Buying a Boat Abroad: What You Need to Know
Buying a boat abroad can give you access to a much wider choice of boats. From the Mediterranean to Northern Europe and beyond, buyers can find boats in different countries, at different prices and with specifications that may not be readily available in their local market. However, buying internationally also brings additional considerations. You may need to travel to view the boat, communicate with an overseas broker, arrange a survey, negotiate in a different market and organise transport back to your chosen destination. With the right preparation, buying abroad can be a straightforward process. Why Buy a Boat Abroad? One of the biggest advantages of looking internationally is simply having more choice. The boat you are looking for may be located in another country. Restricting your search to your local market could mean overlooking boats that better match your requirements. Different countries can also have different concentrations of particular makes, models and types of boat. For buyers looking for a specific specification, age or layout, expanding the search internationally can therefore make sense. The Location of the Boat Matters Before travelling to view a boat, consider exactly where it is located. A boat may appear attractive online, but travelling several hundred miles or flying to another country for a viewing can involve considerable time and expense. It is therefore worth establishing as much information as possible before arranging a viewing. This includes the boat’s specification, history, current location and any information available about its condition. A more focused approach can help avoid unnecessary journeys. Arrange an Independent Survey A survey is an important consideration when purchasing a used boat, particularly when you are buying one located overseas. An independent marine survey can provide additional information about the boat’s condition and identify areas that may require further investigation. Go Earth Boating can help buyers arrange surveys as part of the purchasing process. Having the survey carried out before completing the purchase gives you additional information when deciding whether to proceed. Understanding the Negotiation The asking price of a boat is not necessarily the final price. Different markets can have different expectations around negotiation, and the process can become more complicated when you are dealing with an overseas broker or seller. Go Earth Boating can negotiate on your behalf. Having someone representing you during negotiations can also make the process easier when you are not familiar with the local market or do not want to manage the discussions yourself. Getting the Boat Home Once you have purchased the boat, there is still the question of getting it to where you want it. Depending on the boat, its location and your destination, there may be several options available. These can include specialist road transportation or delivery by sea. The correct option will depend on the size and type of boat, its location, the destination and the practical requirements of the journey. Go Earth Boating can assist with arranging transportation after the purchase. Don’t Forget the Practical Details International boat purchases can involve more practical considerations than buying locally. You should consider matters such as: Where the boat is currently located How you will travel to view it Arranging an independent survey Communication with the seller or broker Negotiating the purchase Organising payment and documentation Transporting the boat Where the boat will be based after purchase The exact requirements will depend on the circumstances of each purchase. This is why planning the process before committing to a boat is important. One International Search, One Buyer-Focused Service Searching internationally does not have to mean managing dozens of different websites, brokers and suppliers yourself. Go Earth Boating works exclusively for boat buyers and searches the worldwide market for boats that meet your requirements. We can support buyers through key stages of the purchase, including identifying suitable boats, arranging surveys, negotiating with sellers and organising transport. This means you can consider boats further afield without having to manage every part of the process alone. Your Next Boat Could Be Somewhere Else The right boat for you may not be in your local marina, or even in your own country. Looking further afield can significantly increase the number of boats available to you, particularly when you have specific requirements. If you are considering buying a boat internationally, Go Earth Boating can help you search the worldwide market and manage the buying process from the initial search through to transport. With a budget of £100,000 or more, speak to Go Earth Boating about your requirements and discover what could be available beyond your local market.
Why a Specialist Boat Buyer’s Agent Can Save You Time, Money and Hassle
Buying a boat for £100,000 or more is a significant investment. With so much money involved, finding the right boat is only part of the challenge. You also need to consider where to search, which boats are worth viewing, how to assess their condition, what price to offer and how to get the boat to its new destination. For many buyers, managing all of this independently can take considerable time and effort. This is where a specialist boat buyer’s agent can help. A Wider Search The boat you are looking for may not be located close to home. Suitable boats can be advertised across different countries, websites and brokerages. Searching one website or limiting yourself to a particular area could mean missing potential options. Go Earth Boating searches the worldwide market according to your requirements. Rather than starting with one particular boat, we start by understanding what you are looking for and then identify suitable options. This gives you a broader choice while reducing the amount of time you need to spend searching yourself. Fewer Boats to Waste Time On Not every boat that looks suitable in an advert will be right for you. Specifications, equipment, location, condition and intended use all need to be considered before arranging a viewing. Our role is to help narrow down the options so that your time can be focused on boats that meet your requirements. This can be particularly useful when viewing boats involves travelling significant distances or visiting another country. Professional Support During Negotiations Negotiating the purchase price can be one of the more difficult parts of buying a boat. A buyer may be unsure how much to offer, how to respond to a counteroffer or how to approach negotiations with a broker or seller. Go Earth Boating negotiates on behalf of the buyer. Having an experienced representative handling these discussions means you do