Water Ski - July 01, 2018

NAUTICAL

NO -NO

BOAT DOCTOR ///Q&A

PHOTOS: (FROM LEFT) COURTESY BRAD ARRINGTON, ED SHERMAN

BLURRED VISION
Q: Hello Boat Doctor. The
plastic lenses of the gauges on
my 2006 Sea Ray 270 Amber-
jack are suffering from crack-
ing. All the gauges are showing
various degrees of cracks, but
the worst is the 3-inch-diam-
eter SmartCraft tachometer,
where pieces of the lens are

starting to break off. Is there

any way to replace just the

lenses without replacing the

entire gauge? The gauges

function fine. They are

SmartCraft gauges, so a

whole gauge replacement

is rather expensive.

Thanks for any advice

you can offer.

Brad Arrington

Mount Sinai, New York

[Mr. Arrington provided

complete part numbers for

each individual gauge

afflicted. —Ed.]

A: Hi Mr. Arrington. If you

do not want replacement

gauges, consider taking the

old, cracked and crazed

lenses to a glass shop. A good

glass tech may be able to cut

flexible plastic to replace your

lenses so that even the domed

appearance is retained.

STEERING HORRORS

One of the areas that often gets over-

looked aboard outboard- and stern-

drive-powered boats is the steering system

and the hardware that holds it together. It’s important

to keep in mind that the steering system used on these

types of boats is one of the few areas where what is

known in engineering terms as a “single point of fail-

ure” can cause a total loss of steering. This can happen

rather suddenly too.

The no-no here is a

total loss of control of

your boat.

So, as part of your

maintenance routine,

be sure to check all

of the hardware and

fasteners holding this

vital system together

and replace hardware

that looks like the

nylock hex nut shown

here. —Ed Sherman