Survey and Insurance for a cheaper boat

[mow2000]

I plan on buying an older 25' to 28' boat in the $2500 to $5k range. At the moment i'm reading a book on surveying boats so i can do some weeding out. Do people normally get a survey on boats in this price range? I will probably only get liability insurance (i assume this is possible on an older, cheaper boat). Would a survey be required for this? THANKS. Mark.

[Allan S]

We didn't get a survey done for our $2500 boat. It is not that we were marine experts or anything. We looked it over and saw what work needed to be done and the seller was quite forthcoming about its flaws. We had no surprises and got a great season of sailing in before we tackled the problems. We still are tackling the problems,lol.

I am NOT advocating against surveys, it's just that at our investment on our test/training boat the cost of a survey was not worth the expence. BTW, it turns out my wife is a fanatic about sailing.....she is always scouring the internet at 35 to 40 foot boats!!!!

Allan

[nautical62]

When I purchased cruising boats in the 10-17K range, I didn't get a survey and went with Liability only coverage. I felt the systems and other potential issues were simple enough, I could do a fairly good job assessing them myself. I ended up redoing most of the electrical and plumbing anyways. With liability only coverage, no insurance survey was necessary. I have no regrets I went that way.

On the other hand, the professional surveyors can pick up something important you may have missed.

You should check with potential insurance carrier's ahead of time, but otherwise, it's a matter of what you are comfortable with.

[S/VSkylark]

I recently bought a '69 CAL in the $7,000 range without a survey. When I went to purchase liability insurance, none of the carriers would insure it without a recent survey. All stated that the age of the boat required it.
I agree with nautical62 that you should check with your carrier ahead of time.