not have to manage every conversation yourself. Help With Surveys A boat can look excellent during a viewing while still requiring further investigation. An independent marine survey can provide additional information about the boat’s condition before you commit to the purchase. Go Earth Boating can help arrange surveys as part of the buying process. The findings can then be considered when deciding whether to proceed with the purchase and whether any issues should be reflected in negotiations. Transport After the Purchase Buying the boat is not necessarily the final challenge. If your chosen boat is located hundreds or even thousands of miles from where you want to keep it, you will need to arrange transportation. Depending on the boat and destination, this could involve road transport, sea delivery or other specialist arrangements. Go Earth Boating can help organise transportation, giving you support beyond the point at which the purchase agreement is completed. One Service Instead of Managing Everything Yourself Without a buyer’s agent, you may find yourself coordinating multiple stages independently. You could be searching listings one day, contacting brokers the next, arranging a survey afterwards and then trying to organise transport once the purchase has been agreed. Go Earth Boating brings these stages together under one buyer-focused service. Our support can include: Searching for suitable boats Comparing available options Arranging viewings Assisting with surveys Negotiating purchases Helping with transport Supporting the buying process through to completion A Service Designed Around the Buyer Go Earth Boating acts exclusively for boat buyers. Our job is to help you find and purchase a boat that fits your requirements. We are not trying to sell you a particular boat from our own inventory. Instead, we search the wider market and help you assess the options available. This buyer-focused approach means the process starts with what you want from your boat. Save Time. Reduce Hassle. Buy With Support. The right boat can take time to find. Searching the international market, arranging viewings, organising surveys, negotiating a purchase and arranging transport can become a substantial project. A specialist buyer’s agent can take much of that work off your hands. Go Earth Boating helps buyers throughout the process, from the initial search to getting their boat to its destination. If you are looking to purchase a boat with a budget of £100,000 or more, contact Go Earth Boating to discuss your requirements and find out how our buyer’s agent service can help make your next boat purchase simpler.
The Cost of Running a Boat
One question we often get asked is “How much will it cost me to run my boat?” While some people worry that owning a boat is like throwing money into a hole in the ocean, a sensible approach to understanding and managing costs will keep them at a reasonable level. Just like owning a car, having a boat comes with running costs, and the key is to understand and manage them so they stay comfortably within your budget. This article provides a useful framework for doing just that. Rule of thumb It’s nice to get a simple answer to the cost question – If you want a simple answer, we would say budget between 6% and 10% of the purchase cost for annual running costs, excluding depreciation. This is an over-simplified answer but maybe it’s a good starting point. In a nutshell, if you can afford the purchase price, you can probably afford the running costs If you want a method of getting a fuller, more accurate answer, then read on… Categories of running costs Of course, you are interested in the level of costs. However, we recommend that you also categorise your costs by two criteria, which we call predictability and controllability. These are related but different; and this article looks at these two factors. Predictable costs are costs that you know with a reasonable degree of certainty in advance. For example, berthing costs are typically so much per metre, per year. You know the size of your boat and you can do the math, and so these costs are highly predictable. They are even predictable for several years in advance, as berthing costs are likely to rise only by about the rate of inflation. Many other costs fall into this “predictable” category, such as insurance costs etc. Some other costs may have only a medium degree of predictability. Fuel costs per litre are one example. They may certainly rise or fall, but are unlikely to halve overnight. Controllable costs are unsurprisingly, costs that you can control yourself. Total annual fuel costs are a good example of this. You can get them down to zero by not going out in your boat; although this is not an approach we would recommend. The nautical miles you travel and the speed you go at (and hence fuel consumption) are all fully controllable by you. Their predictability depends on how certain you are about how far you will travel in the coming year. Therefore, in the table below, they are shown in each of High, Medium and Low Predictability. On the other hand, your annual berthing costs have, at best, medium controllability. Given the size of your boat, the marina will charge you their rate, and there is not much you can do about it if you want to stay at that marina. Telling fibs to the marina about the size of your boat doesn’t work. They know the size of most boats – sorry folks! However, you do have some control, as you could move to a cheaper marina, change to a mooring instead of a berth or even move to a trailer. Some marinas even offer a park and ride system, whereby boats up to a certain size are dry-stacked out of the water – this is typically at a much lower cost than a traditional berth. If you think about your costs in this way – predictability and controllability – you will have greater understanding of how costs could behave, and therefore be able to much more easily manage your budget. The numbers Of course, you now need to know the specific numbers to attach to the various costs. These are so variable as it depends very much on the type of boat. For example, a superyacht probably has crew recruitment, selection, retention, salary, and various on-costs to take into account. For the typical boater, this is not an issue – other than the need to supply the occasional G+T to willing volunteers who assist with berthing and other crewing activities. At Go Earth Boating we can help you draw up a realistic budget for running cost for any proposed boat. Specific costs Be aware that certain types of boating have specific costs associated with them. In particular boating on a canal or river typically requires an annual license and a Boat Safety Certificate every four years. Also, steel hulled boats require blacking; and fibreglass boats require anti-fouling if kept in the water. Sailing yachts have rigging costs that do not apply to