Under the Radar: 6 Maintenance Tasks That Often Get Overlooked

After 10 years of living aboard and cruising, Amy and I learned that some of the most important maintenance tasks are the ones that never make it onto the typical owner’s checklist. These aren’t the glamorous projects or the obvious big-ticket items—they’re the quiet, unglamorous tasks that prevent disasters.

Here are six maintenance tasks that deserve more attention than they typically get, plus a bonus tip for sailboat owners.

1. Checking and Cleaning Battery Terminal Connections

Why it matters: Corroded battery terminals are one of the most common causes of electrical problems on boats—and one of the easiest to prevent.

That white or blue-green crusty buildup you see isn’t just unsightly—it’s creating electrical resistance that can prevent your engine from starting or cause voltage drops throughout your electrical system.

What to do:

• Inspect terminals monthly for any signs of corrosion
• Disconnect terminals and clean with a wire brush and baking soda solution
• Apply corrosion preventive spray or petroleum jelly after reconnecting
• Check that connections are tight (but don’t overtighten and strip threads)

Pro tip: Keep a small wire brush and baking soda in your boat toolkit specifically for this job. The five minutes you spend on preventive cleaning beats the hour you’ll spend troubleshooting electrical gremlins later.

2. Exercising Seacocks and Ball Valves

Why it matters: A seized seacock can be life-threatening in an emergency. If you can’t close a through-hull when a hose fails, you’re dealing with uncontrolled flooding.

Seacocks and ball valves can seize from corrosion, marine growth, or simply from sitting in one position for too long. Once they’re seized, they’re nearly impossible to free without risking damage and the middle of an emergency is NOT when you want to discover this!

What to do:

• Exercise every seacock and ball valve quarterly (at minimum)
• Simply open and close each valve through its full range of motion
• Feel for smooth operation—any grinding or resistance needs attention
• Lubricate annually with marine-grade valve lubricant (if suggested by manufacturer)

Our experience: During our circumnavigation, we made seacock operation part of our monthly routine. It takes maybe 15 minutes to go through every through-hull on the boat, but it gave us confidence that we could shut off any system quickly if needed.

3. Inspecting Hose Clamps for Rust

Why it matters: Rusty hose clamps fail, and when they fail on a below-waterline connection, you’re sinking.

Many boat owners focus on hoses themselves (which is good!) but overlook the clamps holding them. Stainless steel clamps can corrode in the marine environment, especially if they’re not true marine-grade stainless. The rust you can see on the outside is often hiding worse corrosion underneath.

What to do:

• Inspect all hose clamps during regular maintenance, paying special attention to below-waterline connections
• Look for rust, particularly around the screw mechanism
• Replace any clamp showing rust—they’re cheap insurance
• Upgrade and only use all-stainless marine clamps
• ALL below-waterline hoses should be double-clamped

Red flag: If you see rust on hose clamps on below-waterline connections like engine raw water intake, through-hulls, or cockpit drains, replace them immediately. Don’t wait.

4. Inspecting Life Jacket Inflation Mechanisms

Why it matters: A life jacket that won’t inflate when you need it is worse than no life jacket—it gives you false confidence.

Many boaters stow their inflatable life jackets and forget about them until an emergency. But the CO2 cartridges can corrode, the inflation mechanisms can jam, and the automatic inflation sensors can fail or expire. You need to know they work before someone goes in the water.

What to do:

• Inspect life jackets at least annually (we did it at the start of every season)
• Check CO2 cartridge for corrosion or damage
• Verify the cartridge is properly secured and hasn’t been partially discharged
• Test the light if possible
• Orally inflate the bladder to verify it holds air

Pro tip: Once you orally inflate the bladder, leave it full for 24 hours. That way you can verify that the bladder doesn’t have a small leak!

5. Cleaning Refrigeration Condenser Coils

Why it matters: Your marine refrigerator is likely to be one of the biggest electrical loads on your boat. When the condenser coils get clogged with dust and debris, efficiency plummets—meaning your compressor runs longer, draws more power, and wears out faster.

This is one of those tasks where a little preventive maintenance dramatically extends equipment life and reduces power consumption. Yet most boat owners never think about it until their refrigerator stops keeping things cold.

What to do:

• Clean condenser coils at least twice per season (more in dusty environments)
• Use a soft brush or vacuum with brush attachment to remove dust and debris
• Check that airflow around the refrigeration unit isn’t blocked
• Verify the condenser fan is running when the compressor operates
• Clean any filters or screens in the cooling system

Our experience: We were constantly amazed at the amount of dust and salt residue that accumulated and the difference in cooling performance was immediately noticeable after cleaning.

Bonus for Sailboats: Inspecting Cotter Pins and Split Rings Aloft

Why it matters: A failed cotter pin or split ring can cause a catastrophic rigging failure. These tiny pieces of hardware are all that’s holding your standing rigging together.

Cotter pins and split rings aloft are exposed to constant motion, salt spray, and UV damage. They corrode, work loose, or fatigue over time. And because they’re up the mast, most sailors only inspect them during haul-outs or when something else requires going aloft.

What to do:

• Inspect all cotter pins and split rings during any trip up the mast
• Check for corrosion, bending, or pins that have worked loose
• Verify all pins are properly spread and taped
• Look for any split rings that have opened or show wear
• Replace any questionable hardware—they cost pennies compared to rigging

Important: Going aloft specifically to inspect rigging hardware is time well spent. We tried to inspect everything aloft at least twice per season, and always before any significant passage.

Making These Tasks Routine

The challenge with these maintenance tasks isn’t that they’re difficult—it’s that they’re easy to forget. They don’t have obvious warning signs until something fails.

This is exactly why we built MaintenanceROS with customizable checklists and automated reminders. You can set up recurring tasks for each of these items at whatever interval makes sense for your boat, and the system will remind you when they’re due.

Because the best boat maintenance is the kind that happens before something breaks.

Want to make sure you never forget these critical maintenance tasks? Try MaintenanceROS free for 30 days and put your maintenance tracking on autopilot.