Insurance
The Named-Storm Deductible: What Hurricane Coverage Really Costs
Your deductible is not $1,000. On a $400,000 boat in the Keys it is closer to $40,000, and it applies before the wind has touched anything.
8 min readThe register
The guides the big boat sites will not write
20 pieces on the parts of US boat ownership that cost real money and rarely get explained — tax caps, hurricane deductibles, hour verification, and the regulations changing under owners right now.
Money
Sales tax caps, insurance deductibles, slip costs and what a boat is actually worth.
Sales tax
Boat Sales Tax by State: The Caps That Decide Where You Close
Two buyers, the same $600,000 sportfish, a $16,500 difference in tax. The variable is not the boat. It is the state whose flag flies over the closing.
9 min read
Removal rules
Buying a Boat in Florida and Keeping It Somewhere Else
Florida has more boats for sale than anywhere in America. Getting one out of the state without paying twice is a documented process, not a favour.
8 min read
Valuation
Freshwater vs Saltwater: What the Resale Gap Actually Is
Every seller in Michigan says freshwater-only like it is worth twenty grand. Sometimes it is. Usually it is worth about eight, and only on the right components.
7 min read
Moorage
The Marina Slip Waitlist Nobody Warns You About
You can buy the boat this afternoon. Finding somewhere legal to put it can take four years, and that fact should shape which boat you buy.
7 min readPaperwork
Titles, documentation, registration deadlines and the regulations that move.
Regulation
Where You Can Still Legally Wake Surf in America
Vermont wrote the strictest wake sports rules in the country and shrank its permitted lake list in 2026. Where the rules go next decides what surf boats are worth.
8 min read
Title & registry
USCG Documentation or a State Title? Choosing Correctly
Documentation is a federal record of ownership. A state title is a state record of ownership. They are not alternatives as often as people assume.
8 min read
Due diligence
How to Run a Lien Search on a Boat Before You Buy
A lien attaches to the hull. Pay the seller, take the boat, and the bank can still come for it — which is a $60 problem you can solve before it happens.
7 min read
Relocation
Moving States With a Boat: The Registration Clock Starts Immediately
Your boat's registration is valid until the day you become a resident somewhere else. After that the clock is running whether you know it or not.
7 min read
Compliance
Clean, Drain, Dry: The Inspection Rules Trailer Boaters Keep Failing
Drain plug out, live well empty, trailer bunks dry. Three small habits that separate a five-minute inspection from a two-hour decontamination.
7 min readOwnership
Storage, cruising limits, charter income and the running costs nobody quotes.
Seasonal
Shrink-Wrap or Heated Indoor? Great Lakes Winter Storage, Costed
Five months on the hard is the largest single line in a northern boating budget, and the cheapest option is not always the one that costs least.
7 min read
Water levels
When the Lake Drops: How Water Levels Decide Boat Access and Value
A reservoir is a managed asset, not a lake. The people who release the water do not consult boaters, and the level decides what your boat is worth.
7 min read
Cruising
The 65-Foot Problem: Air Draft on the Intracoastal Waterway
Sixty-five feet is a design standard, not a promise. A handful of bridges come in lower, and they decide which boats can make the run south.
7 min read
Income
Chartering Your Own Boat to Offset Costs: What It Really Takes
The rental platforms make it look like listing a spare room. The Coast Guard has views on carrying passengers for hire, and they are not optional views.
8 min read
Fuel
E15 and Marine Engines: Why the Pump Warning Actually Matters
The orange warning label at the pump is not advisory. Putting E15 in a marine engine is a federal violation and, more expensively, a warranty claim you will lose.
6 min readBuying
Surveys, engine-hour verification, sea trials and distressed-sale arithmetic.
Sea trial
The Sea Trial Checklist Most Buyers Rush Through
Two hours, one chance, and a list of things that only ever fail under load. Do not spend it driving around enjoying yourself.
7 min read
Verification
Engine Hours Lie. The ECU Does Not.
The gauge says 610 hours. The computer inside the engine says 1,890, and it also knows how many times somebody buried the throttle past the rev limiter.
7 min read
Inspection
What a Marine Surveyor Actually Checks (and What They Do Not)
The survey is the best money you will spend and the most commonly misunderstood. It is a condition report on a structure, not a warranty on a machine.
8 min read
Distressed sales
Buying a Repossessed Boat: Where the Discount Really Comes From
The discount is real. It is compensation for buying without a sea trial, without records, and from a seller who has never seen the boat.
7 min read
Auctions
US Boat Auctions: What Sells, What to Avoid, and What It Costs
Auction prices look extraordinary until you add the premium, the storage, the transport and the fact that nobody has started the engine in a year.
7 min read