Inspecting the Aging Sailboat (The International Marine Sailboat Library)

An excellent how to guild with illustrations for surveying a sailboats yourself.

Great book

I just received this book a few minutes ago and glanced through it. The book seems to have a lot of good information, which is complete with illustrations. I basically purchased this book in order to figure out what I was normally missing when I was looking at used boats, or even at my own boat.The 1st thing that caught my attention was the size of this book. This book is a lot smaller than most of Don Casey's books. His books are normally large enough to use for ballast on a sailboat. But not this one.This book covers inspecting fiberglass boats only!Fiberglass boats are Don's specialty.If you are looking at wooden, ferrocement, or steel boats, than you should choose another source of education for inspecting them.If you are wanting to learn how to repair old fiberglass boats, Look at Don Casey's book, "This Old Boat." That book will point you in the right direction for doing repairs. (Plus, unlike this one, you can use that book for ballast on your sailboat. :) )

If you are thinking about buying an older sailboat you need to buy this now! Tips and tricks to educated and equip the potential buyer of an aging sailboat..

I bought the kindle version of this book to learn what to look for when I go to buy my future used sailboat. Normally I buy hard copy for books of this type but like every one else in today's economy, the few bucks difference has to be saved for something else, plus I did not want to wait to come up with the extra.I learned SOO much ! It covers things I never would have thought about other wise on all areas, as well as what simple tools to take to do the job right and to make critical observations when they survey a boat.(most who sail or will sail, have or will need to buy these simple tools any way)It is simple to understand and the kindle edition actually has the photos in the right place so you can see what they are talking about easily as you read it.Recently I went to look at a used RV. About half way through looking into each nook and cranny of the RV, I realized I was using techniques I learned in this book. As it turned out I passed on the RV but it was because of the engine not the RV part.Before you put your hard earned money on the table, to either buy a boat with out a survey or before you hire a surveyor, buy, read this book and use it to save your self a lot of grief later! A MUST HAVE if your looking to buy a used sailboat (or RV 0)~). Boat wise, it is THE BEST money I have spent in this area bar none!

I bought this boat after I had an old boat my wife and I were considering to buy inspected by a professional. For the price of about $700.00 we found out the boat had too many items wrong with it to make it a prudent investment. After that we inspected our own boats with the help of this book. If you are purchasing a used boat that is expensive, I would highly recommend having a licensed inspector go over the boat before you buy. But before you get the inspector do your own inspection with the help of this book. The book will show you what to look for and what the cost of fixing an issue might be. If you like the boat and it passes your inspection, then get a licensed inspector to go over the boat before you buy. Boats can be a major drain on the old bank account so you want to make sure you get it right the first time. This book will point you in the right direction when if comes to buying a boat.

I bought this book before I purchased a used sailboat and read it throughout, when inspecting prospective boats I had it in hand with notes. The information in this book helped me greatly in deciding which boat to buy. The information is not only great for buying but what to look for and maintaining potential trouble spots. This book is good for the novice and seasoned sailor alike.

A great book for someone shopping for a used boat ona budget.With the cost of professional marine surveyors going for $18-$20 per foot PLUS travel, and additional costs for another expert to test the engine, this book represents a very affordable investment to make sure you don't waste the cost of a survey on a boat that an average mechanically-adept person could eliminate by inspecting it himself first.This book MAY give you the confidence to skip a professional surveyor entirely. That may not be a good thing unless the reader really does a super job - and the boat is one that provides for complete inspection.Rather than this book, the would-be boat inspector/maintainer may opt for Casey's larger and inclusive book - "Complete Illustrated Sailboat Maintenance Manual" as it digs further into fiberglass inspection and repair - as well as all other systems.

Book with interesting and useful information and advices.

I love this book. Now I look at used sailboats in a different way. Thank you, Don Casey!

Very easy to read! And full of valuable thing to look at to learn your cutie boat!

Well explained with excellent illustrations. This is an easy read which gives adequate detail to allow you to inspect a sailboat either for maintenance issues or to see if you are interested in buying it. After reading it an implementing it's principles you should be comfortable enough to know if you interested enough in a boat to order a professional survey prior to purchasing it .

Excellent information for anyone purchasing an older boat. Information is laid out in an easy to understand way for novices and old hands alike, provided a lot of knowledge that I had not previously come across in all of my research.