We did not do a sea trial, I never have in all the boats we have bought. If you have the boat lifted for a
survey, then that would be an opportunity to have a sea trial detour to check the machinery. If it is a production boat that is all you really need. In that case, the
current owner would be the obvious choice to
skipper. Failing that, I guess the yard doing the
lift could supply a
skipper.
As to how long it takes, usually the logistics for arranging the survey, getting the report and arguing over survey items discount takes the longest. Have always made an offer subject to survey against an agreed
equipment list. Once the final
price is agreed the actual
sale can complete quickly although ours took longer because we had to notorise documents in Croatian etc, but that still only took a few days plus secure
posting of documents. Say all in from initial viewing of boat to completion about 2 months, but it could be much shorter.
You obviously need to be satisfied that your
money is secure and does not vanish before it reaches the vendor, so look into the
broker and things like escrow or buyers broker.
Registration could be an issue, if it as SSR and staying thus you will need the owner to cancel his and start yours. For part 1 I dont know. You may need to take
advice on what you do about the
Safety and
Navigation vignette and sojourn tax, you dont want to be caught without it.