What should I buy?

I've been involved with several new purchases on boats under 70' and never seen one surveyed. Obviously though they brought along a captain (me) so they had an experienced eye and ear who doesn't check moisture content or blisters (not big problems with new boats on day one), but knows what it's supposed to look, sound, feel and run like (the last two you don't get with a survey). Even if the boat is surveyed and determined perfect on day one there will be bugs coming up through it's first season. I look on a new boat survey on a small boat (not talking customs or large yachts) like wearing a belt and suspenders.

IMO I would get a survey on a new boat. Relative to the cost it is worth it and any issues that are picked up can be taken care of ny the dealer BEFORE taking delivery and making final payment.

Back to the topic, since most of the time you will be on the intracoastal, are bridges a consideration in that area?

Considering even small boats are easily a half a million dollars new these days, wearing a belt and suspenders to keep your a$$ covered on the purchase doesn't seem unreasonable to me. BTW, when you go along and with the buyer and advise him, do you have an errors and omissions disclaimer contract and/or insurance in place? If not, you could be opening yourself up to a jackpot position, and not just from your client, but his family and heirs and anyone else who has an insurable interest in them.

Don't we live in the jackpot position every time we untie the lines? That's why we don't present ourselves as surveyors, engineers or mechanics or anything else we are not. We don't do mechanical work other than emergency repairs (even when we know how) and we don't tell an owner not to get a surveyor or mechanic. Never tell someone that you carry more qualifications than you actually have and can back up.

Yep, that's why we should make sure we are either in insured or otherwise contractually indemnified. How you represented yourself to a dead man, unless in writing through a signed contract, makes no difference to family members or anyone else with an insurable interest. If he told his wife "Yeah, Capt so and so came with me and said it's a good safe boat..." then you may have to defend yourself in court. If you don't have a contract that can nip the legal action in the bud early in the process, or insurance that will handle your legal representation, even if you are eventually found to be free of liability, you will likely be a hundred thousand dollars or more poorer in legal costs. A jury doesn't really know or even care about the difference between a surveyor and a captain. You are being paid for your advice, that makes you a maritime professional and held to professional standards. Why do you think that every survey has that disclaimer at the end? That is the first line defense of how they protect themselves, most I know also carry Errors and Omissions insurance for when they get sued anyway. Having the area of surveying not being in your field of expertise leaves you at even greater risk when you advise someone on purchases. Your relationship and understanding with the person you are advising doesn't matter one bit once they are dead unless you have the terms and scope of that relationship signed and in writing.

Such a contract would be like a Christmas present to a plaintiff's attorney. I'd rather go against a hearsay twice removed from a dead man statement any day and twice on Sunday.

Your choice.

33 is getting pretty long in the tooth for aluminium and there are crystallization issues that start happening around 30 which is considered the design life span of an aluminum boat. That's not to say this vessel has the issues, or the corrosion, electrolysis and other wasting issues that happen with aluminium and many metals, just that you have to do some deeper homework on inspection.

Don't forget that if you go with a 27-33' trailerable boat, you're looking at a serious tow vehicle to pull it with. Bare minimum you would need a F250 or 2500 chevy truck and a dually would be even more advisable. So figure that into the price.

For trailerable you're limited to a 9' beam. That's not much of a limit. You could all sorts of boats depending on what you have pulling it. Depending how much you move about there's also Hi & Dry storage. BTW, I think the kids will enjoy this a lot more than your previous thoughts. Plus, you can always move up as your experience increases.

When we got our first " non trailerable ", we used the boat significantly more than most of our trailerables put together as it was so easy to use. Not sure where you are moving to as seasonal use might be an issue. We live where you can boat year round so putting the boat into dry storage during the off season was never an issue. The boat cost us $ 16,000.00 after survey renegotiations and was only 30 feet ( with nearly a 13 ft beam though ). We spent 4 years with the boat and had such incredible times with so many friends/family that we simply have never stopped loving boating and never will. having a boat in a slip to us made all the difference. We were immediately on vacation the minute we got near the parking lot for the marina. We ended up meeting someone on the docks that eventually led us to where we are financially today so it actually ended up being an incredible investment. I remember my dad telling me it was an ugly display of wealth ( remember the $ 16,000 price? ). He later told me he could not believe where it took us. If you live where slip boating is popular, think twice about a trailerable. The slip fees and in water costs might prove to be worth it!

I have two boats one in Florida, 72 Ferretti, and one in Toronto. My Canadian boat is 2008 Silverton 38 Sports Bridge. It is a well build boat and I am very happy with it.