Questionably another advantage of going through them is the fact that they don't always require a boat survey in order to insure the boat. Good and Bad. There are a lot of nice boats out there built in the seventies and eighties are selling at a steal, and waiting for a new home. This again is allowing the average person the ability to own a boat at a reasonable price. 

 By not adding  the cost of a survey you can it seems at first save another few hundred dollars.

 The problem of buying a boat without a survey is that you do not know what you are buying. What is the shape of the rigging, the engine, the sails, and the  other electrical and mechanical systems of the boat. 

 If the boat has not been re rigged the rigging of a boat built in the eighties is definitely shot. The engine can be history at any time as well. If the boat had any wiring done in the eighties by a house electrician it is probably not up to boating codes as well.

 a professional surveyor will find all of the faults to this beauty that you have your eyes on, and in the process save you enough money on your purchase to take care of all of these faults or to at least let you know what you are buying.

 I have had both of my boats the Sarah Maria as well as the Bella Donna both surveyed and ended up changing the rigging on both boats. Because of this I have the confidence to bring my sails in tight and sail them hard when I want.

 During my last delivery I had a shroud let go on me. The results could have been devastating if we were on the other tack. We could have lost the mast. A survey would have pointed out this fault on the boat. 

 There are plenty of good surveyors out there to chose from but the one that I can recommend is Jay Michaud. If you are buying a boat he is the guy to use.