l know they wax the boats, varcnish and maintain the teack, l dont know a lot about the engines or boat electronics. but what other types of boat maitinence can l start on as a newbie. what are some good skills to learn to start working with boats?

You should take a class on boat or automotive electronics so you will be in demand to trouble shoot electrical problems for boat owners.

Learn how to do wiring. Learn about the tarps they have zippers and need replacing often. We also haul them out of the water to be scraped and painted. Alot of people also take their boats out and winterize them, plastic wrap or dry storage. Good Luck

As most mentioned if u were hired on by a Marina, u would be the lowest of low, a hired hand.

That means to get up on into the pay scale, u get sent to do a LOT of labor intensive & VERY dirty work for very pathetic pay. As u build experience & abilities in working with equipment & such, u might gain enough experience to be a marine mechanic is assistant. Then its a long crawl to being good enough to earn an apprenticeship where u really get to work on boats & still earn crappy pay.

If u prove yourself in the Apprenticeship to be good enough, u could be sent to a certified marine mechanic school (Merc/OMC/etc.) to get ur Mercury or OMC tech certification. That is when u start earning the real money.

My best advice is to focus in on getting hired by a boat dealership or a boat service shop & work ur way up. If marine mechanic is ur goal, aim directly for getting certified by Mercury and/or OMC.

l have a yacht care business in Florida. l have hired people with no experience, as long as they r willing to work. So, go to the Yacht clubs/marinas in ur area & when u see someone washing or waxing a boat, ask if they r hiring. You can also look in the yellow pages for boat washing/waxing ads. Washing, waxing & oiling teak r easy to learn. Boat yards r another way to go but it is hard dirty work pressure cleaning & scraping & sanding bottoms but it is usually full time.

Go to a marina, yacht club or boat yard and ask around. Be honest, tell people you're willing to learn, that you can do what you're shown. If you see someone doing maintenance, ask if they would like some help. Sanding and varnishing is labor intensive, but if you get good at it you will get a reputation and will always be in demand. Good Luck!

start with my boat or go to a local marina and ask for a job