Inspecting Your New Boat
The viewing, or inspecting your boat is a very
important part of the buying process. Inspecting
will allow you to see what you are buying before
you pay up.
You may want to use a surveyor to do this, as they
will perform a very detailed inspection of the
boat you are interested in. You can be present
if you like, as this will give you the chance to
ask questions.
Although using a surveyor is the best way to do
an inspection, you can do it yourself if you are
experienced and confident enough. There are many
parts of the boat to inspect, which makes it
nearly impossible for beginners.
If you inspect it yourself, make sure you look at
the bottom of the hull, the interior, the control
cables, electrical system, pumps, and be sure
that everything is in working order. If the boat
has been well maintained, you shouldn't have a
problem looking everything over.
The engine should also be checked, as it is a very
important component of the boat. If you don't know a lot
about boat engines or engines in general, you
should get a mechanic to give it the once over. Even if
you do know something about engines, you may want to do
this anyway, as inspecting an engine is a skilled job.
If everything is up to par, it's time to take the boat
out for a test run. Before you fire up the engine, check
to see if it's already warm. If the engine has
trouble starting or smokes when cold, the seller
could have warmed up the engine prior to your
arrival in order to mask any problems.
Check for oil leaks as well, checking the bilges
at the start and end of the test run. When
moving around, see how the boat performs. You
should experiment with hitting the waves from
different angles, looking for any type of roll
or pitch.
Make sure to test all instruments to see that they
are working as they should and then run the engine for a
period of time to see if it overheats.
If you are buying a sail-boat, hoist the sails
and see how the boat performs on wind power
alone. Also, make sure you examine the mast and
how the boat rigs under load.
If the boat you are planning to buy doesn't pass
any of these tests, don't rule it out just yet.
Size up the problem, estmate costs, and if you have
the time and are in a position to spare the
money to get things working, you can beneficially negotiate
the purchase price of the boat.
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