Buying a Used Yacht in Dubai: A Buyer's Checklist

A used yacht is bought in the water, not in the photographs. Three things decide whether a second-hand boat is a good buy: the survey, the service history and the sea trial. Do them in that order and very little can surprise you afterwards. Here is what each one tells you, and what the Gulf in particular does to a boat.

Start with an independent survey

A pre-purchase survey is the one cost worth paying before you own anything. A surveyor lifts the boat, sounds the hull, opens the engine bay and tests the systems, then writes down what they find. Two rules make it useful:

• The surveyor works for you, not the seller. Appoint your own, and read the report yourself rather than a summary of it.
• Price the findings, do not just read them. Every report lists jobs. The question is what they cost and who pays, and that is a negotiation, not a reason to walk away.

Service history is the real price tag

Two identical models can be thousands of dirhams apart in what they will cost you over the next three years, and the difference is usually in the folder rather than the hull. Look for engine servicing at the correct intervals, documented antifoul and outdrive work, and evidence that faults were fixed rather than deferred. A boat with a complete record from a known yard is worth paying more for. Our guide to the cost of owning a yacht in Dubai sets out what those running costs look like once she is yours.

What the Gulf does to a boat

Age alone tells you little here. How and where a boat lived tells you a great deal.

• Sun. UV is the hardest worker in this climate. Check canvas, upholstery, seals, hatch surrounds and any exposed gelcoat. A boat kept under cover or in a berth with shade ages far more slowly than one that sat open all summer.
• Heat and humidity. Air-conditioning, refrigeration and electronics are worked hard from May to September. Run every system, not just the engines.
• Warm, salty water. Growth is fast, so antifoul and anode records matter. Ask when she was last lifted and what was found.
• Hours, and how they were used. Long steady cruising is kinder to an engine than hundreds of short cold starts.

The sea trial

Take the boat out before you commit, in conditions you would actually use her in. Bring the surveyor if you can. Watch the engines reach full temperature, hold cruising revs for long enough to mean something, and check steering, trim, electronics and the tender or platform gear. A short run around the marina proves almost nothing.

Paperwork and transfer

Ownership, registration and any outstanding finance all need to be clear before money moves. The right registration route depends on your residency and where you intend to cruise, which we cover in buying a yacht in Dubai as a non-resident. Berthing is worth settling early too, since a marina place is part of owning a boat here rather than an afterthought.

Where to look

Private sales can be good value when the boat is genuinely known to the seller. A brokered boat costs a little more and brings the history, the survey access and the transfer handled for you. If you are still weighing this against a factory-fresh boat, new versus pre-owned yachts in Dubai compares the two on price, warranty and depreciation.

The JJ Marine view

We sell new Jeanneaus and we broker used boats, so we have no reason to push you either way. Every second-hand yacht in our listings is inspected by our own engineers before we offer it, and we will tell you what a survey is likely to find before you pay for one. If the boat you want is not on our list, tell us what you are looking for and we will go and find it. Four decades on the water is mostly four decades of knowing which boats were looked after.