[josrulz]

Hey everyone. I did a search on this, and it seems like every year on SailNet around this time someone asks about this. However, most of those people were asking in general about best time to buy and so on.

I believe that the best time to buy is when you find the right boat at a reasonable price. So with that as a given (for me), I have a question about how to handle my particular situation.

It's now late enough that many boats we might be interested in north of our location are on the hard, winterized, and covered. Many are blocked in by other boats in the yard. So if one of those ends up being "the boat we've been looking for", how do we purchase without taking a big risk ourselves? Obviously we can survey, but a sea trial would likely be very expensive (moving other boats, winterization, cover, etc., plus splashing and hauling). We're desparate for a boat--we could always wait until late winter/early Spring, but I've learned it's asking a lot for the right boat to be available on my perferred timeline. There will always be a boat, but not necessarily THE boat. So if one of these is THE boat, how do we purchase without a ton of risk?

Thanks for your input. I realize this general topic has been covered, but I'm looking for some input on my specific situation, if possible. I don't want to continue looking at boats up north at this time of year, if there's no reasonable (non-risky) path to ownership.

Thanks,
J