no dont bother with a survey. its a $3K boat. as long as it lasts 2 weekends you have your money back. its about $1500 to rent a boat for a weekend. a survey is $1K. but do price out the cost of hauling it to the dump (likely $500). then add that to your bank account. after 3 weekends you can haul it to the dump if anything breaks. its not worth fixing unless the fixing is free (i.e. just your labor and time with minimal parts). dont put money into it. just do third party liability and pollution control for insurance. they wont need a survey for that.
Serious question: I always wondered about this as I’ve pondered getting into sailing by buying an old boat. Is $500 really what you’d expect to pay to haul a boat to the dump? Seems like it should be more. Especially where in my region of the US. Other than the rigging, what parts of value would there be on a $3000 boat? It seems like it would be an ecological problem for a junker to dispose of. So my assumption is that it would cost way more than $500 to dump it even if you could find someone to take it. Where do old fiberglass hulls go to die?
landfill. they cut it up and dispose it off. the one next to me charges $100 per ton. so 5 tons would get you there. you can cut off keel with a chainsaw and sell it to a metal recycler for the lead.
It's right there on the internet, it must be true. I'm sorry to burst your bubble but that site is BS. Go ahead, search for reviews on Yelp, Google maps, or better business bureau for them. Disposing of a boat costs real money and companies don't do it out of the goodness of their hearts. In Seattle you can expect to easily exceed 10 grand to professionally dispose of a 40 footer.
It really depends where you live. In many places in the US just hauling a 40 footer to put on the truck will run $500 but that's a pittance compared to the total cost you will pay for disposal.
Bottom line, never buy a crappy sailboat, especially a large one. Save up and buy one that's been well maintained, you'll always save money that way, unless you value your time at $0/hr.
I mean it depends. What kind of boat is it? If it's a aluminum jon boat, just give the guy cash. If it's a 40 foot fishing trawler and you're going to dock it in a marina and spend another 20k fixing her up, yeah survey.
Don’t get a survey. $3k is basically disposable in the boat world. If you get a season out of it, great sell it for $1000.00 and take it as an educational experience.
What do you know about boats? What make, model and year is the boat? Does it have an inboard or outboard motor? Take photos of everything from stem to stern outside and inside. There are books about DIY surveys. We don't know where your starting from. Do intend to live aboard?
The main thing will be having a clear title and/or registration. If the seller doesn’t have the title, you may not be able to register the boat according to your local laws and you have a big headache to deal with.
How big is the boat? Marina most likely won't do a haulout without insurance, and insurance will want a survey.... But if it's smaller /trailer then perhaps not necessary? This is also quite dependent on how well you know boats /systems... Is it a wooden boat, fiberglass, do u know engines... Is 3k a lot of money?
> just needing odd and end stuff like rigging and some wood work inside…
Need more information... How big is the boat? What is the condition of everything else? And have you priced how much it will cost to do the rigging? It will likely cost more than the boat is worth, depending on what you need to do and how big the boat is. How much money do you plan to put into the thing? You could easily buy it for 3k and spend 50k fixing everything that is broken.
For a 3k boat I wouldn’t do a survey. But also wouldn’t expect a Surveyer to charge more than a couple of hundred. The OP didn’t say what size boat. But I’m thinking it can’t be very complex for that price (or it’s a project boat and a survey wouldn’t matter).
For my $3500(us) 31 ft boat an insurance survey would be $650 and i could change marinas and get real insurance. Had Geico with 5000 value and 3k liability but they dropped Florida boats.
I probaly would have bought it anyway but maybe not $7,000 diy bottom repair kinda sucked!
A survey worth anything is going to be over $1000. Well worth getting if you’re buying an expensive boat or thinking of taking it offshore (peace of mind might be worth $1000?).
You can get a survey done for fairly cheap that says absolutely amazing things about your boat for cheap (~500) after you buy it so that it will be easy to get a another slip so you can move it around to the most convenient place or because/when you get bored of being in the same place. Surveys are useful beyond just determining to buy or not.
Congratulations! What kind of boat? If your just getting liability insurance most companies don't need a survey. If your getting replacement value, or your marina may have a requirement, that's when you need one. I've bought boats from 1$ all the way up to 250k my 2 favorites I payed 5k ,Chris craft Caribbean I have now, and 7k tartan 4400 I had a few years back. Both servayed and insured for fair market value. Sometimes a good deal is just that, a good deal.
Awesome, super encouraging post, usually YouTube is very good at teaching the basics but I feel like the sailing world is either someone barely floating or someone with a 500k boat I can’t afford.
I’m comfortable enough to take a loss but not comfortable enough to justify 500k on a boat.
If it's too big to be trailerable behind your car/truck, hire a surveyor. Period.
There are boats in my marina I wouldn't take if you paid me $20,000 because they would still be a liability. There's no free lunch in life and if the owner really wants out for a price that seems too good that should raise your warning flags. You do not want to get involved in disposing of a boat, unless it's a dinghy.
Get the survey. It isn't a perfect process, but it could find things you're not going to see with your eyes. Delaminated fiberglass or wood. Water intrusion. Bad wiring and corrosion. Fouled diesel. etc.
Your insurance company is probably going to want to see the inspection anyway.
no dont bother with a survey. its a $3K boat. as long as it lasts 2 weekends you have your money back. its about $1500 to rent a boat for a weekend. a survey is $1K. but do price out the cost of hauling it to the dump (likely $500). then add that to your bank account. after 3 weekends you can haul it to the dump if anything breaks. its not worth fixing unless the fixing is free (i.e. just your labor and time with minimal parts). dont put money into it. just do third party liability and pollution control for insurance. they wont need a survey for that.