powerboats. These rigging costs depend in part on how energetically the yacht has been used and the stresses on the mast. Defraying costs There is another way in which you can reduce costs even more. At the high end, for a superyacht, you can charter your boat out. There are many agents that will manage this process for you. Go Earth Boating can recommend suitable managing agents and give you an estimate of the possible income. Indeed, if you charter the yacht out a lot, you can even cover all your running costs; and still give yourself plenty of time on the boat. However, all is not lost if your boat does not qualify for the title of ‘superyacht’. You can rent your boat out via agencies such as Beds on Board and AirBnB. The deal here is that people stay on the boat as an alternative experience to a hotel; but do not take the boat out. The boat stays in the berth. Our company boat, a Jeanneau Prestige 34, is on both these sites and is a very popular choice. Go Earth Boating can advise you on the pros and cons of this option if you are thinking of buying and then defraying the running costs in this way. Conclusion Boats do have running costs – but they are in essence no different from the costs of running a car and with a bit of common sense are easily manageable. For any additional questions, contact Go
Buying a Trailer
You have your nice boat – but are faced with the problem of where to put it. If you have a large boat, then you have no choice but to use a marina or mooring. However, for boats up to, say, 25 or 26 feet, then storing your boat on a trailer is a very viable option. Most small boats, RIBs and dinghies can easily and safely be stored and transported on a properly constructed trailer. So – what are the advantages and disadvantages of a trailer? The good news Let’s look at cost first. A good, new, trailer for a 16 footer boat costs about £2,500. The marina berthing fees are typically about this – except you have to pay them every year. The savings on marina fees is like getting 100% interest on your investment! That’s a great financial incentive. If you want to do any work on your boat, storing it at home on the trailer is much more convenient than having to traipse down to the marina. I know from bitter experience that having gone down to the marina, you often don’t have the right tool with you to finish the job A trailer means that you don’t have to keep the boat in the water, and can give it a freshwater wash-down after every trip. This keeps the hull in great condition. It also means that you don’t have to antifoul the hull – giving you another annual financial saving. Having the boat at home means that you can go to whichever part of the country you wish – you are not tied to your usual marina. All you need is a suitable launching ramp or slipway. There are many across the country, and the public ones are free of charge. Websites such as Boatlaunch list suitable sites in the UK and near Europe. Clicking on the map in the locality you want brings up detailed information on each slipway and its suitability for different types of boat. Disadvantages Of course, you need four essentials – a boat small enough to be trailed, the trailer itself, a car capable of towing the trailer and boat and finally somewhere (on your driveway or elsewhere) to store them. If you don’t have these then unfortunately a trailer option is not viable. Size matters Choosing the right size of trailer for your boat is important. Trailers are typically suitable for everything from a small sailing dinghy right up to a 25 or 26 footer. They are not usually viable for sailing yachts with a deep keel. You can of course get a trailer for small deep keel boats, but you then usually have to launch them via a crane, rather than a ramp – and the cost of cranage negates any cost savings. The size and weight of the boat determines the size of trailer you need. You need to take account of the LOA (length overall), plus any outboards. Weight matters The relevant weight is the weight of the boat dry, plus the weight of fuel, freshwater and blackwater on board, plus all the ‘essential’ bits and bobs that seem to get crammed into boats. Heavier boats may require a twin-axle trailer. The trailer does not have to have brakes if the weight of the gross trailer weight is less than 750kg or half the towing vehicle’s kerb weight – whichever is less. The full set of rules are complex. Go Earth can assist in any sizing questions you may have. Just contact us, and we will try to help. Adjustability A key element when finding a suitable trailer is adjustability. It has to fit your boat – and continue to fit your boat as you load and unload it. There are several elements to this. Firstly as you load the boat, the rollers should automatically adjust to the changing profile of your boat’s hull. Indespension trailers do this by their swing axle method so that the change in the bow-stern dimensions are covered. (see photo) Then the change in the portstarboard dimension (i.e. the keel angle) is covered by the pivoting of the rollers arms (see photo). Indespension trailers pioneered this swing axle design (see the video below for a demonstration) which is a key feature of their boat trailers. In addition, for larger adjustability, all the main components should be attached to the framework by U-bolts. Then you can very easily adjust all the dimensions by unscrewing the nuts, moving the U-bolts, and then re-tightening. Indespension, again, have majored on the concept of completely bolted trailers. (The bolts are actually rectangular to fit the shape of the components, rather than ‘U’ shaped, but everyone calls them U-bolts!) This provides both adjustability and ease of replacing any damaged components. Some boat manufacturers will try to sell you a trailer when you are buying a new boat. That’s fine as far as it goes – but there is a catch. The trailer is often built just for that model of boat, and often has no or limited adjustability. What happens if, when you eventually sell the boat, the new purchaser does not want a trailer if, for example, they have a berth somewhere? You would be left with an almost useless trailer. Our general recommendation is to purchase a trailer with a wide range of adjustability such as the Indespension range. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GRlp5UeQaFs Size and weight matters – again You have your boat. You have the right trailer. Now you need a suitable car or other towing vehicle. Most cars can take a tow bar at the rear. Notable exceptions include Porsche 911s, and a few other specialist cars. The towing weight of a car is defined by the manufacturer. It is sometimes called the ‘gross train weight’, and may be in the owner’s handbook or on the VIN plate on the car. You need to check the combined weight of the boat, trailer, and all the various bits of boating paraphernalia that you will throw into