We talk to David Alton in this interview. It’s a little different. He has a startup called Maintenance ROS that we are very excited to tell others about. Forget the Excel. This is a cruiser built solution for your maintenance needs, not just another rework of software from another industry. It even predicts when you need to do maintenance. If you mention CatamaranSite, David will be for sure to give you special service.
Your boat is your escape, your sanctuary, your joy. Let MaintenanceROS be your partner in keeping it that way. With our personalized maintenance scheduling, we’ll track your equipment and notify you of upcoming tasks, so you can focus on enjoying the water. Leave the details to us and experience worry-free boating like never before. Maintenance ROS ( https://maintenanceros.com ).
Hi, I’m River with CatamaranSite.com, and today I’m joined by David Alton, the creator of “Maintenance Right on Schedule.” This is a tool designed to help boat owners stay on top of essential maintenance and keep their vessel in top shape. His expertise in simplifying boat upkeep has helped countless sailors avoid costly surprises and keep their adventures smooth sailing.
In this interview, we’ll dive into Maintenance Right on Schedule: how it works, why preventative maintenance is key, and how you can take the stress out of boat care.
Alright, absolutely! Thanks so much for having me, River.
Yeah, tell us about yourself, David. How did this all come about?
Yeah, so there are a few things. As you mentioned, I started Maintenance Right on Schedule, and it really came about from my experience with boat life. My wife and I lived aboard our Fountaine Pajot Helia 44 catamaran called “Starry Horizons” for 10 years. We did a full circumnavigation and had a fantastic time exploring the remote corners of the world. So, I gained a lot of experience with boat life, and a lot of those experiences led to the development of Maintenance Right on Schedule.
While we were living on the boat, we actually had a YouTube channel and blog as well, called “Out Chasing Stars.” So, if people are interested in seeing some of those adventures, those are all out there. We have a small claim to fame in that we were the first YouTube channel to fully document a circumnavigation. It’s kind of a little feather in my cap.
Nice! Yeah, I was a cruiser as well and spent most of my time with maintenance, spreadsheets, Trello boards, and things like that — all of the tools.
So, tell us why you made Maintenance Right on Schedule.
The biggest reason was that I just never had the system I always wanted. I figured it was finally time to take all that knowledge and experience and really build it myself. I still very vividly remember the moment we bought our boat new. We picked it up in France, and I remember stepping on board and feeling a panic of, “Oh my goodness, what have we done?” There were so many systems on the boat, complex systems, and the stack of owners’ manuals was like a foot and a half high. It was just one of those “drinking from a fire hose” feelings of, “Wow, this learning curve is going to be really steep.”
Since I knew we were going to be doing a full circumnavigation, I knew everything was on me. I was going to be the one maintaining the boat, and it was definitely a momentous feeling, trying to come to grips with all of that. Throughout our travels, like cruisers and boaters always do, there were lots of conversations with other boaters about their boats and how they maintain them. It always struck me how all those conversations were very similar. People always struggled with tracking maintenance schedules, getting and storing documentation, and tracking inventory on the boat.
There were so many stories about boats breaking down because people didn’t realize they were supposed to maintain something. Also, there were people who subscribed to what I call the “ostrich theory” — “maintenance is too complicated, I don’t want to deal with it” — sticking their head in the sand. But that just does not work on a boat.
Hearing all those common stories made me realize I was certainly not the only one with these needs and wants. With all my experiences living on the boat, I thought that putting these into a system that really worked would be a great solution. Another part of this was a desire to give back to the boating community. When we were on our circumnavigation, we got help from so many people, whether it was just, “Hey, you’re working on this project; let me come over and help, I’ve done this before,” or people showing us around. The boating and cruising community is renowned for a reason, and being able to give back in some small way was definitely a motivating factor now that I’m no longer living on the boat.
That’s fantastic! How long did it take before you decided to build this app? What other things did you start with?
I ran the gamut. That first moment sitting on the boat in France, realizing I should be tracking some of these things, I went out and got a paper log. Everything was in French, so it was difficult to read, but at least it was a start. But very quickly, I realized paper wasn’t great on a boat. Things get wet, get dirty — it’s just not an ideal solution. I also did a lot with Excel. Back in my corporate life, I was pretty good at spreadsheets. But even though I was good at it, there were still limits. It wasn’t a perfect solution.
I tried some of the digital tools that were starting to become available later on. When we first started, internet access was a significant challenge, so being able to constantly access data was a pretty big limitation. But this has really changed in the modern age. I feel like I’ve tried everything!
So, is yours the first app that’s out there for boat maintenance? I know there are some, and I think I’ve come across a few of them. How is yours unique?
