Boat Buying Basics: A Sheridan House Guide

The boat-buying process in today’s environment can be confusing, whether you’re looking for a fishing boat, a sailboat or powerboat, or a yacht, and whether you’re planning to spend weekends offshore or become a live-aboard cruiser. The typical consumer has many options, from searching for boats on eBay or Facebook Marketplace to engaging a buyer’s broker to stand by your side and guide you through each step of the process.

Boat Buying Basics takes you through how to find and purchase the boat that will best fulfill your dreams and needs. The process is presented chronologically, starting at the very beginning--when boat ownership is just a dream--with a focus on educational steps, such as attending boat shows and the pros and cons of renting or chartering. From there, veteran broker Melanie Neale provides clear, step-by-step guidance on researching and analyzing boat listings, understanding the survey process, making the purchase, navigating the complexities of the closing process, and securing insurance and financing. This guide also includes suggestions of further resources that will enable you to enjoy your new boat to the fullest. Helpful checklists and questionnaires throughout make this an accessible resource to bring with you on your search.

Melanie Sunshine Neale earned her US Coast Guard 100 Ton Master Captain’s License before she got her driver’s license. She grew up living aboard her family’s 47’ GulfStar sailboat, cruising up and down the East Coast and through the Bahamas for nearly twenty years. Melanie has bought and sold six boats of her own and has facilitated the sale of hundreds of boats during her tenure as a yacht broker with Edwards Yacht Sales and currently as founder and owner of Sunshine Cruising Yachts, a medium-sized yacht brokerage located in Florida but with brokers worldwide. She received the 2022 Sailing Industry Distinguished Service Award.

Melanie is the author of memoirs Boat Girl and Boat Kid (Beating Windward Press), and former contributor to Cruising World and other nautical magazines. She has worked as everything from minnow scooper at a bait & tackle shop to adjunct professor at a university. She’s a single mom to a teen, and lives in St. Augustine, Florida, with a six-toed cat and a Boykin spaniel. Melanie is dedicated to matching people with the right boats.