Right to repair, more an obligation and boaters are some of the best at it.

Have you ever heard of the Right to repair movement? A coalition to lobby for making repairs affordable, information and manuals accessible and more mainstream. Members include repair technicians, self repairers, parts distributors and more. The mantra being we produce too much waste and throw away perfectly good items that could be repaired. Boaters have followed this course for years, we fix and renew, nurture and preserve.

I want to state that this post is something that is very important to me, apart from it being my job to repair boats, I see it as a moral obligation that before we renew or replace components, we make sure we cannot repair it, boaters are notorious (in a good way) for being frugal (aka "mean" or "tight fisted") but, this directly keeps a lot of companies and sole traders in business for the moment.

I will apologize in advance if this post goes off topic here and there and maybe even rants a bit, but I cannot stress enough the importance of repairs, overhauls, reuse, repurpose rather than renew or dispose of perfectly rebuildable components. 

Back in the day

Not just some old person nostalgic "back in my day" rant. Just look around at some everyday items, made in a time where programmed obsolescence had not been invented yet and companies were proud to make products that lasted a long time, some examples I can think of are naturally aspirated diesel engines, the GM small block V8, Zippo lighters, Dr Martens shoes, the list goes on, too much we have become and impatient and throwaway society. There is no reason as far as I can see that many more items cannot be made to be repaired economically enough that replacement is only necessary as a last resort.

A slightly older article in Forbes highlights the problem nicely. The article highlights the dilemma between repairing and replacement of a fridge. Boats have so very many systems, mechanical, electrical, electronic and always seem to fail at the most inconvenient of times, which, for us in Southern Europe is August, factories and suppliers all over Europe simply close for summer holidays, added to which it coincides with the busiest period for boatyards, often there is little choice but to buy new and not have a repair done.

Pollution and energy offset

I have searched a lot and not really been able to come up with definite answers, especially, in the case of boats. If an item is replaced as opposed to repaired if possible, how long before that item effectively pays for itself? If anyone can give some real life figures please let me know. I can only go by my own experience, I see a lot of older motors that are still giving great service.

How long does it take for a replacement item to offset the energy it took to make it, ship it, install it, maintain it and run it for "X" years before the energy used has been offset? I am willing to bet there are too many items that basically never offset their contribution to pollution, some by design, others because they just do not last.

Boats are not something typically that have a short lifetime, even so called "budget" types, they last what can be considered a long time, and so they should.

Components made for rebuilding

Many engine components are made for rebuilding, especially on diesel engines, there are still companies who specialize in rebuilding certain items, this is terrific, it means mechanical items can be reused and also keep costs down, because, in most cases, rebuilding is far less expensive than new, the downside to rebuilds is the time factor, it is obviously far quicker to install a new component than to wait for the original to be rebuilt, this is where core discounts come into play, a major component requires replacement, lets say a pump, that can be rebuilt but there is not time to wait, a new pump is ordered and fitted, the old pump is sent back and provided it can be rebuilt, a core credit is issued, a lot of components are not actually "new", they are original parts that have been remanufactured and sold with a warranty but with a discount.

Some examples of rebuildable components;

• Alternators, used to charge batteries from the engine, can be expensive to replace.
• Starter motors, workshops can rebuilt these, often the same places that repair alternators.
• Diesel injection pump, These can be eye wateringly expensive to replace so rebuilds make sense, it is the job for a very specialist workshop, I have had a couple of mechanical pumps overhauled in the recent past and they have been perfect.
• Fuel injectors, same companies that rebuild diesel pumps, again the need for specialist equipment, they test and calibrate the injectors and can restore them to factory specs.
• Raw water pumps, these are the pumps that circulate seawater around the motor for cooling, they are critical to engine operation. Rebuild kits for a lot of the most popular pumps are available, its not uncommon for boatowners to rebuild these themselves.

This is not an exhaustive list, cylinder heads, crankshafts, turbos and more can be successfully overhauled, rebuilt or reconditioned to give many more years of life, which brings me to the next point...….

