Mar 2, 2021 When I ran a charter boat, it was necessary to leave the slip if I expected to be paid. Knowing this made me sweat the details when it came to maintenance. If my boat could not run because of a mechanical issue, then I was stuck at the dock until it was corrected. And when your life is dictated by the weather, weekends and holidays, sitting at the dock is never a good thing. The owner of the pleasure boat docked next to me marched to a different beat. He only did maintenance when something broke. Such was the case one morning when he called over to me just as my charter party arrived. His boat had a severe leak, and the bilge pump was running constantly.