Buying Trailer Boats
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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 people will be on board? How many young kids, teenagers, adults and/or grandparents?
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.
You also need to ensure that the boat is designed to enough passengers or as much weight as you need it to as overloading a boat is very dangerous.
What will you tow it with and where will you launch it?
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.
When you've answered the above three questions, worked out your budget and how soon you'd like to take delivery, Boatlocator can offer you a wider range of boats than a traditional dealer because we're not restricted to any particular makes and models and we can list boats from all over Australia. But unlike buying privately through any other website, Boatlocator is staffed by people who sell boats for a living who are here to help put a deal together between yourself and the seller and transact the sale safely. Buy your next trailer boat the smart way.
