Photo Essay

Photo Essay: Steering Components Steering falls into what I call one of the three critical systems, along with propulsion and raw water plumbing/watertight integrity.  On...

Photo Essay: The Perils of an Unvented Loop Vented loops, also known as anti-siphon valves or siphon-breaks, have served mariners for many years.  Their mission...

Photo Essay: Closed Cooling System Hose Failure While both must be reliable and robust, hoses used for conveying coolant (often incorrectly referred to as anti-freeze)...

Photo Essay: Bonding Systems Part II; Maintenance In last month’s Photo Essay I reviewed the subject of unnecessary bonding.  This month I’ll cover bonding system...

Text and photos copyright © SDMC, Inc. 2016 Ask Steve: June 2016 Steve, Thanks for the fire extinguisher comments.  Safety is a passion of mine and 18 months...

Text and photos © 2021 Steve D'Antonio Marine Consulting, Inc. Photo Essay: Steering Steering, it’s one of the primary systems you simply can’t do without, along...

Tools of the Trade Photos and text by Steve D'Antonio Copyright SDMC, In. 2015 I’m frequently amazed at the unwillingness of marine mechanics to carry out thorough...

Text and photos © 2019 Steve D'Antonio Marine Consulting, Inc. Photo Essay: Refrigeration Maintenance While it’s all too easy to take it for granted, I never cease...

Photo Essay: Not a Cord Grip These are small, inexpensive, and readily available parts, and they are critically important; without them the worst-case result can...

Photo Essay: Emergency Tiller Use During a recent vessel inspection, I asked the owner of the vessel if he’d ever tested the emergency manual tiller,...