SAILING & BOATING INTRO TO BOAT SYSTEMS Know your boat: the systems that keep it running

Realistically, a boat is a house or RV on the water. It has power, plumbing, water, refrigeration and climate control, plus an engine, rigging and sails that get you where you're going. When one of them fails far from the dock, the fix is up to you.

This course gives new and growing boat owners a practical, plain-language tour of the systems on board. It's for anyone who owns a boat, is buying one, or is getting ready to move aboard full time and wants to understand what's happening behind the panels and under the floorboards.

What you'll learn

Mechanical:
- How a marine diesel engine works and the parts you need to know
- Following fuel from tank to cylinder, and why the clear bowl on your water separator matters
- Raw-water and fresh-water cooling
- Why a failed impeller overheats your engine
Electrical:
- AC shore power in the U.S. (110 V) compared with Europe and the Caribbean (230 V)
- DC power from your battery bank, and AGM vs. lithium batteries
- Charging with solar and wind
- Reading your control panel, your boat's command center
Plumbing & water:
- How the head, holding tank and pump-out work, and how to keep a head that doesn't smell
- The fresh-water system that feeds your galley and shower
- How a reverse osmosis watermaker turns sea water into drinking water

What you take home

An engine maintenance checklist organized by fuel, oil, cooling and drivetrain
An electrical checklist covering batteries, wiring, connections and safety
A curated list of trusted resources for going deeper

Your instructor

Captain Deborah Marlor is a USCG Licensed Captain with more than 32,000 nautical miles in the Pacific, the Atlantic, the Gulf of Mexico, the Bahamas and the Caribbean. She spent 9.5 years living aboard S/V Simplicity and has owned boats for more than 25 years. She is the founder of Sailing & Boating LLC, a published author in Sail Magazine, and a Certified DreamBuilder® Coach and Certified High Performance Coach. She teaches the way she learned: through preparation, judgment and practical decisions.

Intro to Boat Systems