Ask Steve

SDMC Special Offer The SDMC Marine Systems Excellence E-zine readers are being offered a special 15% discount on their Top Shelf Marine Products purchase.  Please...

Photo Essay: Chafe It’s the bane of every seagoing vessel, taking its toll on everything from dock lines and wiring to sails and hoses.  Every...

Text and photos by Steve D’Antonio Copyright © 2017 Photo Essay: Battery Lugs Reliably connecting batteries to their associated cables sounds easy.  In practice, however, it can be fraught...

Hello Steve, Long-time fan, first time asking. I need to replace the clear fuel level indication hoses (sight gauges) on my 350 gallon diesel fuel...

Text and photos © 2021 Steve D'Antonio Marine Consulting, Inc. Photo Essay: Full Throttle vs. Full Load Sea trials are an opportunity to identify problems...

Please note, our first two questions are in regard to a previous Photo Essay. Steve, I agree with your advice for grounding electronic equipment, but no...

Photo Essay: Wiring Lithium-Ion Battery Systems Fires aboard vessels equipped with lithium-ion batteries quickly capture the attention of the boat building and cruising communities, and...

Text and photos © 2020 Steve D'Antonio Marine Consulting, Inc. Photo Essay: Tools are Your Good Friends “Tools are your good friends”, those are the opening...

Text and photos © 2020 Steve D'Antonio Marine Consulting, Inc. Photo Essay: Means of Escape The recent fire and resulting fatalities aboard the dive boat Conception,...

Photo Essay: Below the Waterline Welded Stainless Steel; Does it Make Sense? I’ve written about stainless steel; its strengths and weaknesses, on many occasions, in the...