Sea Spark Marine

Home
Ireland
Ireland
Sea Spark Marine

Website Contact the school

Training/ Diagnostic/ Repair of Marine Engines and Electrical systems
Electric | Propulsion Specialist | Consultant

16/10/2026

📅 Upcoming Marine Training Courses: 📅
November + December

⚙️ BASIC MARINE DIESEL ENGINE COURSE
- Sunday 1st November
Dún Laoghaire - Training Centre - Carlisle Pier.

- Wednesday 9th+16th December - 18:30 - 22:00 (2 evenings)
Dún Laoghaire - Training Centre - Carlisle Pier.

🚤 BASIC OUTBOARD ENGINE COURSE
- Sunday 22nd November
Dún Laoghaire - Training Centre - Carlisle Pier.

- Saturday 5th December
Howth Yacht Club, Howth.

⚡ BASIC BOAT ELECTRICS COURSE
* Sunday 25th October
Dún Laoghaire - Training Centre - Carlisle Pier.

- Saturday 14th November
Howth Yacht Club, Howth

- Saturday 28th November
IWAI Dunrovin, Lough Ree, Athlone.

🕐 All 1 day courses 9.00 to 17.00 - includes breaks for coffee and lunch.

ℹ️ More info and booking: https://www.seaspark.ie/contact/

14/10/2026

Still some limited spaces available for our next Outboard Engine Course next Saturday 17th in Dún Laoghaire!

13/10/2026

Fuel tank: full or empty for the winter?
Well here's the eternal controversy.

Shelf life of diesel is nowadays 1 year in optimum conditions. Even worse, shelf life of petrol is only 3 months!!
Modern fuel has bio content which increases its ability to absorb moisture, which is not a good thing... it causes a lot of damage: filters, gaskets, pipes...
Also more moisture increases the chances for diesel bug.

On one hand, filling a tank to the brim reduces the exposed tank surface for condensation to form, as well as reducing the surface area of the existing fuel (diesel bug will grow on fuel surface).

But if you leave you tank as empty as possible, and have fresh fuel next season, you will run on clean dry fresh fuel instead of old one.
The the fuel-water separator should be able to handle the condensation buildup that might come from it.
Plus with ongoing fuel prices, who wants to risk a whole tank to go bad and need to be replaced?

What do you think? Tank full / empty?

Our personal take: empty or as low as possible. It has worked for us for years, but that's just personal experience.

We would love to know what you think!!

12/10/2026

Meet our outboards!

This is part of our setup for the Basic Outboard Engine Course:

⚙️ Malta- 3hp 2 stroke Short shaft Yamaha from the late 80s. Mine since new, I was a lot smaller then!
Very smooth, easy to start, forward and neutral gear but no reverse gear.

⚙️ 5hp Yamaha 2 stroke long shaft. Also late 80s, in my family since then pushing our small sailboat.
This has to be one of the most common engines out there!
A bit harder to start, but has forward neutral and reverse.

⚙️ Yamaha 9.9hp 4 stroke -This one is stripped down in bits on the table to show you the inner workings of a 4 stroke engine.

⚙️ Seagull- Donated for training purposes by Ronan Beirne of Leinster boats (thank you!)
It is a Forty Feather weight from 1967, producing somewhere between 1-2hp, and has direct drive - when it's running it's running!

We will go through specifics and differences, have the chance to locate on them the parts we see in the theory presentation, and later go outside and "play" with them for a while.

Join us for some outboard fun!

Next date:
Saturday 17th October.
Carlisle Pier, Dún Laoghaire.

09/10/2026

Season is over, boats out of the water... and now?
Do you know what to do so your trusted outboard runs happy and without issues next spring?

Just a couple of steps to winterise it, can make a huge difference!

1. Add fuel stabiliser on the last tank of fuel to keep it good till next year. We want to run this fuel+stabiliser through the engine. But remember: next season start with fresh fuel! Old fuel won't do any good!!

2. Run the outboard with fresh water to clear out all the salt from the sea (or dirt build up from inland water ways use)

3. Grease and l**e - as indicated in manual: every engine is different!!

4. Change oil and filters as defined in service schedule. We know... nobody likes reading the manuals... but they are there for a reason!!

5. Coat engine with corrosion protector

And ready for storage!!!

‐-----

Our next outboard engine course is on 17th October and this will be one of the many topics we cover.
Contact us for more information and bookings!

08/10/2026

F.A.Q.
What should I wear to the course?

While there is a lot of seating for theory, it is not all a presentation onscreen. Please wear clothing which you don’t mind getting dirty (it's not the plan but it could happen). Also please leave loose clothing or jewellery at home, it could be caught in moving parts!

Some demonstrations may be outside so plan appropriate clothing for the weather (for the outboard and diesel courses).

(Ana, in the picture, very well dressed at 80's fashion... but probably not the best choice for fixing that clock!)

06/10/2026

Last chance: Basic Marine Diesel Engine Course 14th+28th October in Dún Laoghaire.

Our courses are usually 9 to 5 - a whole day, but this time we are splitting it in two evenings (18.30 to 22.00) to accommodate busier agendas.
We will be closing the bookings tomorrow Wednesday.

If you are interested on getting a deep understanding on your diesel engine, join us!

Starting from the very basics, we will cover many topics as all the components of the system, maintenance,servicing and fault finding, winterising...

Contact us for more info and booking!

05/10/2026

Having fun on the water yesterday for the Kish Challenge onboard our friend's boat Leda.

Not enough wind but what a beautiful family and friends day out before the autumn arrives!

We had to retire (like all the other boats but one!) but there are definitely worse ways to spend a sunny Sunday: out in the water, some spinnaker up, lunch onboard, and getting our tiny sailor getting used to being on boats!! (Almost 9 months, second sail, happy out playing, napping and always smiling!)

02/10/2026

Getting good feedback from our courses means the world to us, as well as seeing the same faces in more than one course.

J.E. sent us a message after she joined us for the Electrics and the Diesel Engine courses:

"Hi Lloyd,

Just a quick note to thank you for providing such helpful courses. Whilst I don’t think I will personally be taking on much of the work on my electrics and engine, I really feel much more confident in approaching the tasks ahead.

I had a bad run of luck (and it is heartening and saddening to hear that I am not alone) in the first year but the couple of rogue individuals I came across in year 1 and 2 are greatly outnumbered by the many more helpful and concerned individuals I have met on the water. I count you amongst the latter group.

Your course material is excellent. Your display of devices and follow up training in use of same is excellent. Your own presentation style is perfect for your audience - a mixture of knowledge, learned experience and anecdotes kept me engaged throughout.

I loved the little Yanmar engine and its great big puffs of smoke. A Chitty Chitty Chitty Bang Bang illustration of much of what we learned during the course. .."

Thank you so much!!!

01/10/2026

Big job yesterday for a special boat!

We serviced twin Honda 150hp engines for this Liffey River sweeping monster.

It was a long day in order to have her back in the water as soon as possible.

Address

Wicklow, Ireland, 0000000
Ireland

Website

http://www.seaspark.ie/, https://forms.gle/7eJKNf1PMw6cK5h98

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Sea Spark Marine posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The School

Send a message to Sea Spark Marine:

Want your school to be the top-listed school/college in Ireland?