100 million US citizens go boating every year.
If you want to join them by purchasing a boat, you should make sure that you understand everything about the marine and boating supplies you will need to purchase.
Read on to learn about some of the most common marine and boating hardware parts.
Marine Hinges and Latches
A hinge is a part that connects two objects but still allows for one or both of the objects to swing open or closed at certain fixed angles. On doors, for example, you can usually find hinges on the opposite side of the door handles. They sit in between the door and the door frame or wall.
Latches are types of hardware that secure objects that can open and close in place. This doesn’t necessarily lock the object closed, but it stops the object from swinging around when an owner wants it to stay shut. Part of the door latch is connected to the door handle and the other part has been fastened to the door frame.
Boat Door Latches
You can often find boat latches on doors. Most of the time, however, you’ll find latches with bars or hooks you must place into holes for sale in boat hardware stores.
These tend to be more secure than the door latches you’d find at home. This feature is crucial to keep your boat doors secure in rough waters.
Hatch Latch
A hatch is a trapdoor on a boat deck. Once people are on a boat, they can open the hatch and access the storage and living quarters below the boat deck. Having a latch on your boat’s hatch will prevent it from flying open in rough winds.
Boat Hatch Lock Replacement
In many cases, marine locks and latches are the same. People can put a padlock on a hatch latch. Other times, boat latch hardware will come with a built-in keyhole.
Having a hatch that locks can be helpful. It will prevent thieves from opening the hatch and stealing items from the storage and/or living space.
Door Locks For Boats
Putting a lock on your boat doors can also prevent thievery. You may think that there isn’t anything to steal in a boat’s cockpit. However, thieves can detach and steal some electronic components from your boat, which they can then sell at a high price elsewhere.
Boat Hatch Hinges
As hatches are doors, they need hinges. If you need a replacement marine hinge for your hatch, try to get one that matches your old one exactly. This will prevent creating new holes in your boat deck to secure the new hinges.
Marine Cam Latch
Do any of the hatches or doors on your boat have a rounded handle that you need to turn to open? You’ve likely found a cam latch. When you need to replace one, make sure to measure the space the old one leaves behind accurately.
Flush Mount Latches Marine Style
Flush mount latches may look similar to cam latches. They also fit into a hole that a manufacturer has made in a door. As such, you should carefully measure the space an old flush mount latch leaves behind before buying a new one.
However, there is one major difference between these two latches. You don’t need to turn flush mount latches to open them. You may need to use a key, though.
Marine Cabinet Latches
The cabinets in your boat’s living space likely won’t have handles like the ones in your kitchen do. If they did, all your dishes and/or food would fall out with the first turn or tilt. Having strong cabinet latches will ensure that your cabinets stay closed when you’re using your boat.
Sliding Door Latch Replacement
Not all boat doors open with hinges. Many boats also have sliding doors. As these can still slide left and right with waves, you may want to add a latch to the door to prevent it from doing this.
Glass Shower Door Hinges
Yes, many boats have showers in their living spaces. If the door of your boat’s shower is made of glass, you must use glass door hinges and not regular door hinges. These hinges hold the glass doors in place with pressure so that you don’t have to drill holes in the glass.
Marine Friction Hinges
Does a lid hang in the air without moving up or down after you open it? That lid likely has friction hinges. These don’t allow lids or doors to move after a person has placed them in a certain place.
This is great on a boat because the movement of the vessel won’t influence the lid or door’s position.
Make sure to keep an eye out for friction hinges on your boat. The manufacturer has likely placed those hinges there for a reason. You may also want to replace existing hinges with friction ones if the movements of lids and doors in waves annoy you.
Boat Cleats and Chocks
Boat cleats and chocks are both used to secure a boat at the dock via a rope. Boaters will tie their ropes around the lower parts of these objects and then tie the other ends to the dock.
Usually, manufacturers will secure cleats and chocks on the top of the outer rim of a boat along with the rails. However, deck cleats also exist.
What makes a boating cleat different from a boating chock and vice versa? A cleat tends to have a shape that looks like a horizontally elongated “T”. Chocks, however, have two wave-shaped sections that face each other.
Pop Up Cleats For Boats
Pop up cleats will rise out of hollow chambers after a person presses down on them. After a person finishes using the cleats, they can press them down again and the cleats will return to their chambers. The chambers keep the cleats safe and they give the vessel a cleaner appearance.
You can replace your current cleats with pop up ones. Keep in mind, though, that you’ll have to make holes in the rim of your boat to do so.
