An old adage, which is often written in Latin as ‘Caveat Emptor’, applies to boat buying as much or more than it applies to buying horses. You would be well advised if considering as to whether or not to buy horse to pay for the opinion of a Vet regarding its general fitness. Equally when considering as to whether or not to buy a boat it would be crazy not to pay for the services of a marine surveyor to establish the general condition of the boat. Surveys can be expensive, so it is important to find the right boat first for Boat Search Advice click here.

More often than not the surveyor’s report will point out defects that will enable the buyer to negotiate a reduction in price that will more than compensate for his fee.

When choosing a surveyor it is important to establish firstly that he is properly qualified and secondly that he has professional indemnity insurance. Most qualified British surveyors will have membership in a professional organization, probably the most well known is ‘The Yacht Designers and Surveyors Association’ (YBDSA) Tel: 0044 1730 710425 Website: www.ybdsa.co.uk There are surveyors who belong to other organizations, a simple check on their qualifications and their professional indemnity insurance will establish whether it is safe to use them. To see a list of English speaking surveyors in Portugal click here.

Once you have found a boat that you like, it is important that you discover the following:

That the seller actually owns the boat. If the boat has a British flag and is on the part 1 Register, you can contact the Registry and ask for a transcript of the vessel, for a fee of 12 pounds this transcript will confirm that the person selling the boat has title and whether there are any outstanding mortgages. The situation is not so straightforward if the boat is SSR registered (small ship registry), the SSR is not a title or mortgage register so you cannot establish whether there is a mortgage or debt attached to the boat. The only way of establishing this is by inspection of previous Bills of Sale and by contacting marine finance companies to establish as to whether or not they have any interest in the vessel. Telephone numbers for these organizations can be found in the classified sections of yachting and motor cruising magazines.

Whether the boat owes any money (boats carry their debts with them, even from previous ownership). Nowadays any debts are likely to be marina fees, so asking the previous owner where he has visited or kept the boat over the last two or three years will give you a list of marinas to telephone and you will soon discover if the boat has left a trail of debts behind her.

Whether the boat should comply with The Recreational Craft Directive and if so whether or not she does comply. For more information on this subject please refer to my article in the November issue of On board in The Resident or read that article on my web site under ‘Articles’.

Whether VAT should have been paid on the boat and whether or not it was. If VAT should have been paid the owner should be able to show you a VAT certificate. Boats that were in use prior to 1/1/1985 and in EU waters on 31/12/1992 are not required to have paid VAT. Documentary evidence of this should be in the possession of the seller. A marina contract or a receipt in the vessels name for a berth in an EU marina covering 31/12/1992 is sufficient.

When buying through a Yacht Broker much of the above can be established by the broker, but remember his ‘duty of care’ is first and foremost to the seller. A Brokers role is to market his client’s boat, including arranging viewings, negotiating the terms of the sale including title and finance checks, evidence of VAT having been paid and compliance with the RCD. He is also expected to collect and distribute the sale price. For this service he will usually charge a commission to the seller of about 8%, sometimes less.

There is a ‘Boating Industry Code of Practice’ which states that brokers must receive ‘an undertaking from the seller that he has the power to sell the vessel, without the burden of joint owners, mortgagee, or hire purchase company, attached to the vessel, and that defects have been declared. The broker should also ensure that information given to a purchaser is accurate, and that he has pointed out to the purchaser defects that are known to the seller. Under this code the broker should warn the buyer to check the particulars of the sale and to employ a qualified marine surveyor to carry out a full condition survey. The broker should make certain that the surveyor is entirely independent of the broker and the seller.

Once you have decided to go ahead and buy a boat you should make an offer ‘subject to a satisfactory survey’, you will be expected to pay a deposit – usually about 10% - prior to the survey. If the boat is in the water the surveyor will require her to be lifted out so that he can inspect the hull, skin fittings, anodes and propellers etc. Usually the surveyor will be happy for the boat to be ‘held in slings’ for about an hour for this part of the survey. Marinas often offer a reduction on their normal craning out fee if this is done during lunchtime. The buyer is expected to arrange and pay for this. Should the surveyor discover any serious defects that have not been previously disclosed by either the broker or the seller, the buyer is entitled to negotiate a reduction in his offer or an agreement to have the defects rectified and if buyer and seller are unable to reach an agreement for either a reduction in price or for the defects to be rectified, then the buyer is entitled to withdraw his offer and to receive his deposit back in full.

Going briefly back to horses, exercising caution and taking the trouble to check all the above will prevent you from ‘backing the wrong horse’ and loosing your money if not your shirt!!
If however you have conducted your buying process with care you can look forward with confidence to many years of enjoyable and problem free sailing or motor cruising.

All the books shown in this article can be bought on-line through the RYA website: www.rya.org.uk OR Amazon