What this checklist is for
This is for your single recreational boat in the U.S. waters, this form allows you to record periodic service. It can be a sail or power boat. On screen, you fill out the form; it’s downloadable as a CSV or PDF file.
The header shows the visit, hull, hours, and water type. For each station, you mark the hull and through-hulls, steering, batteries and electrical gear, and pump and bilge. You also mark freshwater and waste, sterndrive or engine-room systems, and hardware and canvas. Under radios, you mark Done, Due, or N/A. When the visit is done, you sign the form.
The hull-and-systems look has support from federal construction and carriage rules. The U.S. Coast Guard Boater's Guide to the Federal Requirements for Recreational Boats (November 2023) has those rules. Boating Safety Circular 83 covers fuel-tank and hose care. The Coast Guard carbon monoxide checklist covers exhaust, impeller and other carbon monoxide hardware.
Hull wash, oily bilge water and used oil go on the EPA used-oil and EPA Shipshape Shores and Waters pages. Hour figures on this sheet are OEM examples from Yamaha, Mercury and Honda. These are not federal Pass/Fail limits.
What it is not
- It is not a dedicated outboard hours log. Oil, gearcase, impeller, flush, spark plugs, and anode hours for an outboard belong on the Outboard Motor Maintenance hours and service record. That form is not published. Name it in plain text. Do not treat this hull-and-systems sheet as a substitute hour meter.
- It is not a boat trailer inspection. Lights, bearings, winch, coupler, and tires on the trailer belong on a boat trailer inspection checklist. That form is not published. Name it in plain text. The transom drain plug on the hull still belongs here.
- It is not a CMV pre-trip walkaround and not the published vehicle maintenance log for a car or light truck.
- It is not a Vessel Safety Check decal, a state numbering receipt, or the boat maker's full service schedule. The Coast Guard Guide is a minimum carriage and numbering handbook. Your OEM book still governs oil grade, impeller years, and winterization steps.
How to fill each block
Copy the 12-character hull identification number (HIN) from the starboard transom. Include the 12-character HIN in the service header and include the date of the boat visit. The HIN contains 12 characters without any spaces, hyphens, or slashes: 33 CFR 181.25
Place the main HIN on the starboard side outboard transom within two inches above the deck/hull joint, gunwale, or top of the transom, as required by 33 CFR 181.29.
Characters must be at least one-fourth inch high. Add the state registration or Coast Guard documentation number, boat name, and make and model. Mark the water type as salt, fresh, or brackish. Select propulsion so that any later N/A marks is accurate. Length class is for the fire-extinguisher table; it’s not a tax class.
In the hull, through-hulls, and seacocks section, verify that the HIN is legible. You compare any number or documentation marks on the vessel with those on your paperwork. You inspect the hull and bottom for blistering, cracking, and failed bedding. Do not scrape the hull in the water (removes paint), according to EPA's marina handbook. Wash a boat removed from the water before transporting to another waterbody.
Open/close each seacock and run it full cycle. Inspect all through-hulls, clamps, marine hose, backing, etc., for corrosion and leaks. ABYC lists the industry construction standard for seacocks, thru-hull fittings, and drain plugs as H-27. There is no federal inspection sticker.
An example of sacrificial anodes is found in Yamaha's maintenance brochure. Replace them if they are approximately half gone. Never paint. Remove growth to keep in contact with the water. Use the same alloy as the boat or drive maker.
Lock the controls and steering into position using the helm lock. Check for play, corrosion, or leaks in hydraulic lines, cables, and rams. Mercury's lubricant page provides an example for these intervals. On MerCruiser sterndrives and Verado outboards, you check power-steering fluid and lubricate steering linkage annually or every 100 hours. Check the trim and tilt fluid on the same interval. I confirmed the throttle and shift travel go all the way.
As of 1 April 2021, according to the Coast Guard Guide, use of the engine cut-off switch link is now legally required while operating. Rudder packing and stuffing boxes are not applicable if there is only an outboard motor. The truck steering-lash inch limits were not copied onto the boat.
Electrical and batteries: 33 CFR 183.420 is a manufacturer construction rule for gasoline boats except outboard engines, not an owner field test. The installed battery must not move more than an inch under the stated pull test. Batteries can’t have unguarded terminals that could come into metal-to-metal contact. Battery cannot be located directly over or under a fuel line fitting, filter or fuel tank. Boat must allow hydrogen to exit. Terminal connectors cannot depend on spring tension.
Outboard boats still require covered posts and a good hold down. You must use running lights. The Guide calls for running lights at night from sunset until sunrise and when operating in restricted visibility. You use the test button on carbon monoxide alarms. It’s on the Coast Guard CO checklist for every trip. Fire Extinguishers, the Guide and the Coast Guard fire extinguisher FAQ both use the 33 CFR 175.320 length table.
Model year 2018 and newer carry date-stamped 5-B or 20-B units. Counts with no fixed machinery-space system are 1 (under 26 ft), 2 (26 to under 40 ft), and 3 (40 to 65 ft). Two 5-B can be replaced by one 20-B. Not so for one 10-B.
Disposable units expire 12 years from the date stamped on the bottle, at which time they’re out of service. Service rechargeable units or replace disposable units if the gauge is in the red. Don’t make up your own count.
In the bilge and pumps section, the Guide instructs operators to keep bilges clean. It prohibits the intentional discharge of oil into the bilge. A 5 by 8 inch permanent oil placard is required for vessels 26 ft or larger equipped with machinery spaces.
