Ask Steve

Text and photos © 2019 Steve D'Antonio Marine Consulting, Inc. Photo Essay: Hydraulic Steering Relief Valve Hydraulic steering systems are ubiquitous, they are found on everything...

Text and photos © 2019 Steve D'Antonio Marine Consulting, Inc. From the Masthead Regular readers may have noticed that the format of the Marine Systems Excellence...

Photo Essay: Lifeline Corrosion While plastic coated wire lifelines are a ubiquitous aspect of small boat safety, they aren’t without their shortcomings.  Long ago, while...

Photo Essay: Battery Installation   It’s an all-too-common occurrence; while conducting an inspection I reach the area where batteries (often for starting but occasionally house as...

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...

Copyright © 2016 Ask Steve: July 2016 Steve, I just bought an Ocean Alexander 42 Sedan with CAT 3208s in it.  They do not have air cleaner filters, just...

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...

Photo Essay: Leakage Current It’s an insidious, and frequently misunderstood, phenomenon; AC power leaking into water, creating an electric field around the vessel.  Under the...

Photo Essay: Steering Gear Wear Steering gear falls into the category of a ‘key system’.  Without it you are not only dead in the water,...

Photo Essay: Means of Reboarding “If you fall overboard, there’s no way to re-board the vessel without assistance”.  I uttered those words just last week,...