Replacing a generator is far more common than replacing engines. I've seen many boats with twice as many hours on the gen set than the engine(s). After all, once you arrive at your destination, you want all the comforts like air conditioning, the refrigerator, and the ice maker to keep humming along.

Money doesn't grow on trees and fuel isn't getting any cheaper so squeezing the most out of a gallon has become a major consideration. However, many boat owners haven't got a clue what the most economical operating range is for their vessel and one question is all it takes to know for sure. Do you have a fuel monitoring system on board?

Today, most powerboats in the 40+ foot size have 110 volt AC generators installed to provide power for various accessories and appliances such as microwave ovens, televisions, coffee makers, refrigerators, freezers, hair dryers and all the charging devices for lap tops, cell phones, PDAs and more.

"Well, well, well," to quote Oliver from the John Boy and Billy Big Sho on the radio. It's time to talk about tenders and how best to transport them. First, when it comes to boating, just let me say that I am a big proponent of the KISS system, (Keep It Simple Stupid).

While the CO produced by a gas-fueled propulsion engine is of concern, the motion of the boat aides significantly in dis-persing the exhaust,diluting the CO content of the air on the boat to generally acceptable levels.Exceptions to safed ispersal occur most often when the engines are left idling for long periods of time to charge batteries or if the stationwagon effect (negative pressure area behind a moving boat) draws the exhaust into the cockpit or into an interior compartment.In most cases,though,the great-est risk from CO poisoning comes from running theboat&#