Losing skills

There is something upside down for me, when did it become cheaper to just drop in a new engine rather than repairing the old one? and, when did this become acceptable practice. Machine shops and reconditioning companies were once quite plentiful, I now see fewer of them than ever before, the prices that are quoted make the whole endeavor of repair a non starter, why? It makes no sense to me, I recently had need of getting a cylinder head checked, it needed new valve guides, professional cleaning and planing to ensure it was flat, there are lots of videos on social media of companies doing this exact work, well, quote given was actually more than what an already reconditioned cylinder head could be had from the manufacturer, its nuts.

I don´t know why the quote was so high, the company was not far away and was quite well known, what is going on?  I cannot be sure but the last time I was in there, the youngest worker must have been approaching sixty years of age, there were no apprentices, no youngsters, nobody to carry the torch, this is worrying, what is going to happen in the future? A huge loss of very skilled and well paid workers who can fix major components, quite apart from environmental issues, what about other skilled trades, especially with boats, everything from carpenters, mechanics, electricians, painters, the list goes on, not to mention the boatyards that maintain them.

This could potentially be geographic and bad luck, there are other machine shops, I am fairly certain at least one has someone working there who was born in the nineties.

Consumer demand

Perhaps this should be consumer impatience, but, I sort of understand, perhaps not so much with boats, but, certainly most workshops want to get repair jobs turned around quickly, boatyards might not want or have space for boats waiting on rebuilt parts, especially during the peak busy times. Consumers have come to expect rapid service, some often will pay a premium to have it done faster.

Manufacturers to blame?

I have heard from a few techs I know who work for large car dealers, when repairs are made under warranty, the general process is assess problem, diagnose, maybe file a pre authorization for an expensive part, but almost never is it, fix part, its replace, most of the time on the order from the manufacturer, dispose of part, that could mean recycle it correctly and not just throw it in the bin.

I sort of understand the manufacturer point of view, they need to minimize repair costs, so old with the old and in with the new, the customer needs their car back quickly and customer satisfaction is important, the work also has to be guaranteed. I have also heard from those same techs that, there are so many parts that simply cannot be rebuilt or reused, once they fail, that's it, no rebuilds available. I cannot say if industry centric but, I know someone who works on tractors, diggers and bulldozers and they rebuild almost everything, in fact, they use factory reconditioned parts and the manufacturer insists on the return of the old part, even going as far as to send someone to pick it up, I like this, to their credit a couple of boat engine manufacturers also do this, but only when the want the part back for whatever reason.

Some parts have what is called a core exchange, this means you get charged full price for a part and when the old part is sent back, if it is deemed rebuildable, the manufacturer will issue a credit note for part of the price of the new part.

Teak

Wickedly expensive, achingly beautiful, nothing screams "boat!" like teak decks. Teak was for a long time very controlled. Myanmar (Burma) had the best teak, now several other countries also produce and export teak, Thailand, Indian and Indonesia all produce teak, now, because quality teak comes from very old trees, a lot of teak used today is reclaimed or repurposed, look around any nautical carpenters shop, boatyards or my fathers garage and you will see bits of teak of all shapes and sizes, quite apart from the fact teak is very expensive, repurposed old teak from old trees is infinitely superior quality, this is a good example of repurposing.  Teak tock. Decks, exotic woods and looking after them.

Conclusion

I will make no apologies for ranting on this subject, as boaters we need to be examples of awareness, the recreational boating industry is measure in the tens of billions annually, its huge business. As a group, it is often forgotten that we can be power lobbyists, influencers and if we want, rather stubborn. I honestly believe, as a collective, boaters, both recreational and commercial are some of the most inventive people going.

Finding solutions to problems is probably an accurate description of my job as any, some examples of the last couple of months, just to give an idea;

• Fridges, two older but perfectly good fridges fixed just by replacing the fans and cleaning the fluff of the units so they cool better.

• 3D printed some fixings for windshield electric vents, originals were obsolete and no longer available.

• Used bicarbonate of soda to absorb some awful smells in a boat due to gasoline being accidentally put in the black water tank.

These are just a few examples, not even very inventive, but the point is to reuse, repair and not generate waste, the fridges are a good example, one boatowner was willing to pay over a grand for a new small fridge when all it needed was a 15 Euro fan and less than a hours work.

Please be mindful, we are lucky to enjoy the most beautiful environment on earth, support the right to repair and, consider repair, refurbishment or repurpose before replacement, also, there is a great deal of satisfaction in having fixed something rather than just buying a new one, not to mention the benefits to the environment.

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