The same ten-second checks a working marine surveyor uses before he'll put his name on a report
Both books stand alone. Buy them together and the fixed-income buyer's guide comes free.
Judge any used boat in ten seconds, before the checkbook comes out
Both books plus the guide to boats built to outlast anything new
Diagnose leaks and fix ordinary failures without another $900 bill
Every test in this system uses tools you already own: a hammer handle, your nose, your eyes, and a walk around the hull.
All 16 chapters of the complete system
Rennie Boat Value
I spent close to thirty years around boatyards, from the Chesapeake to the Great Lakes, first as a rigger's helper, later doing pre-purchase walk-throughs for buyers who didn't want to pay a full survey on a boat that might not be worth it. I watched the same men, mostly retired, mostly careful with their money, get talked into rotten hulls by a good paint job. I started writing down the exact checks I used on the dock, the ones that take seconds, not the ones that need a moisture meter and a certificate. My own boat is a 1974 steel-hulled cruiser I bought for less than a used pickup truck. It still runs.
For years I did informal walk-throughs for guys about to buy a used boat, most of them retired, most of them careful with their money and tired of being talked at by a dealer or a slick seller. I kept seeing the same tricks work: a fresh coat of gelcoat over a soft transom, a bilge scrubbed cleaner than the rest of the boat ever was, hardware that didn't match because half of it got replaced after a leak nobody disclosed. I started writing down the exact checks I used, in the order I used them, so a buyer could do them himself in the time it takes to walk the dock. This isn't a substitute for a proper survey once you're serious about a boat. It's what tells you which boats are even worth that phone call.
Read it at your own pace, on your own boat or on someone else's dock. If it doesn't earn its place in your glove box within seven days, write in and get your money back. No forms, no argument.
Know what you're looking at before you reach for the checkbook.
GET THE FULL SYSTEM $97 →Get the ten-second hull test on its own for $27 and decide later if you want the rest.
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