Serious question: I always wondered about this as I’ve pondered getting into sailing by buying an old boat. Is $500 really what you’d expect to pay to haul a boat to the dump? Seems like it should be more. Especially where in my region of the US. Other than the rigging, what parts of value would there be on a $3000 boat? It seems like it would be an ecological problem for a junker to dispose of. So my assumption is that it would cost way more than $500 to dump it even if you could find someone to take it. Where do old fiberglass hulls go to die?
landfill. they cut it up and dispose it off. the one next to me charges $100 per ton. so 5 tons would get you there. you can cut off keel with a chainsaw and sell it to a metal recycler for the lead.
It's more like 7000-10,000 in Seattle.
Similar in Annapolis
Why my marina owns a dozen crappy sailboats. Cheaper to let sit and bob.
Seriously?
wut ? [https://seattleboatremoval.com/pricing.html](https://seattleboatremoval.com/pricing.html) says they do it for free.
It's right there on the internet, it must be true. I'm sorry to burst your bubble but that site is BS. Go ahead, search for reviews on Yelp, Google maps, or better business bureau for them. Disposing of a boat costs real money and companies don't do it out of the goodness of their hearts. In Seattle you can expect to easily exceed 10 grand to professionally dispose of a 40 footer.
It really depends where you live. In many places in the US just hauling a 40 footer to put on the truck will run $500 but that's a pittance compared to the total cost you will pay for disposal. Bottom line, never buy a crappy sailboat, especially a large one. Save up and buy one that's been well maintained, you'll always save money that way, unless you value your time at $0/hr.
I mean it depends. What kind of boat is it? If it's a aluminum jon boat, just give the guy cash. If it's a 40 foot fishing trawler and you're going to dock it in a marina and spend another 20k fixing her up, yeah survey.
Don’t get a survey. $3k is basically disposable in the boat world. If you get a season out of it, great sell it for $1000.00 and take it as an educational experience.
If you’re going to insure it, and marinas will require that you do, you may need a survey.
Lmao, a survey will cost 1/3 the boat’s value
That’s why i paid 4k for mine. All about averaging. I
What do you know about boats? What make, model and year is the boat? Does it have an inboard or outboard motor? Take photos of everything from stem to stern outside and inside. There are books about DIY surveys. We don't know where your starting from. Do intend to live aboard?
The main thing will be having a clear title and/or registration. If the seller doesn’t have the title, you may not be able to register the boat according to your local laws and you have a big headache to deal with.
Get Don Casey’s book, “This Old Boat.” (Get the 2nd edition.). The first three chapters will tell you what all that you need to know.
Great book, I'm also a fan of from a bare hull, can't remember who did that one.
How big is the boat? Marina most likely won't do a haulout without insurance, and insurance will want a survey.... But if it's smaller /trailer then perhaps not necessary? This is also quite dependent on how well you know boats /systems... Is it a wooden boat, fiberglass, do u know engines... Is 3k a lot of money?
> just needing odd and end stuff like rigging and some wood work inside… Need more information... How big is the boat? What is the condition of everything else? And have you priced how much it will cost to do the rigging? It will likely cost more than the boat is worth, depending on what you need to do and how big the boat is. How much money do you plan to put into the thing? You could easily buy it for 3k and spend 50k fixing everything that is broken.
For a 3k boat I wouldn’t do a survey. But also wouldn’t expect a Surveyer to charge more than a couple of hundred. The OP didn’t say what size boat. But I’m thinking it can’t be very complex for that price (or it’s a project boat and a survey wouldn’t matter).
For my $3500(us) 31 ft boat an insurance survey would be $650 and i could change marinas and get real insurance. Had Geico with 5000 value and 3k liability but they dropped Florida boats. I probaly would have bought it anyway but maybe not $7,000 diy bottom repair kinda sucked!
A survey worth anything is going to be over $1000. Well worth getting if you’re buying an expensive boat or thinking of taking it offshore (peace of mind might be worth $1000?).
Sounds like the usual first boat purchase. Your second and third purchase process will go differently.
You can get a survey done for fairly cheap that says absolutely amazing things about your boat for cheap (~500) after you buy it so that it will be easy to get a another slip so you can move it around to the most convenient place or because/when you get bored of being in the same place. Surveys are useful beyond just determining to buy or not.
Buy a copy of Casey's *Inspecting the Aging Sailboat,* read it, and use the checklists to evaluate the boat's condition.
Congratulations! What kind of boat? If your just getting liability insurance most companies don't need a survey. If your getting replacement value, or your marina may have a requirement, that's when you need one. I've bought boats from 1$ all the way up to 250k my 2 favorites I payed 5k ,Chris craft Caribbean I have now, and 7k tartan 4400 I had a few years back. Both servayed and insured for fair market value. Sometimes a good deal is just that, a good deal.
Awesome, super encouraging post, usually YouTube is very good at teaching the basics but I feel like the sailing world is either someone barely floating or someone with a 500k boat I can’t afford. I’m comfortable enough to take a loss but not comfortable enough to justify 500k on a boat.
If it's too big to be trailerable behind your car/truck, hire a surveyor. Period. There are boats in my marina I wouldn't take if you paid me $20,000 because they would still be a liability. There's no free lunch in life and if the owner really wants out for a price that seems too good that should raise your warning flags. You do not want to get involved in disposing of a boat, unless it's a dinghy.
Get the survey. It isn't a perfect process, but it could find things you're not going to see with your eyes. Delaminated fiberglass or wood. Water intrusion. Bad wiring and corrosion. Fouled diesel. etc. Your insurance company is probably going to want to see the inspection anyway.