Claims

When a large hole saw is not available, a jig can be constructed using a rod with a scribed circle attachment to mark the elliptical or egg-shaped hole outline on the hull (not circular due to bow flare), which is then manually cut.

Divers cleaning boat hulls underwater receive no protection from electric shock drowning hazards, though the risk is lower in saltwater because they are not significantly more conductive than seawater and will feel only a tingle rather than paralysis.

Bow thruster tubes are supplied by the manufacturer as part of the unit and ordered specifically for each installation, eliminating the need to source compatible tubing separately.

A 'brow' is a deflection structure built on the front side of a bow thruster tube to redirect water flow around the exposed flat back of the tube, or alternatively, the hull can be recessed on the back side to reduce the hard deflection of water hitting the tube.

Most modern bow thruster units are completely sealed without oil reservoirs, eliminating the need to check oil levels or inspect for seal leaks, unlike older or larger units which have oil drain plugs and reservoirs positioned above the waterline.

An accidental DC short directly to a bow thruster case dissolved a bronze lower leg in approximately two days, demonstrating the catastrophic failure mode of direct shorts that manufacturers are concerned about when establishing non-bonding policies.

GFCIs trip between 3-7 milliamps (typically 4-6mA), which is below the 15mA threshold for muscle paralysis but intended to interrupt before paralysis-causing currents can develop.

Even with a good shore ground connection, a ground fault aboard boat will still send some current into the water through the AC/DC grounding connection to the engine, propeller, and shaft because there are two current paths, not a single return path.

The most commonly overlooked seacock and through-hull maintenance item is exercising (operating) the seacock valve at least once per year to ensure it remains operable, as valves that are not actuated regularly may become stuck and non-functional when needed.

Inverters should never be installed in gasoline engine rooms because they are non-ignition-protected devices, even though boat builders specifically designed gasoline engine rooms with ignition protection; diesel engine rooms are acceptable because they don't have the same ignition risk.

Once a boat leaves the factory, the electrical system enters 'the wild west' where previous owners' decisions about risk tolerance and code compliance become inherited by subsequent owners, who often assume everything was done to code but may be living with extremely unsafe conditions created by shortcuts taken for time or money.

Standard alternator wiring (daisy-chained through starter solenoid) is used on 99.99% of boats, cars, and machinery worldwide, but represents suboptimal design because the alternator should have a dedicated unswitched connection directly to the house battery via a fuse to maximize output and reliability.

Cote has installed approximately 500 solar systems on boats and personally installed a solar system on his boat in 2007.

Cote's company has worked on approximately 1,000 boats in the past year, supporting his claim that the insights shared are based on collective field experience rather than theoretical knowledge.