Boat Owners Turn to Self-Storage Steel and Metal Buildings
With many cities and towns banning the storing of boats in driveways and on streets, a growing number of boat owners are looking to self-storage facilities to keep their boats safe, sound and out of the way.
Small Sailboats Are Fun
Small sailboats are from about 10 to 18 feet in length (3 to 6 metres). Small sailboats are often called sailing dinghies, because almost all have open cockpits without any cabins. They are usually made from either marine plywood or fiberglass - the big manufacturers use fiberglass, but wood is used for some boats, particularly if they are sold in kits.
Choosing The Right Boat For You
If you?re a first time boat buyer the choice of boats available for purchase can be bewildering. How do you make sense of all the choices? Well, the first time boat buyer needs to avoid buying on impulse and take a close hard look at how they intend to use the boat. If not, your romance with boating will be short-lived as you quickly realize you have made the wrong choice for you and your family. The wrong choice could be dangerous, financially costly and at the least uncomfortable.
Defeating the Drug Smugglers in Ultra Fast Boats, Skimmer Craft and Hydrofoils
The drug smugglers have ultra fast boats, skimmer craft and hydrofoils, which makes it difficult to give pursuit by conventional marine craft. The problem is getting worse as drug smugglers ratchet up the game stakes using ultra fast water craft, submarines and aircraft.
2007 Miami International Boat Show Features Luxury Yacht Brokerages From Around the World
Fraser Yachts to exhibit Al-To-Mar, a 100' Azimut built in 2005, at this prestigious South Florida boat show.
Winterizing your boat
With boating season winding down and coming to an end, you will need to know the steps to take to prepare you boat for the winter. Winterizing may not be the most enjoyable part of owning a boat. However, it is one of the most crucial steps to ensuring longevity of your boat?s value. Of course you want your boat to offer you the same reliability that it did this season. Therefore, you should take care of your boat now, to prevent unnecessary costs and repairs when boating season comes around again. Without proper care of your boat now, you run the risk of next year not having that same recreational wonder that allowed you to spend endless summer days on the water. Some precautionary measures differ depending on whether you have an in...
Lighting for Boat Docks
Lighting your boat dock is important for the safety of you and your passengers when entering and exiting your vessel in the dark, and can also be a wonderful feature to have should you want to entertain on your boat dock after the sun has set. Boat dock lighting also ensures that yourself, or others do not unexpectedly end up in the water during the nighttime hours.
Mid Season Boat Cleaning
Wow, July already, which puts us roughly half way through peak boating season! Depending on where you keep your boat and what kind of boating you do with it, inevitably there is some wear and tear showing that happens during the season. Particularly up here in West Michigan we have a wide assortment of bugs that love to call our boats home, birds who commonly use them as target practice, and plenty of muck and yuck that tracks on board. I always like to give my boat a little mid-season "tune-up" with a serious clean and polish.
Reducing Fuel Costs in Offshore Sport Fishing Boats
Ocean Master Sportfishing Boats launches an incredibly fuel efficient diesel-powered center console fishing boat. In recent tests this boat achieved fuel economy of 9.7 mpg with a range of over 1,100 miles - amazing figures for a 27-foot offshore sport fishing boat. Fish all day for less than $30 in fuel.
|
 |
 |
What You Need To Know Before You Sell Your Boat
As the owner/operator of a full service boat detailing-yacht maintenance business I can't help but chuckle sometimes at seeing the extremes that otherwise bright, intelligent, successful, people will go to in a misguided attempt to save a few dollars. One of the biggest mistakes that we see is that people will decide to sell their boat without first having her completely detailed. According to Rob Scanlan, a well known and respected Master Marine Surveyor; "Detailing a boat is the single most important investment of time, energy and money a seller can make because a clean and shiny boat sells faster and for a lot more money. I strongly recommended that a seller enlist professional assistance to do a quality job." yacht1ship@aol.com (Email)
www.mastermarinesurveyor.com (Web site)
We at BoatDocs1, do a lot of work here on the Emerald Coast with local yacht brokers and know what the standards are for a "ready to show" boat. These professionals know that the cosmetic appearance says everything to the prospective buyer as to the overall care and maintenance that the previous owner has given the yacht. Add to that the universal wisdom about first impressions and it's not hard to see the importance of this vital first step. Even if you intend to do most of the work yourself we can offer the expertise to assure that your time and money are spent wisely. Our trained eyes will often pick up the little details that only a prospective buyer would notice and likely balk at. Here is an outline of the standard procedures we use when preparing a yacht to be put up for sale: 1. Thoroughly Wash and Dry the Boat
Note: For this part, pay attention to everything you see and unless your memory is a lot better than mine, make notes on a piece of paper for later.