Recreational vessels must be able to retain oily mixtures onboard until they can reach a reception facility. This may include using a pump into a container, a bucket or pads. Pumping overboard is prohibited. According to EPA's marina handbook, oily sheen bilge water should never be pumped. Use absorbents. Used filters and oil are recycled in labeled containers. Test the float switch, manual and automatic pumps. Garbage placard (4 by 9 inches) is also required on all U.S. vessels 26 ft or longer.
To check the freshwater and waste systems, you pressurize the freshwater system. Look for leaks on fixtures, pumps, heaters and tanks. If there’s a toilet, the Guide (33 CFR 159) requires that it be an operable Coast Guard certified marine sanitation device. For boats of 65 ft and less, this can be Type I, II, or III. For boats more than 65 ft long, this can be Type II or III. A Type III is a holding tank.
The operator must ensure that the device cannot discharge into the water if in a No Discharge Zone. To do this, the operator secures the discharge valve closed. That means removing the handle, closing it, and either wiring-tying or padlocking the discharge valve closed. These two methods are required in an NDZ but not everywhere else. According to the EPA marina handbook, boats should use pumpout and dump stations. If the boat has both an installed MSD and a portable toilet, mark the portable toilet as N/A. If the boat has only a portable toilet, mark the MSD as N/A.
Mark the whole station N/A on a pure outboard boat. Gasoline fuel-system construction rules apply to boats with gasoline engines other than outboards in 33 CFR 183.501. That exception is repeated in Boating Safety Circular, Spring 2017. Owners should inspect installed tanks at least once a year according to BSC 83.
Replace soft, cracked, or dry fill hoses with USCG Type marine hoses. Portable tanks must not be kept in enclosed engine rooms. 33 CFR 183.558 (boats that subpart J covers): Use Type A1 for the pump-to-carburetor hose. Use Type A1 or A2 for fill and vent hoses (B types only if the five-ounce / 2.5 minute test is met). Fittings must stay reachable (183.554). Post-31 July 1980 gasoline boats require an operable ventilation system (33 CFR 175.201). According to the Guide, sniff the bilge before starting and run the blower for at least four minutes.
What varies
The backfire flame arrestor is for gasoline inboards.
The CO checklist's annual technician look covers exhaust, impeller and housing, water-injection elbows, and generator anti-siphon valves. Check the oil and filter annually or every 100 hours (Mercury example). Change the gearcase lube annually or at the manual's 100 or 200 hour figure. Check the water pump and thermostat annually or every 200 hours (Honda salt-water example). Copy the book on your engine. Hours aren't federal law.
Deck gear includes canvas, hardware, and clear vinyl. Inspect enclosures, zippers, stitching, and clear vinyl. Check hatch gaskets, portlights, lifelines, railings, chocks, cleats, and even bimini or camper frames. Confirm that your reboarding ladder still deploys. If you have sailboats, there are also running and standing rigging to be checked.
This hardware includes ground tackle. It is not a part of the float plan. This is a hardware look. Trailer work remains off this sheet.
Then you move on to the sign-off and notes section where you list the parts replaced, work done, and items still due. Don’t use that template to record the next service hours and date from the OEM book; record them in the book instead.
The EPA tells people who change their own oil to collect the used oil and the drained filter. They take them to a recycling location. Marina businesses follow used-oil generator rules. You sign the visit.
After you finish
Beyond the federally required minimum are state numbers, education cards issued to operators, and other equipment. Even if the boat has a documented number, it also remains subject to state sticker requirements if that state mandates stickers based on its state of principal use.
Corrosion habits vary depending on fresh, salt, and brackish waters. Honda says to always flush after using the engine in saltwater or polluted water. Yamaha says to flush after each use. Contaminants can be carried into the engine from freshwater alone. Yamaha provides examples of different flush methods and times, such as 15 minutes. The Spring 2017 circular treats a skipped salt-water flush as a maintenance failure, not by itself a Coast Guard recall. It is not a Coast Guard recall by itself.
Outboard vs inboard vs sterndrive vs auxiliary sail changes which stations are honest N/A. Outboard engine installations do not have to follow Subpart I battery construction tests or Subpart J fuel hose rules. Outboard boats have canvas, pumps, batteries, helm and hull through-hull(s). Diesel inboards lack gasoline blower label. No matching backfire flame arrestor row like a gasoline carburetor.
MSD type rules differ for 65 ft and under versus over 65 ft. Hour intervals on this page are labeled examples. Many owners' first scheduled service is set by their new-boat owner guide at 100 engine hours or before winter storage (Mercury). If your book disagrees, follow the book and write the spec in Notes. Write the spec in Notes. Download a filled CSV or PDF if you want a copy that leaves this tab open. Answers remain in this browser only. Next visitor sees a blank form.
Keep the file with the OEM manuals and boat papers in the boat. Before you trust the boat, you finish any outstanding tasks. Or you leave it on the hard. Oily pads and used oil are taken to a recycling/reception point.
It is not filed for a Vessel Safety Check. It is not filed for a state numbering renewal. It is not filed for a Coast Guard documentation transaction. And this page isn’t even the one to file it. The form appears at the top of the page. Below the form is the preview image and printable PDF.
Not a substitute for the OEM or a licensed inspection
This is a recordkeeping template. This is not legal advice. This is not a substitute for a licensed technician or marine survey inspection. This is not a substitute for the drive, engine, or boat manufacturer’s procedure.
You do not invent a Pass/Fail limit if the cited official pages do not list the anode alloy, the number of extinguishers, the type of hose, or the hour interval. You do not invent a Pass/Fail limit if there is nothing in your boat’s manuals that says so.