Daily Boats

How To Buy A Yacht

How To Buy A Yacht

If you decided that you are into yachting and would like to buy yourself a yacht for sailing, you would want to know a thing or two about how to buy one. The easy part of the process is where to look for a yacht for sale. You may start right here, on our website. You can also hire a yacht broker who will do all the searching for you, but you will then have to pay him a commission, which can be quite pricey.

The hard part about buying a boat or a yacht is to find a good one to suit all your needs and desires. Here are a few tips on how to see if the boat you are looking at is a good investment.

How To Buy A Yacht

First of all, when you arrive, have a general overview of the yacht. After that, start going into looking at the details. For example, you can see some scratches, which are probably quite easy to fix if it is a steel of a wooden boat, but if it is a polyester boat, start looking for small cracks around fittings. Small spots of rust can be an indication that there may be more problems with the boat. Have a good look at a teak deck as well. See if the rubber is dried out and check the general condition of the teak.

Of course, it is not only looking at the outside of the boat. Especially if you do not use a surveyor, make sure that the boat gets lifted out of the water, because underneath the waterline there might be a lot of things hidden. If there are pairings and bubbles in the hull, this can be a sign of osmosis and mean a very expensive repair job. Another point you should check when buying a boat is a rudder, either on a sailing boat or on a motor boat. For example, give it a good shake and feel if the bottom bearing is in good shape or has worn out. In addition, check in what shape are the zinc anodes. If they are worn out really bad, then this might indicate a problem with the hull.

Once you are inside of the boat, one of the first things you should check is the general impression of the varnish work. Let the water run for a while. This will let you know the quality of the water and how well the sink is working. If there is a refrigerator on a boat, check if the cooling is actually working and if there is any bad smell coming from the inside of the fridge. Check as well the keel bolts for leaks and corrosion. See if the bilge pumps are working properly.

Have a good look at the engine compartment. Since the engine creates a lot of noise, see if the insolation is good enough. While you are down there see if the engine starts immediately when you push the ignition button.

When you take a boat on a test cruise, see if the throttle responds correctly. One of the first things you have to do on a sailing boat is hoisting the sails. See if everything is running smoothly and with no problems. Some boats are equipped with an autopilot, so just to make sure, push the button and see if the electronics are working properly.

The next point is the documentation of the boat. Its a really good idea to print out the brochure about the boat you are standing on. That way you can see on the specification you can see if all the items listed are actually present on the boat. Most shipyards provide the ow ners manual for a boat, so make sure that you have it and can always look through it for any information you need.

Most of the time you will be buying a boat as a private person, so it is really important to know if the VAT (value added tax) has been paid on the boat. Ask the seller of the boat for documents that can prove this. In case the seller did not bring along the sales contract, just ask him to fax it or send a copy by mail. But if you are actually going to buy a boat, make sure you have a real copy in your hands.