Boating Information
Information on buying a boat and boating
Getting Started With Boating
Reasons To Buy A Boat
Costs Of Owning A Boat
Finance a boat
Financing A Boat
Cash Or Finance For Your Boat
Buying Boat Insurance
Types and Sellers
Types Of Boats Available
Types Of Boat Sellers
How to find a boat
Finding The Perfect Boat
Inspecting Your New Boat
Choosing The Right Boat
How To Test A Boat
Buying A New or Used Boat
Buying A Used Boat
Types of Boats
Buying A Yacht
Custom Built Boats
Buying Inflatable Boats
Buying A Fishing Boat
Buying The Right Fishing Boat
Misc
Choosing The Right Motor
Buying The Right Anchor
Trailers and Storage
Buying A Boat Trailer
Towing or Trailering a Boat
After Your Boat Purchase
Storing Your Boat
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How to test a boat for problems
When you believe you have found the boat you want it's time to test it. Boat testing is more than just taking it out for a quick cruise. You need to look at everything closely just as someone who tests boats for a living would do.
It can be really hard to tell a great quality boat or vessel from one that will have problems later. To a person new to boating or even someone with some experience both can look good on the surface of it but when you start to check everything out with a thorough inspection you should be able to tell a great boat from a not so great boat.
You can get a real good idea of the construction of the boat by opening all of the doors and access panels and taking a good look. If it's a bigger boat check out the anchor locker because this is a spot where some people/companies really try to cut corners. If they have you will probably find them in this area.
Looking at the anchor storage area lets you get a good look at the hull to the deck joints. If there is any light coming thru or if you can see thru the fiberglass it usually means the boat is of poor construction and you want to stay away from it as you will have problems that are very expensive to fix.
Be sure you put your boat through a very thorough visual inspection. It's also very important to conduct some tough tests on the water when testing the boat. A private seller or even a dealer will want to use a few tricks to make sure the boat performs very well when you test it. Test it hard to find ny of the tricks they might have used.
Most times this means a gas tank about empty, no extra gear and no passengers plus keeping the boat in as calm a water as possible. You really need to insist on a more realistic test. Think of your test as an actual day you'll be spending out on the lake or ocean and you will be able to tell if the boat is something you should spend your hard earned money on.
While doing your testing on the water you need to figure out if the boat performs the way you expect it to. If it travels at the right speed, whether it can do everything you plan to do with it after you pay for it.
During test driving the boat put it through all of the things you can think of in open water. If testing a boat for the ocean bring along a bucket so you can throw some water on the deck. The boat you want to use offshore should get rid of the water, thru the scuppers, very quickly instead of pooling water in the bow and draining slowly. This pooling i the bow can be very dangerous if you get into some rough conditions.
If a dealer or seller doesn't like any of the requests you have or any of the test you want to make forget that boat and go look for a different one. There are a lot of great boats out there. Be very sure you have checked everything closely before you decide to buy any boat.
Boating information you need before you get a new boat
Buying a new or used boat, how to decide.
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