Survey a boat

S

shore power

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Sep 19, 2004
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I'm going to Florida for a few months, while there I want to look at a trawler. I like the looks of the boat but have never been out on one.Is it possible to go out on the boat before having a survey. Also if you are dealing with the sellers broker is there any thing I should do for my protection in setting up the contract. Tom
 
When I bought mine in Florida, I flew down and met the owner who took me out for a ride before I hired a surveyor. If I didn't like the boat, why should I waste money on a surveyor.

Make sure you contract clearly states that sale is conditioned on a satisfactory survey.
 
Tom, Mike has given you very good advice. Like he stated insure the purchase is contingent upon satisfactory survey and sea-trial before you move forward. Please let me know if i can be of any further help to you as well.
 
You can look at a boat before you sign anything. If they say no you can't, then go look elsewhere.
If I were you, I would look at 3 or more of the same model boats in the same general area, then
go from there. Some may have more than you want, at the same price range.
 
If you are dealing with a private seller your request may not be a problem. However, if dealing with a broker he/she will likely want to see a good faith deposit before allowing a sea trial. They don't want to be taking people for boat rides everyday without some form of committment. I can tell you from experience when we had a boat for sale through a broker and learned after the fact that he had taken the same "prospect" and his "friend who knows boats" out for 3 different rides of about an hour each without an agreement or deposit in hand. That was about 75 gallons of my fuel, etc and the guy didn't buy or even call for a survey. The "prospect" had nothing invested in the effort and walked because he said his wife told him he wasn't allowed to buy a boat. I learned my lesson and I taught the broker one as well.
 
I would look for a buyers broker to help you with everything since you are dealing with this long distance. Your broker can look at it and take a ton of photos to send you before you waste time doing it yourself. They can also find comps in the area and what they have sold for and possibly some still for sale. Along with vessel survey I would also recommend an engine survey w/ oil samples. Also, take the engine serial numbers and send to the manf. to get information on the units.

Just my .02 from recent experience.
 
The broker that I bought through last summer considered a 6 hour drive to look at the boat to be enough of a commitment for a sea trial. No money exchanged hands until the day of the sale that was three weeks after the initial look and sea trial.
 
If someone was looking at my boat and wanted oil and antifreeze samples, completely looked over the boat,
spent time, travel and money checking it out, I wouldn't feel any issues with going out for a short ride.
Not a sea trial type ride, but a ride so they could see if they liked the boat or not.
I'd hate to sell my boat to anyone who regretted it later. Especially in this market.
I looked at 2 boats. The owner of the first boat took me and the broker out for a ride.
Second boat, owner, my wife and I took it out for about an hour ride. We really liked the boat. He said
he was satisfied with the way I handled the boat and let us take it out for a day. Just the wife and I.
When I got back, we hauled her and pressure washed the bottom. Liked what I saw and then we started the
paperwork.
Boat was old and had small issues, but we were able to make a deal.
 
Thank you all for the information I will be calling his broker to find out what we can set up. Tom
 
If you are looking to buy a boat long distance, I second the idea of a buyer's broker. I was living in Texas and the boats I was interested in were primarily in the Great Lakes, Chesapeake, and eastern and western Florida. I had three guys spread around to cover those areas, and made a point of buying them meals and covering some expenses until I bought, because obviously two of them were getting left out. It also showed them I was serious. Really worked out well, saving me a bunch of time and needless travel.
 
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