Buying a boat: what to check before you hand over the money

The best question to ask before buying any boat is not "is this a good boat" but "is this a good boat for what I will actually do with it". Most regret in boat ownership comes from that mismatch rather than from a bad hull.

Start with the honest use case

How many days a year will it get used, who will be aboard, and where. A boat bought for offshore trips that spends every weekend in the Broadwater is the wrong boat, and so is a bay boat bought by someone who wants to go to the reefs.

Be realistic about the crew too. A boat that needs two competent people to berth it is a different commitment from one you can handle alone, and that is a bigger factor in how often a boat gets used than almost anything else.

And be realistic about where it will live. A marina berth, a swing mooring and a trailer are three different ownership experiences with three different running costs and three different maintenance patterns.

The hull and structure

Look for repairs before you look for damage. Fresh gelcoat in an odd place, a patch of paint that does not match, filler around a fitting. These tell you where the boat has been hurt. A repair is not a problem on its own; an undisclosed repair is.

On a fibreglass hull, tap around the transom and the deck for a dull note that suggests moisture in the core. On aluminium, look hard at welds and at any point where dissimilar metals meet. On timber, get a surveyor before you get emotionally attached.

Check the through-hulls and the skin fittings. Seized or corroded valves are common, cheap to fix and a good indicator of how the rest of the boat has been maintained.

Engine and drivetrain

Hours matter less than how those hours were run and whether they were serviced. A diesel with 2,000 gentle hours and a full service history is a better proposition than one with 600 hard ones and no records.

Ask for the service folder. Look at the impellers, the filters and the anodes, because those three tell you whether the owner did the routine work. Our engine and steering range covers the service parts worth carrying as spares once the boat is yours.

Start it cold. A cold start tells you far more than a warm one, and a seller who has run the engine before you arrive is either being helpful or is not.

Check the steering through its full travel and look for play. Hydraulic helms leak slowly and quietly.

Electrics, which is where the money hides

Marine electrics are the most common source of post-purchase cost, and the easiest thing to assess badly because most of it is behind a panel.

Open the panel and look. Tidy, labelled, fused wiring in marine-grade tinned cable tells you the boat has been worked on properly. A nest of automotive cable and household connectors tells you the opposite, and it will cost you.

Check every light and every switch works. Check the battery setup: whether the house and start banks are separated, and whether there is a charger and a monitor. A boat with a single battery running everything is a boat that will strand you eventually. Our battery and charging range covers what a sensible setup looks like.

Look at the bilge pump and its float switch, and at whether the wiring to it is fused and above the waterline. Our bilge pumps range is there for the frequent answer, which is that it needs replacing.

Ground tackle and safety gear

Almost every used boat comes with an anchor that is too small and a rode that is too short, because the previous owner never anchored in anything difficult. Budget to replace it. Anchoring and mooring covers anchors, chain, warps and snubbers.

Safety equipment is usually the most out of date thing on the boat. Flares expire, inflatable lifejacket cylinders and firing heads expire, and an EPIRB has a battery life. Check every date before you take delivery, not after. Carriage requirements vary by vessel and waters, and Maritime Safety Queensland publishes the current rules. Our boat safety gear and lifejackets ranges cover the replacements.

Get a survey

On anything beyond a small trailer boat, pay for an independent survey. It is the cheapest insurance in the transaction and it gives you either a clean conscience or a negotiating position.

Go on the sea trial and drive the boat yourself. Berth it if the seller will let you. How a boat handles at low speed in a breeze is something no survey report will tell you and something you will live with every single trip.

Where we come in

We run a brokerage from the marina at Southport Yacht Club alongside the chandlery, which means we see both sides of this. You can browse what we have on the water on our boats for sale page.

If you are looking at a boat somewhere else and want a second opinion on what you are seeing, come and ask. We would rather give you an honest read than sell you the wrong boat.