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Buying Trailer Boats
Trailer boats have got to be the easiest way to get into boating. When you buy one you can take it with you on holidays, it stays in your driveway at home and they are usually easy to work on. Finding the right boat is never quite as easy as it sounds and if you're new to boating, it can often be a 2 or 3 stage purchase: Purchase something basic to start with and use it for a season. You will discover more about what will really suits you and the following season you'll part company with your first purchase and get something closer to your actual needs. That said, before we sell anyone a trailer boat we always ask a few questions to make sure you're on the right track:
What do you want to use it for: Fishing, diving, skiing, overnighting? And where do you want to use it?Every trailer boat represents a series of compromises, trying to do as much as you can in the limited space available. More cabin space for sleeping leaves less deck space for fishing or if you're in to diving you'll need a marlin board, ladders and somewhere store dive tanks. If you go skiing you'll need a more powerful motor, but if you want to fish out at sea you'll need more economy to go further on the fuel available. Likewise, a hull that performs well on a flat river or in light chop will be designed differently to a hull that performs well 20 miles out in a moderate swell and what works best in one situation won't be suitable in another.
How Many Will Be Onboard?To make sure everyone has a good day boating and gets home safely you need to make sure everyone can get on and off the boat, small children won't fall overboard and you need to carry enough safety gear for all on board.
What will you tow it with?You will also need to consider the size of the vehicle you will tow it with. Buy something too big and you could be up for a new car as well. Make sure also that apart from having the capacity to tow your new boat, that it is also capable of retrieving it from the water. Some boat ramps are sandy and some are quite steep. Check your local ramp and other ramps you will be using and be informed before you purchase.
What if you find the right boat on our site, but its interstate?Trailer boats are usually straightforward to transport, with the cost depending on how far it needs to go and how big it is. You’ll need to know your boat's overall length including the trailer, starting from the tow hitch to the rearmost point which is usually the outboard, its width, its height from the road to the uppermost point of the cabin or screen (whichever is the highest) and its weight. In addition to just towing it, the options for moving trailer boats include using a car trailer for smaller craft, rail transport and trucking. Depending on the boat, you may also need to allow for de-rigging (removing radio aerials, fishing gear, radars, etc), packing and securing the vessel before it leaves and re-rigging it when it arrives.
If that sounds too hard to organise, don’t worry! When you buy a boat on Boatlocator.com.au, as part of the service we’ll organise transport quotes and negotiate with truckies on your behalf. Remember, while any advertising website can show you boats from all over Australia, only Boatlocator is staffed by people who actually help you buy one, with the experience you need to put an interstate deal together and get your new boat home safely.
Finance and InsuranceAnother reason Boatlocator is the smart way to buy your next trailer boat is we help you arrange finance and insurance for boats we sell, saving your time and helping your deal go smoothly. Boats can be financed a number of ways and we have experience dealing with finance brokers from all over Australia helping our customers purchase all sorts of boats. For insurance, we are agents for both Nautilus and Club Marine, who insure most of our trailer boats, and we’ll do the leg work for you to arrange quotes, surveys and forward vessel details to the insurer of your choice.
To find your next boat, either complete the form below and we'll find you a boat:
