Boat Electrics & Mechanics

Courses and Advice:

How to do it the RIGHT way

  • You're a boater or a sailor?
  • You want to understand what's going on inside your engine?
  • You want to fix and maintain your boat electrics like an expert?

We teach you how to be self reliant on the water and save money by fixing things yourself.

Check out our online courses on electrical systems:

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Your Expert Teachers

Nigel & Jan

Dr. Jan C. Athenstädt

Nigel Calder

We are passionate about technical systems on boats since the 1970s (at least one of us) and we have a mission

We offer the internet's most profound knowledge on
boat mechanics and electrics.

Click here to learn more about our goals and values and here to get to know us.

By now, over 1,200 students have taken our first two courses on marine electrical systems: Boat Electrics 101, covering marine DC systems and Advanced Marine Electrics, covering a large variety of advanced topics.

We received more positive feedback than we could ever have imagined! This motivates us even more to keep working on great courses, articles and videos. Our next project will be a course on Marine Diesel Engines.

Want to stay tuned? Sign up and we'll keep you posted...

Friends & Partners

We work together with various partner organizations fostering high quality marine education and other services

Click here for a full list with more info on our friends & partners

What students say about us

Learning with you in 2022 has been a highlight of the year for me


Jonathan Mastin

I'm so thankful for you guys and all the hard work you put into sharing your knowledge with us. Learning with you in 2022 has been a highlight of the year for me.

I now understand all the electrical systems and how everything works together.


Bob Russell S/V Spartina

I want to let you know how impressed I was with the BoatHowTo course!!
From the very basics, through creating a detailed circuit diagrams of the electrical systems on my boat, my knowledge is years ahead of where I thought it would be at this point.
Thanks for a wonderful, extremely useful (and fun) course that takes a lot of the mystery out of sailboat electrical systems!!

An evolving learning platform


Miro Peternelj

Having access to up-to-date materials on Boat Electrics is very handy for someone who deals with small boat design, like me. The best part of the whole course is that it actually isn't only a course, but it is an evolving learning platform.

Click here for more testimonials.

Check Out Our Latest Articles & Videos

Watch BoatHowTo expert Nigel Calder figure out why Arabella’s zincs are eaten up so quickly. If you want to learn more this topic, check out our module on galvanic and stray current corrosion, which is part of our Advanced Marine Electrics program.

Acorn to Arabella – Figuring out Corrosion Issues

Learn how a two-shaft reverse gear for boat engines works with our interactive 3D visualization:How does the Two-Shaft Boat Gearbox work?The input shaft, which is connected to the engine, always turns in the same direction. There are two gears on the input shaft and two gears on the output shaft.  On one shaft (in our case

Two-Shaft Reverse Transmission

Learn how a planetary reverse transmission for boat engines works with our interactive 3D visualization: How does the Planetary Reverse Gear work?The input shaft (bronze color) is connected to the so-called sun gear in the center of the transmission. It is connected to the engine and always turning in the same direction. Two sets of planet gears

Planetary Reverse Transmission

Click here for more articles & videos and here to learn more about our courses.

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