when servicing any engine, is being able to identify possible problems.

Key factors, like understanding the difference of spark plug condition, which a work shop manual will explain.

To realize engine or gearbox oil, changes of color, and what that means.

You will fail, If you don’t take notice,  Example: If you replace your spark plugs, throwing the old ones in the bin as you go, without checking their condition and from which cylinder they came from,

This is the biggest tell tail sign of how “well” your engine is, so pay close attention to those spark plugs, action now can save you heart ache when you go to use your boat in 6 months time.

Milky oil in your gear box, don’t just replace the oil, there is a seal or worn shaft allowing water to enter, and needs to be fixed.

PLEASE remember one thing.

If your boat brakes down out at sea, you can’t walk home, So Please be careful.

If your not confident, Let some one with experience do the work.

Some thing to think about,

In some cases, your boat and many others, may have just been serviced by a first year apprentice, who will never make it to be a second year apprentice due to job incompatibility ( their just not suited to that type of work ).

Unfortunately you still take it as your boat is in tip top shape, having just been serviced.

Your Money Don’t Waste It.

For everything Marine, choose West Marine.

For all things Finance, choose Green Tech Finance.

Have a great time on the water

By  Chris Phillips

Did You make the right choice.?

Too many people when choosing to buy a boat, often make their decision based only on the price tag.
And that’s fair enough, we all need to live within some form of budget, “right”.?

Stage 1, For example only.
Through spending umpteen hours looking & looking at other boats and how they perform, you finally decide the right boat for you.
You’ve shopped around, and found for sale 2 of the same boats, and in great condition.
One boat is for $10,000.00 the other for $13,000.00 You buy the 10 grand boat, what a bargain you saved $3,000.00.
You now own the boat you’ve longed for for so long, Yippee!

Normally after the excitement has settled down a bit, you start to notice your 10 grand boat has little if any extra’s at all, Damn.

Stage 2:
Now you find yourself looking or buying books etc on Marine Parts & Accessories, rather than Boat’s For Sale.
Totally awesome look at all the great accessories I can buy ??.

So your accessory shopping spree springs into action.
Bow rail, Marine radio, Marine stereo, Marine compass, Depth sounder, G.P.S, Bilge pump,
Dash board instruments, Carpet, Depending on your boat use, maybe some Rod holders, Rocket launchers,
Live Bait tank, Burly bucket, Electric winch, Canopy & Covers, The list goes on!!

Going about it like this, is great because every thing you just add is brand new.
Apart from the fact, that you just spent way more than $10,000.00 on extra’s.
Your 10 grand bargain now owes you over $20,000.00. Not to mention your other half is kicking you up the butt, or out the door for spending way too much money !

Now I’ve seen it plenty of times, 8 times out of 10, That other boat which was $3,000.00 more will already have most, if not all of the accessories you will ever need.
So by paying that extra 3 grand for the other boat in the first place, would actually save you over $7,000.00
” Food For Thought “

This goes for any boat in any price bracket.
The savings you can make, by purchasing a boat with all the Goodies already installed, can save you a bucket load of cash. $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

If you do choose to buy all the parts and accessories brand new, or you simply want or need to upgrade bits and pieces on your boat, even a present for a friend, You can save plenty by, buying online through
West Marine, always number 1 for price & Customer Service for over 40 years, and with their secure online payments, you can rest assure your purchase is safe and in good hands.
Choose West Marine for all your boating Parts & Accessories.

Need Finance, Try Green Tech Finance
Personal Finance with great rates, no matter what your purchase.
Green Tech Finance will even help solve your money problems, all finances tailored to each individual
and their circumstance’s.

Thanks for staying with me, And have a Fantastic time on the water.
Cheers for now.
Chris Phillips

To service, or not to service?

I’m often asked this question,… How often should I have my boat motor serviced.

In general, Servicing has always been carried out at either 12 months or 100 hours, which ever comes First!
So many people have a hard time coming to terms with the 100 hour time frame, and all to often end in misery
for their decision.
!00 hours for a keen boat owner can be achieved in a very short time, Less than 2 months, while other boat owners wont clock up 100 hours of use in 10 years!

“They look at it like this”
In the past 12 months since the last service, I’ve only used my boat for 5 hours.
It’s pointless having my boat serviced again?

Now if your boat has only ever been used in ( Fresh Water ) That goes for your boat’s entire life,
Then your chances for mechanical failure is far less than a boat used in ( Salt Water ).
” HOW EVER “?????
There are many reasons for engine failure.
There are two reasons which will be picked up on a 12 monthly service, before it can cause major engine damage.

1st reason: Water on spark plug electrodes, which tells your mechanic, you have a leaking head gasket, or a leaking coolant passage, or both, And Needs to be Fixed Now……..
If the water on your spark plugs goes unnoticed, because you didn’t have the 12 month service, and your boat is unused over the next 3, 6 ,or 10 months, Then there’s a very good chance you will have a seized engine by the next time you go to use your boat?.
If your boat is Fresh Water use only, Your motor will need a rebuild with not to many new parts,
still lots of $$$$$$$$$$$$.
If your boat was last used in Salt Water, Be prepared for a complete new bloke, as it’s often cheaper than trying to rebuild a rusted, corroded, mess!.

No 2 reason: Coolant pumps, which keep your engine at the correct operating temperature, are a huge reason for engine failure.
Your coolant pump/water pump, suffer greatly from lack of use, the rubber impeller, through sitting for long periods of time with out being serviced, can stick firmly to the water pump housing, the next time you start your motor, the water pump drive shaft rips the center of the impeller, causing low to no water cooling at all.
If this quick rise in engine temperature goes unnoticed by the operator, then within minutes you can have a major engine melt down.

If your one of the many that seldom use your boat, get your self into the habit of starting your boat motor for about 5 minutes, once every 2 weeks, And NEVER EVER start your boat engine without water flowing through your engines cooling system.

I see people doing just that, No water connected, All I think is Gee you must have a lot of money to waste?

There is a lot of money to be made through boat engine repairs, Don’t give the repairers more reasons to take your hard earned cash.

No matter how you look at servicing,
The relative small price to have your boat serviced, Wins Hands Down.
So 12 months or 100 hours, Do yourself a favor, and use both.

Your Boat is your freedom to dream.
Have a wonderful time on the water, Not stuck in repair shops through poor judgment.

If you have any questions, or would like a particular topic looked into. please feel free to leave a comment below, or join my Email above, and i will try getting back to you ASAP.

Cheers, and have a great weekend.
By Chris Phillips.

Green Tech Finance
For all your personal loans.

P.S, Shopping for marine parts and accessories, at great prices, with over 40 years of first class service,
Choose West Marine, for all your boating needs. Parts and accessories shipped world wide.
Follow the link on the right side >>>>>>>>