Feedback on a software idea

[EarlWer]

You could start with a bunch of Google docs/spreadsheets.
The main page would be YOUR boat and all the related info.

Other pages would include:
General database of parts with xref numbers.
Main systems with maintenance schedules.
Links to other online resources (important to check the links periodically!)

It's easy to control access. Everyone could read but only certain people could edit.
Any of the sheets can be downloaded into a smartphone or laptop.

[EarlWer]

I started a quick Google Sheets shell.
I would recommend that the OP populate the stuff he is concerned about first.

Once we have some useful data, we can add more.

Right now, anyone can edit it. but that can be changed in a few minutes ;-)
You need this link:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets...it?usp=sharing

[Davo666]

Nice work!

[jayarmstrong]

I am a retired computer company owner. The data entry for this would be massive and very very expensive. Yeah one could kick out the software for this but to do all the research and populate the database with data would be an enormous task. Also note that there are usually some pretty substantial changes that go into a boat model through the years. For example, in order to get the data for one model engine of one manufacturer someone would have to go through the manual (on pdf) and populate the database. This would be a www.sailboatdata.com on steriods. Explain to me how you will come up with the money to populate the database. I have a Catalina 470 and to do that for just this boat would take a lot of time. This is what some anal boat owners do like myself. Go through every piece of equipment, every widget on the boat and document and create documentation for reference.

[Davo666]

Originally Posted by jayarmstrong

I am a retired computer company owner. The data entry for this would be massive and very very expensive. Yeah one could kick out the software for this but to do all the research and populate the database with data would be an enormous task. Also note that there are usually some pretty substantial changes that go into a boat model through the years. For example, in order to get the data for one model engine of one manufacturer someone would have to go through the manual (on pdf) and populate the database. This would be a www.sailboatdata.com on steriods. Explain to me how you will come up with the money to populate the database. I have a Catalina 470 and to do that for just this boat would take a lot of time. This is what some anal boat owners do like myself. Go through every piece of equipment, every widget on the boat and document and create documentation for reference.

I agree, a complete listing of every component on every boat would be massive. However, something is better than nothing. (And one termite cannot build a 3m high termite's nest, nor one shipwright a clipper, perhaps apart from Leo!)

[jayarmstrong]

Perhaps if you made it so that the data could be crowd sourced that may be a good direction. Babble is an example where the developers built the platform and then subject matter experts built the material (I think for free). This is like Wikipedia as well.

[psedman]

Originally Posted by Halam

Maybe you can do a deal with some component suppliers and make a commission - even have the parts arrive before they are needed.

That's a good idea, thanks. I had planned to approach the equipment suppliers to ask if they could provide a database of their products so that I can prime my database with pre-existing equipment.

[psedman]

Thanks for all your comments - very interesting. I'm coming away thinking that there is an interest in a system like this and I'm going to give it a go. Worst case it's just some of my time and effort.

I should have put a bit more about my background in my original post. My day job is software development, but like many of you I perform all the maintenance on my boat unless it's very specialist and I don't have the equipment required. In the past I completely refitted my Vancouver 32 cutter including re-wiring, repairing rotten deck core, re-rigging & plumbing. It took me 2 years and when complete I made an Atlantic circuit from the UK to Barbados across to Panama and up to the States.

I currently keep my maintenance records on paper and recently started moving them to spreadsheets.

When I came to sell my Vancouver 32 several years ago, I showed potential purchasers the maintenance records for the boat. The first person to view the boat offered me the asking price and I know this had a lot to do not only with the condition of the boat, but that the maintenance history that had been kept.

Now I've got a bigger boat and more work to do to keep it maintained. I also spend a lot of frustrating time trying to source parts. Even trying to get the correct filters and belts for my Yanmar 3JH5E engine can be challenging and that's why I keep a record of every equivalent filter I've used. This is the motivation for wanting to build the software as I would personally find it very useful, but it would be so much more useful if other boat owners contributed to it and hence that's why I posted the message on this forum.