- Wash and chamois-dry your boat top to bottom including transom.
- clean Isenglass and other ports/windows
- wipe down and dress all aluminum/stainless
- clean and dress vinyl seats
- wipe down fly bridge and cockpit
- vacuum exterior carpet
- clean and dress nonskid
2. Stand Back and Survey the Boat
Note: Bring your list and organize it with the following outline
* Put yourself in the buyers shoes, be critical, the buyer will.
Is it shiny? It's the first thing most people notice.What about the smell? People have a way of getting used to almost anything. Get a second opinion and see the hint below.Is all hardware intact and presentable? Just because you've used that broken table for years and are rather fond of it, to anyone else, it's just a broken table.What about dings, any damage to the fiberglass? Aside from the fact that broken gelcoat can let water into the core of the lay-up and delaminate the fiberglass, it just plain looks BAD.What about rust? You are probably thinking right now; (what's a little rust on a boat?) Let me tell you. A little rust on a boat is a sure sign that the owner let's little things go by unnoticed and if there is one thing there are always more. What about oil changes? I wonder if he flushed out the outboard after use? The object of this little exercise is to make the boat look like you are conscientious and a stickler for having everything perfectly "SHIP SHAPE."One more little tip that you have probably already thought of. Take a look around the boat and remove EVERYTHING that isn't part of the boat.EXAMPLE:
Engine controls, compass, life jackets, flare kit, and a first aid kit ARE part of the boat. Knick-knacks, fishing tackle, cutesy wall plaques, and half full paint cans are NOT part of the boat-and look tacky. A few cleaning supplies, in their own locker is probably all right as long as they're kept neat and clean.
Make a list of things that need attention, and get it taken care of. A few dollars spent now will pay back in spades when the time comes to show your boat. Anything that isn't right will stick out like the proverbial sore thumb, be noticed and start the price spiraling down. (if it doesn't just send them scurrying off shaking their heads)Hint: If you are not a woman reading this and don't have a wife of your own, ask your mother or sister, or see if a friend will loan you his for a few minutes. For some reason women can smell things that a man would never notice. You may think that men buy boats but in my experience they buy the boats their women like. Along this same line, pay particular attention to the cabin and heads. 3. Prioritize the Job With your list you are in good shape to decide what needs to be done and whether or not you want to do the work yourself or have it done by a professional. Most of the professional yacht maintenance companies we are familiar with, would be happy to take a look and give you an estimate of what it will cost to have the work done right. We can do part of the job, for example the compounding/polishing and will gladly help you choose the best wax to finish the job yourself. What about those little chips and dings in the gelcoat? Many books have been written on fiberglass repair and it isn't the intent of this article to cover the subject in any depth but many small repairs are well within the reach of a fairly skilled do-it-yourselfer. Like anything else though, if you have never done it before, "consult an expert." I've been building and repairing in fiberglass since I was 14 and while the first wooden boat I glassed was water tight and lasted a good many years, it was far from pretty. The small investment you lay out for expert repair now will pay big dividends when your boat sells at the price you want. In the Emerald Coast region the standard fees for compound/waxing run between $15.00/ft. and $18.00/ft. for the topside (rub-rail up) which includes a thorough cleaning and treatment of the vinyl, windows, isenglass, and metal. In other words, for the price of doing the "hard" part we'll detail the entire topsides and leave it in "ready-to-show" condition. Hulls (rub-rail down) run about $8.00/ft. but, of course, the boat must be out of the water in order to do it. (This walking on water with a hi-speed electric buffer in hand is still beyond me, but I'll let you know;-) Fiberglass repair runs from $45.00 to $65.00 per hour and in general as with most everything else, one gets what one pays for. The up side to this is that when approached in a professional manner the dents and dings of ten years hard use can be repaired and made to look like new in an amazingly short time. All too often we have seen people save $300.00 or $400.00 on a detail only to loose $Thousands$ on what their boat could have sold for. Then too, our local marinas are clogged with many examples of boats with "For Sale" signs which were never given the least bit of attention to make the passer by want to stop and think, "Hey, I wonder what it would be like to call that boat mine." Some of these boats have sat for years when all they ever really needed was a little T.L.C. I remember, years ago, someone saying something about being penny wise and pound foolish? Let's not let them be saying that about us. About The Author James "Doc" Lewis has been "messin about in boats" for as long as he can remember. He is owner/operator of BoatDocs1, a full-service boat detailing-yacht maintenance business serving the Emerald Coast region of Florida. To learn more about boats and keeping them looking their best visit his website at: http://www.boatdocs1.com/
|