There are definitely other apps out there. What we felt we could bring that was unique was an actual focus on boating life and the complexity of boats. In general, there are two ends of the spectrum: on one side, there are super yacht solutions, which come with super yacht pricing — not very interesting to a lot of boat owners. On the other side, there are basic solutions that repackage software from another market, saying, “Hey, boats are a thing, let’s adapt this software.” But those are very basic and don’t capture the complexities of boating life.
What’s really unique about our system is that we developed it from the ground up with boats in mind. We have our own equipment database with thousands of manufacturer-recommended maintenance schedules. Every boat is unique, with different parts. So we wanted a solution where you could say, “I have this specific equipment on my boat,” and we would give you personalized, customized maintenance schedules for that individual boat. Not many systems can do that.
Also, our system predicts when maintenance is due based on how you use your boat, which Excel struggled with. It’s a bit of an advanced task, so we integrated that into the system. We also wanted to integrate inventory with maintenance tasks. I always found that when doing a project and pulling things out of lockers, I’d remember to update the tasks I had completed, but I’d forget which parts I used and where I got them from. So integrating everything into one system helped me keep track of what I was using and when, rather than having to go through the boat every six months to redo my inventory — which my wife certainly didn’t enjoy!
All of these features came together to create a system that really focuses on the challenges of managing and maintaining a boat.
That’s fantastic! I really wish that had existed when I was cruising. I definitely would have been a customer.
Yeah, definitely.
So, do you see your core customer as the cruising community, or have there been any surprises in your user base?
I built this with cruisers in mind, so that was the original focus. But what we’ve discovered is that a lot of the issues cruisers face are actually issues all boat owners face. So it’s not just for cruisers; it’s for anyone who owns and operates their own boat. I believe that tracking maintenance is really important for everyone.
We’ve had users beyond cruising boats, like small day runabouts, and even large trawlers handled by just a couple of people. It runs the gamut, but there are always complex systems on the boats that users want to track — engines, generators, winches, air conditioning, those sorts of things.
I’d say it’s easier for users to get started with the system when they have a new or “new-to-them” boat. But we’ve had people who wanted to transition to our system after realizing they’d missed some preventative maintenance, which led to problems. So it’s definitely not just for cruisers. It can benefit any boat owner.
Definitely. So, the age-old question: How much should you spend on maintenance each year? Do you have any feel for that?
Ah, yes, the age-old question! It’s tough because a lot of variables come into play. For example, where the boat is used (freshwater vs. saltwater), how often the boat is used, and how complex the systems on the boat are. If you have a simple boat with just an engine and windlass, it will cost less to maintain than a boat with a generator, air conditioning, watermakers, and all of that.
The age of the boat is another factor. I mentioned we bought our boat new, and it’s definitely not like buying a new car. There’s still maintenance and repairs straight from the beginning. But, in general, we spent a bit less on maintenance and repairs compared to friends with older boats.
A lot also depends on the owner’s approach to preventative maintenance, both the current and previous owner. If the previous owner neglected maintenance, that bill will generally come due for you.
As a general rule of thumb, I would say it’s about 2-10% of the boat’s value. The 2% side applies to more expensive boats, and the 10% side applies to less expensive boats. Oil and other basic maintenance costs will be similar, no matter if the boat is worth a million dollars or $5,000. But it makes sense that those costs would form a higher percentage of the boat’s value on a less expensive boat.
From our personal experience, which I’m happy to share (and we have more info on our “Out Chasing Stars” blog), we spent about $16,000 to $17,000 a year on maintenance and repairs when we were sailing around the world. That was about 2.5% of our boat’s price. You can use that as a practical real-world example.
I guess it also depends on whether you’re doing the maintenance yourself or paying someone else to do it. That dramatically changes the cost.
Yes, absolutely! There’s a big reason I learned to do a lot of the maintenance myself.
You mentioned something really interesting about having those records on file. So, when you go to sell your boat, can you transfer that information to the new owner?
Absolutely! We have a way for users to transfer their accounts. They can reach out to us, and we can guide them through the process. The new owner will have all the previous history, including documentation and any pictures that were taken. I took so many pictures of doing maintenance on boats, and I hope people follow that because it helps you remember where that last little screw came from. All that information can easily be transferred over to the new owners.
That’s fantastic. Thank you so much, David. Can you tell people how they can find out more about Maintenance Right on Schedule?
Absolutely! We have a website, MaintenanceROS.com. Feel free to check it out. We offer a 30-day free trial, so you can sign up, create your own schedule, and see what it’s all about. We have a bunch of tutorials I filmed, walking through the features and how to use them. Those are available on the website or on YouTube (search for “MaintenanceROS”).
Lastly, I’m happy to be reached directly. My email is David@MaintenanceROS.com, and I love chatting about boats, maintenance, and how Maintenance Right on Schedule can help boat owners.
That’s awesome! Thank you so much, David. It’s been great getting to know you and your app better. I appreciate you coming by.
Absolutely, thanks so much for having me!