Lessons from the Bilge

After 3 days of crawling around in the engine room, I've learned a few lessons. The bilge has been my classroom and, as a result, I've come up with my 10 commandments of engine room maintenance. I post them here with the hope that others will add to them so I can continue this journey of learning. Cheers!

1. Don’t over tighten bolts. They might snap off if you ever need to untighten them. I (had to drill out two of them this week - not fun at all!). Same with the strainers. If they drip a drop or two there’s no harm done. Given the number of times they have to be cleaned out, hand tightening is just fine.
2. When the floor of the bilge starts to get slippery it’s time to take a break. If it’s not seawater or oil, it’s probably sweat and maybe a little blood. Step outside and take a breather.
3. Sometimes things will reach out and grab you. Lots of pointy objects can scuff you up pretty good but it’s important to make sure that nothing got bent or broken in the process. But it's not just your body -- your ego can get bruised as well when things don't go according to plan. But that comes with the territory. I've learned to go easy on myself.
4. Don’t wear a baseball cap in the engine room. It obstructs your view from seeing what’s above and leads to many cuts, scrapes, and knots on the head. Plus, it keeps in body heat. No more hats for me.
5. It’s good to have somebody check in on you every couple of hours. Getting sandwiched behind an engine is not a good place to pass out. Getting stuck is no joke so have somebody yell down every two or three hours to make sure you’re ok.
6. Along those same lines, this work is better suited for younger (and skinnier) men (or women) but competent mechanics are hard to find. Even though I’m older and slightly overweight, I’ve learned to get in there and do it myself. I’ve gotten frustrated with repair guys who don’t show up or do a suboptimal job. My saving grace has been YouTube videos.
7. Pig blankets are like an EKG in the engine room. Problems can show up there long before you’re dead in the water. I've learned to pay attention to leaks of all types.
8. Sticking with a healthcare metaphor, oil analysis is like getting blood work done during your annual physical. Unfortunately, I tend to put off both.
9. Do regular inspections. Crawl around the engine room and see what looks strange and out of place. You just might catch a little problem before it becomes a bigger problem. Luckily, I found a water hose that was just about to blow.
10. Finally, cleanliness is next to godliness. When I was getting a bottom job at Lee Spry Marine in Iuka, MS, I invited Lee on my boat to check it out. He went straight to the engine room to see if it was clean. He said that would tell him most of what he needed to know about my boat. Those old timers know how to cut to the chase.

Please share your own lessons. They just might save me a few cuts and scrapes.