Buying a Used Boat? Buy This First!

If you are in the market for a used boat, you need a moisture meter.

[Sam-qrwu]

Thanks for the great explanation and demonstration!

[askingforafriend]

I bought one of these a couple months ago, and it has saved me from having to get several surveys on boats I thought were good. Similar to what he said, I'm finding very few, actually only one (not for sale), dry boats from the 70s and 80s under $30k. Sadly, most of these boats are junk.

One other point a surveyor told me - just because it's dry doesn’t mean it's solid. It could have had moisture years ago and then dried out, but left rotten wood. So you should still do the sounding test with the hammer to insure the boat is solid.

I'm having a tough time finding a good sailboat😒

[poiryra]

Nice video. Great advice and also about the anti fouling paint.

[jonhansen]

"Topsides" - It's a common mistake to refer to the topsides as being the deck, cabin house, cockpit horizontal surfaces of a boat. THIS IS WRONG ! Topsides are the sides of the hull from the waterline to the gunwales as opposed to the bottom or underbody below the waterline. So many people get this wrong and it makes a big difference, especially when surveying any boat. Look it up.

[andreasnilsson]

A very underestimated video about an underestimated device.

[DC-xkyn]

Thank you very much! So glad i watched this.

[frederickwood]

I like the tip. Really good idea.
You mentioned getting a reading around the foot of the mast. How did you handle that?
Did you just reseal the gelcoat and try to dry the damp out from inside?! Or did you do open heart surgery?
Thanks again for this tip. I’ll be getting one.

[MatthewMentz]

Thanks you have a link for that meter please?

[brianjoetaylor]

Very useful info! Thanks for sharing!!

[timothythomas]

Right you are. Look at Project Atticus Channel and their first Boat. After a 2 year refit they later realized they needed to replace a Bulk Head due to moisture.

[Pattycake-ng]

I’m selling my boat so looking for ways to ensure I’m selling a safe and reliable unit. The boat is aluminum. So I guess I don’t need to do this test?

[JCCruising]

Thanks for the video, great explanations :)

[territodude]

Thanks, great advice, appreciate it!

[kdzidoc]

Can you comment on how to differentiate moisture on the surface vs. moisture on interior?

[stephengmeiner]

Thanks! I just ordered mine. I really doubted that a $50 unit would work when the real ones are $500 plus.

[stephenburnage]

Can you clarify, are you referring to moisture in a balsa or plywood core or can you get moisture in solid fibreglass?

[cristoballeal]

Hello. Thank you for the content. I'd appreciate it if you could please give me an opinion. I bought a very similar instrument but it has four possible settings depending on the type of materials, softwood, hardwood, masonry, and drywall. Which setting would you use? I'm guessing hardwood since balsa wood is considered hard. Cheers!

[Mr.Cyberdude]

Thanks for the tip.
I just purchased through your link but as I had an Australian Amazon account I am not sure you got the credit for the purchase.

[steveturansky]

Can you use this on the floor/hull of a boat while in the water. My core is only 1/2". With inner and outer skins it's between 3/4 - 1" thick and I don't have a liner. So if I put that on the floor with boat in the water, it's only 1" from water. Would this likely give a false reading?
Would this work with carbon fiber skins or would they conduct and give a false reading?

[RogerWilco]

Selling brokers make used politicians look trustworthy. Glad to know these are $50.