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Photo Essay: Avoiding Heat Shrink Butt Splice Woes Butt splices are ubiquitous, the average 50-foot vessel contains scores, perhaps even a hundred or more of...

Photo Essay: Fixed Fire Extinguisher Manual Discharge Fixed engine room firefighting systems are an invaluable safety option for virtually every inboard powered vessel.  These familiar...

Copyright © 2014 SDMC Inc.   Steve, I have read your articles in Cruising World for years and have found them very informative. Recently I notice that the...

Steve,  I have a 26' center console, 2 jet skis, a 13' whaler and the 58.  Additionally I have two hoists that are battery powered with solar chargers.  Basically,...

Photo Essay: Livewell Pump Installation Raw water plumbing fittings, particularly those below the waterline, must be rugged and reliable.  ABYC Standards dictate that, “A seacock...

  Photo Essay: Steering Component Inspection Text and photos by Steve D’Antonio Copyright © 2017 Steering represents one of the most important systems aboard, at least equal to propulsion, electrical and...

Text and photos copyright © SDMC, Inc. 2016 Photo Essay While it may be cliché, the first words that come to mind when I see this image...

  Photo Essay: Plumbing Bonding Technique As I carry out inspections, one of the issues I frequently encounter involves bonding or grounding (there is a difference,...

Text and photos © 2019 Steve D'Antonio Marine Consulting, Inc. Ask Steve Hello Steve, During the last haul out period, we dealt with a number of issues...

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...