Buying a Boat

where you can ask other boaters their opinion.

When looking for a boat you will want to consider it in terms of:

• Safety
• Physical Condition
• Options and accessories
• Looks
• Performance
• Cost

New vs. Used

A brand, spankin' new boat can be beautiful to look at but you should be aware that it can also have its own problems. Sure it's under warranty and you don't personally have to spend time on maintenance and repairs. However, you can't use the boat when it is in the shop.

I could tell you a long story here but I'll try to keep it short. I was recently employed by a very nice, and very inexperienced, couple to give private lessons on their brand new 42' sportfishing boat. (I will not give the manufacturer's name or that of the broker, who was to prepare and deliver the boat, in order to protect the guilty.)

This was a one-half million dollar boat and the new owners paid the broker $26,000 for prep and delivery, not to mention the $50,000 commission. Needless to say, the two weeks of training turned out to be less than ideal when the boat was continually torn apart to fix one thing after another.

Just to give you a feel for the disaster, some examples were:

• Electronics not installed
• Refrigeration did not work
• Generator would not start
• Boat was delivered with practically no fuel although the contract called for full tanks
• Shaft logs squealed to high heaven
• Stereo did not work
• . . . I could go on but I think you get the point

Needless to say, this couple were on the verge of getting out of boating before they got started. The point is, although a new boat is something

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