¿Do you know the difference between doing a boat Refit or a maintanace?
Boats, because they spend a lot of time operating in hostile environments such as the sea, require continuous maintenance and care so that they can operate with reliability and safety. What is also true, and is the case with both sports and pleasure sailing, is that we do not want to have unpleasant surprises derived from failures or malfunctions of the various equipment of our boat.
That is why at least every year, the boats must be dry-docked, to clean and check the bottom of the hull, apply anti-fouling and/or anti-vegetative paint and, incidentally, do a basic service including maintenance of the propulsion system, such as the change of lubricating oils and various filters. Also, with fair regularity, the fuel and water tanks must be cleaned to eliminate contaminating sediments.
With the correct and adequate maintenance, we will achieve:
- Safety: Safety is a key consideration when sailing at sea. Getting the boat ready before sailing helps ensure that all systems are in good condition and that the boat is safe for the crew.
- Reliability: Vessels are complex machines that integrate many systems and equipment that interact with each other and that require adequate minimum maintenance to guarantee their reliability. Regular boat tune-ups help prevent unexpected failures and breakdowns, which can ruin a voyage or jeopardize crew safety.
- Performance: A properly maintained and tuned ship will offer better performance when at sea. Proper maintenance of the boat’s systems, such as the engine, propulsion, hull and electrical systems, can improve efficiency and reduce consumption, extending the life of the boat.
- Resale value: In the event that the boat is sold in the future, having regularly carried out all the maintenance routines required by the manufacturers of the equipment and machines, keeping them in optimal condition, will ensure the reimbursement of our investment with a high sale value. Keeping records and invoices of the work carried out throughout your ownership of the boat will give potential buyers an idea of the state of conservation and therefore they will be able to value their investment much better.
Keeping our boat properly maintained and cared for, apart from giving us reliability and security, allows us to maintain the commercial sale value and with this, we also guarantee the “maintenance” of our investment.
A maintenance is not a refit, during a boat’s maintenance dock, only the necessary repairs are made, in addition to the maintenance and upkeep of the different equipment and systems, without incurring major changes and modifications unless strictly necessary. For this reason, a maintenance dock is much cheaper than what a refit dock can cost, in addition to being executed in much less time.
Therefore, a refit is a much broader and more extensive work strategy that, while taking advantage of the vessel’s inaction, can also include maintenance work, but work covering many more systems and/or equipment or doing more extensive jobs than a simple changing of lubricants and filters.
A refit, apart from being done to make certain improvements in the boat, also seeks to revalue our investment, sustaining the increasing value of our boat.