Boat Tie Down Cleats
A tie down cleat for boat rims always stays above the rim of the boat. That way, it’s always ready to go exactly when you need it. Unfortunately, it will also be vulnerable to getting knocked off if something flies at it in a storm.
However, this won’t be too much of an issue if you purchase strong boating cleats. As far as the aesthetic of the boat goes, tie down cleats don’t take away too much.
Small Boat Cleats
It should go without saying that you should get smaller boat cleats if you have a smaller boat. You won’t need as much docking line to tie a smaller vessel down.
However, the size of the cleat you get needs to be more specific than that. There’s a specific ratio that you need to use with cleat length and dock line length. Make sure to look this up so that you’re able to size your cleats correctly.
Marine Hardware for Doors and Windows
Hinges and latches aren’t the only types of hardware you need for your boat’s doors. Some boat doors are sliding ones. Marine sliding door hardware is different from the hardware for a hinged door.
Also, windows require some different hardware when they’re on boats than when they’re in a home.
Boat Sliding Door Track
There are two types of boat sliding door tracks: roller ball and track and truck. Usually, you need the former if you have a heavy sliding door. Also, the roller ball track hardware is usually very strong, so you won’t need to get a sliding door roller replacement often.
Track and truck systems move more smoothly. They’re also more popular, so they’re easier to find and cheaper to purchase. It breaks more often than the roller ball style, but you won’t have trouble finding the replacement parts.
Door Magnet Holder
Sliding doors will often latch to the door frame with a magnetic latch. Depending on the width of a sliding door frame, it may be impossible to have a bar latch.
Luckily, magnetic latches hold a door fairly well. You don’t need to worry about your sliding door sliding around in rough weather.
Replacement Pocket Door Hardware
A pocket door is a door that disappears into a long rectangular hole in the wall which is also called a pocket. Sliding doors on boats often have this setup. Hardware for a pocket door will often include the track, the door frame, and the magnetic latch on the door frame.
Boat Window Rubber Seal Replacement
The edges of the boat windows need to be watertight. This way, water won’t get in and damage your boat’s electronics and upholstery. This isn’t the only thing you can use to waterproof your windows, but it is one good solution.
Marine Fastenings
Marine fasteners are the category of boat hardware that includes items like boat screws. In many cases, you can use the fasteners you’d use on non-marine projects on a water vessel. However, it’s not a good idea to do so.
You see, salt water can corrode metals quickly. Boat fasteners like marine screws ideally have specialized material on them that can prevent this corrosion. Therefore, you need to purchase boat hardware and not just try to replace them with on-land equivalents.
Plug For Boat Drain
It may seem like a bad idea to have a plug at the bottom of a boat. If the plug is missing, won’t water flow into the boat? It will, but taking the plug out of your boat can also help the water drain out.
Your boat will likely take on water from rain and waves crashing over it. This water won’t just weigh your boat down, it can also corrode the inner components of your boat. The easiest way to get that water out once you’re back on land is to take out drain plugs for boats.
So make sure to take out your boat plugs when your boat is dry-docked. You may also lose this part often as it’s small. Luckily, it’s easy to get a boat drain plug replacement when you need one.
Boat Hooks
A boat hook is a long pole with a hook at the end. It’s essential equipment as many boaters will use them to pull their boats into the docks and remove debris and people from the water. When you get boat hooks for your boat, you will likely want convenient hook holders as well.
Handle For Boats
Boat grab handles attach to the side of a boat. They make it easier for people to climb in and out of a boat. If you’re planning on leaping off your boat into the water often, you probably want to add grab handles to your boat.
Replacement Rub Rail For Boat
You can find rub rails sticking out from the surface of the sides of the boat. They should look like thin lines.
Manufacturers install these to protect the sides of a boat. If a boat’s side crashes into something, the rub rail will take the brunt of the hit and not the boat side.
You may need a boat rub rail replacement if your rub rail gets too damaged. You may also want a replacement boat rub rail if you want to upgrade the one you already have on your boat.
Let Us Handle Your Boating Hardware Needs
This list should’ve given you a fairly good overview of the types of boat hardware that you’ll need. However, keep in mind that this list isn’t exhaustive. You’ll probably need to do some further research into boating equipment, gps systems, and other marine products as well.
When you’re ready to purchase marine and boating equipment, check out our options. We often many different types of marine hardware. Get a bulk order discount by contacting the number at the top of this page.