re: Tips for first-time boat buyer

Usually good deals come in one of two ways: 1. You know the person and they have a great boat that they’re willing to give you or sell to you for cheap. 2. You have a lot of experience with boats and can quickly inspect every inch of the boat and make a decision that day.

Good deals move fast, especially on FB marketplace.

Simple tiller handle flat boats have less to inspect, less to break, and less to maintain.

If you have no experience and nobody to look at the boat with you, your best bet is to go as simple as possible. Aluminum, welded, no wood, no carpet, no fiberglass, minimal electronics if any. If there’s a subfloor, try to inspect the foam for water logged foam.

If on a trailer, inspect for corrosion where the boat makes contact with the trailer bunks. Look for cracks in every weld/corner. Make sure the trailer is galvanized.

On the outboard, look for corrosion, take off the cowling and look for signs of work on the engine. Loose wiring, stripped off bolts, corrosion around the engine block, dry rotted hoses.

Insist on running the engine. If you can put it in the water, even better. Sometimes an engine may run fine on earmuffs and not push the boat under load.