Owning a narrowboat is a unique experience combining waterway travel's joys with the charm of compact living spaces. However, this comes with a set of maintenance responsibilities that are essential to ensuring your boat's longevity and safety. This guide provides an overview of essential maintenance tasks, including daily and long-term activities, which are crucial for keeping your narrowboat in top condition.
Engine Maintenance
Regular engine check-ups are necessary to ensure that your narrowboat performs optimally and prevent costly repairs. It's recommended to conduct daily (when cruising) or every 8 hours of engine running checks that include:
- Checking engine oil level
- Checking gearbox oil level
- Checking coolant level
- Checking battery fluid
- Giving the stern gland greaser a turn
- Checking drive belt tension
- Verifying that the charger light goes off and the alternator is charging when starting the engine
- Checking oil pressure and coolant temperatures when the engine is warm
Every month, conduct a more thorough check:
- Checking the condition of the fan belt, stern gland, all coolant hoses, fuel lines, and shut-off valves
- Ensuring all moving parts are fully greased
- Confirming all bolts and connections are tight
- Checking the charge rate from the alternator to the batteries
- Finally, it's crucial to conduct annual (or around 250 running hours) maintenance tasks:
- Changing engine and gearbox oil
- Changing oil, air, and fuel filters
- Changing antifreeze
- Checking the air filter and replacing if required
- Checking anode condition
- Checking all external nuts, bolts, and fastenings
- Using fuel treatment if the boat is vacant in cold weather.
Hull Maintenance
Hull maintenance is vital for keeping your narrowboat afloat. Whether your boat is made of steel, wood, or plastic, it occasionally needs to come out of the water for essential maintenance. Steel boats are usually removed from the water for 'blacking' every two to three years. This helps protect the hull from corrosion and ensures the boat is in good condition.
When your boat reaches certain milestone birthdays, marine insurance companies may require a hull condition survey. This might involve ultrasound checks to ensure the boat's hull is in good condition and not corroded by stray electrical currents, a problem that can occur in steel-hulled boats. It's also why boats have anodes fitted; these act as sacrificial elements, corroding instead of the hull's steel.
The hull maintenance process typically involves a few key steps:
- Dry-docking: Book a time at a local boatyard where the boat will be taken out of the water. This must often be arranged well in advance, especially during the summer or in areas with many boats.
- Cleaning and Prepping the Hull: Once dry-docked, the hull is pressure washed to remove water weeds, wildlife, and other debris. Any loose paint and stubborn bits of marine growth are removed with a wire brush, and areas of rust are treated with a rust converter or anti-corrosion protection product before painting can begin.
- Painting the Hull: Historically, The hull is painted with tar, but more modern options include bitumen-based paints or Two Pack Epoxy Paint systems for steel hulls. The number of coats can vary, but typically, at least five coats are applied below the waterline and two above. This painting process can take several days to allow drying time between coats.
- Refloating: After the paint has dried, the dry dock is flooded again, and the boat is refloated. Care is taken to ensure the paint is sufficiently dry so it doesn't scrape off when the boat leaves the dock.
Keep in mind that this guide is not exhaustive. Always refer to your boat's owner's manual for specific care instructions, and consider consulting with a professional if you need clarification on any aspect of boat maintenance.