How To Survey A Sailboat In 15 Minutes (And Save $1,000)

You drive three hours to see a boat. You pay a NAMS/SAMS Surveyor $1,000. He walks aboard, checks one seacock, and fails the boat in five minutes. You just burned a grand on a "Lemon." Stop doing that. Buying a used sailboat is a minefield of hidden rot, concealed engine issues, and structural nightmares. But you don't need a Moisture Meter to spot the deal-breakers. You just need to know where to look. In this video, I teach you the 15-Minute Pre-Survey Protocol. This is the "Triage" method used by experts to disqualify bad boats before spending money on a formal inspection. We cover the 5 "Kill Switch" defects that brokers hope you ignore: The "Cold Start" Ambush: Catching engine lies before you run a compression test. The Seacock Trap: Why frozen Through-Hull Fittings sink boats. The Cutlass Bearing Shake: Diagnosing drivetrain vibration in seconds. The Trampoline Deck: Using a hammer to find wet core and Osmotic Blistering. The Chainplate Rot: Identifying Galvanic Corrosion in the rigging. Save your money. Survey it yourself first.