I'm in the final stages of putting together a wireframe prototype. I plan to record a short video walking through it and if people are interested I could post the link to the video onto this forum when it's complete.

[psedman]

Thanks Jay. Yes, the idea is to make the data crowdsourced. I'd aim to prime the system with as many parts as possible but users can add parts as required.

The system also enables users to share information about how to complete boat jobs, for example how to clean the heat exchanger on a particular engine, and this information is also crowd sourced.

[psedman]

Yes, that's exactly it. I don't expect every piece of equipment to be catalogued but the most important ones would be ... engines for example and the parts that most commonly need replacing and maintaining.

[jhulmer]

YES PLEASE. I have this information for my current and previous boat on my phone as notes. I would love to pass this info on. For example: I have found replacement bearings and seals for my water pump">raw water pump for much less than the marine kits. Many Yanmar engines used in construction equipment share the same parts for less than the marine stamped parts.
Crowd supplied information will naturally evolve into a very useful database.

[EXTangen]

Perhaps if the forum leveraged their buying power, the "preferred suppliers" would understand that being "preferred" meant providing a *.dif file for upload into the forum database. That would put the burden of managing the parts data where it belonged.

[denverd0n]

Originally Posted by bcboomer

The biggest hurdle I see is getting enough people to share their knowledge to make it useful.

This ^^^


I think it's a great idea, and I would certainly give it a try, but I see it as being virtually worthless until you get a "critical mass" of information loaded.


It's a "chicken or egg" situation. It won't be useful to anyone until there is enough information in it, and it won't get the information it needs until a lot of people are using it.


Good luck, in any case.

[psedman]

Originally Posted by Stu Jackson

I think your comparison is quite valid.

I am one of a handful of administrators for our C34 website. The site has been active and growing for more than 25 years. In addition to our original static pages, we added a forum like this one in the early 2000s.

We are concerned with ONE boat, made by ONE manufacturer, who built and sold it from 1986 to 2007 or 2009. There were 1,801 hulls built.

Only two significant changes were made by the factory in all those years. In the mid-90s they modified the topsides of the boat by widening the cockpit and including as walk through transom. The other change was from the original M25 & M25XP engines to the four cylinder M30 & M35 engines. That was it.

But the variety of things folks have done is quite remarkable.

But the recurring requests we used to get about filter equivalents, for example, we thought would stop.

They didn't. Until we taught our respondents to learn how to search!

My point being is that after 23 years of being active on that ONE website for ONE boat has taught me that the idea of what is being proposed is a fool's errand, however good the intentions. And for sure I know it was proposed as a good thing.

In this case, other than wasted time, there is no risk, but no reward either, and not financial. It is simply too big an effort, regardless of how well intentioned it may be.

But have at it. Good luck.

Stu,

Thanks for your comments. Yes, I agree... the problem with a forum based system is that users have to search and read individual posts to find, for example, an equivalent oil filter.

The difference with the system that I'm proposing is that once you've added your particular engine to the list of your boat's equipment then you will provided with the list of spares for that engine. This list of spares can be updated by all users of that engine, irrespective of what boat they have - so should be kept up to date and no need for searching for parts.

Thanks,
Peter

[psedman]

Thanks again for all your comments.

I've put together a form you can use to submit the details of the equipment on your boat. It's completely anonymous and the equipment you submit is logged to a secure database I've set up online. I'll use the data to pre-populate the equipment database once I get it setup.

You can access the form here:

https://boatly-survey.vercel.app

I've provisionally called the project the 'Boatly Maintenance System' as I already own the web domain boatly.com.

My next steps are to:

- record a short presentation of the system prototype which I'll share here

- put together a landing page for the system which will initially display progress on the project, which I'll update regularly with progress.

Thanks again and if you need to contact me directly you can do so at peter.sedman@boatly.com