Article by Capt. Mark Sampson
For hundreds of years, seafarers have named their boats after women and referred to them in feminine terms. I have no idea how that tradition got started, but as a kid, I do remember being told by an old captain, “If you treat your boat like a lady she’ll always be good to you.” Which at the time didn’t mean much to me, but now that I’m older and have had a bit more schooling by both boats and women, I can better understand what the fellow was trying to tell me and the following are a few lessons I picked up along the way.
Pay attention to what she says, even when her complaints seem minor and unimportant.
There’s a lot that can go wrong on a boat very suddenly and without warning, but usually a boat will give it’s owner subtle hints that something is not quite right before she has a major malfunction. A swelling in a battery cable means that there is corrosion eating away at the wiring under the insulation. A little bit of salt accumulation on an engine means that a hose or gasket is starting to leak. Bits of powdery black rubber around the front of an engine means the fan belt is wearing away and a bilge pump that comes on frequently indicates a seawater leak. A faithful skipper will pay attention to what his boat is telling him and do whatever is necessary to correct little problems before they turn into catastrophes.
Don’t dump her just because she gets a little age on her.
A well made and properly maintained boat can live a long time. Sure, over the years systems will fail, parts will wear out, the hull will lose it’s shine and she might get a few dings or even cracks in her. But the great thing about boats is that no matter how old or how beat-up they might be, there is almost nothing that can't be replaced or repaired. Even a total wreck of a boat can have new life breathed back into her if she’s stripped down to bare-nothing and refitted with all new wiring, engine(s), controls, electronics, transom, paint and whatever else she needs. Of course, this requires that the owner has both the resources and the commitment to see such a project is done properly from start to finish, but the end product can be a rig that's just as good, if not better, than new.
Don’t neglect her for long periods of time and then think you can just get back with her and everything will be as it was before.
Boats don’t take well to being ignored for any length of time. Owners who think they can park their vessel somewhere, forget about it for weeks or months at a time and then come back to use it and everything will be just as it was the last time they were together, will often be in for an unwelcome surprise. Things can go wrong on boats when they aren’t being used, just the same as when they are. Corrosion, deterioration of fuel, harsh affects from the sun, freezing temperatures, moisture damage and so many other issues can wreak havoc with a boat that’s not properly put up and prepared for long term inactivity. Boats require constant looking after, otherwise they can retaliate and let you down at a time when you thought everything was right with them.
Don’t look at other girls.
A lot of captains start out with a boat that makes them happy and have every intention of keeping for a long time. But after a while, everywhere they look they see boats that are newer, faster, bigger, prettier and decked out with more accessories than the one they have. There’s certainly nothing wrong noticing other boats and acknowledging their amenities and capabilities, but if they get so infatuated with “other boats” that they begin to look critically at their own, they’ll start to lose interest in properly keeping, maintaining and even using the one they have which will be the beginning of the end for that boat/skipper relationship.
Take care of her and she'll take care of you.
Sooner or later we all find ourselves out on some lonely stretch of water when the wind kicks up and seas get downright nasty. That's exactly when you don't want to be worrying if your bilge pumps are working or your steering cable is going to break. Under severe conditions every component of your boat might be tested to its limit and that's not when you want to have any kind of malfunction. A well-maintained boat will keep its skipper and crew safe and bring them home through the worst of conditions time after time.
It’s your job to make sure that she stays safe at all times.
No one will take care of your boat as well as you will. No marina employees, friends, neighbors or family members. When big storms come along that require extra measures to keep a boat safe from damage there can be a lot of kindly folks willing to help out, but it’s ultimately up to the boat owner to make sure that their vessel is always being properly looked after by people with the right skills and a commitment to do whatever is needed to keep the vessel safe. Whatever it takes, if you own a boat the buck stops with you to keep it secure and well maintained at all times – till death do you part!
I've enjoyed a wonderful 33-year marriage to my own boat. I know that when stacked up against other rigs floating in the same marina she's nothing "fancy," nothing "grand", but she's "mine" and I guess I'm sort of "hers". Whenever I see some flashy, new, well-equipped vessel that catches my eye and gets me thinking about how nice it might be to be running "that pretty-rig", I only need to think back to all the incredible times we've had together and all that we've been through, both the good and the bad, and I suddenly feel very content right where I'm at.
We've seen our share of storms, had excellent days and horrible days and I've come to know that whenever there was a "hiccup" in our relationship it was usually a result of some form of neglect on my part. But we've always been able to work through it, stay afloat, keep running and get home at the end of the day. After more than three decades she's still taking care of me and providing a fair living. It's taken a while, but I guess I understand now how true were the words of that old captain so many years ago - and why so many boats are named after women.
Capt. Mark Sampson is an outdoor writer and captain of the charter boat, “Fish Finder”, docked at the Ocean City Fishing Center. During the winter months, Capt. Mark runs charters in the Lower Keys.
