by B.J. Porter (Contributing Editor)

It’s been said that the two happiest days in a boat owner’s life are the day they buy a new boat, and the day they sell it.

I can’t say I agree that’s always true.

True confession time: the last time I sold a boat, I was bawling like a baby as I walked away from her. There I was, leaving her tied to the dock for the last time, looking as beautiful as the day we bought her, and it was overwhelming. Literally, a man in his fifties in the early morning mist on a dock in New Zealand, ugly-sobbing as he hauled his suitcases up the ramp. Part of that, I think, is because I knew what came next.

We were leaving behind years of memories made with our kids as they grew from toddlers to sailing halfway around the world with us, then on to leaving us for college and some empty nest cruising. It was a decade and a half of highs and lows, exhilarating sails, stunning natural beauty and once in a lifetime sights, mixed with some frustration and pain and a lot of repairs and maintenance. It was not a happy day, and it wasn’t easy to walk away from her.

Not everyone’s experience is the same, and there truly are some owners happy to leave their current boat behind. We’ve talked about every step of the sale process over the last few years except this one, so it’s time to go there.

The Days Before

Selling your boat is a busy thing, and you’ve got a lot to do as the deal moves from offers to counters, acceptance, and on to the survey, sea trials, and closing. For better or worse, you’re closing a chapter in your boating life. That chapter is personal, with memories and experiences from the boat. But it’s also financial, which can be the source of some of the pain and joy of a boat sale.

Once you close on the boat and turn over the keys, that chapter closes and you can’t get back on her again. So there are a few things you need to do before the final papers get inked.

• Get back on board for a stem-to-stern check of every nook and cranny on the boat. You don’t want to leave anything behind that shouldn’t go with the boat, and the new owner doesn’t need to be throwing useless things out. While you should have emptied the boat out for listing it, there’s almost always something that gets overlooked.
• Check the inventory promised in the listing against what’s on board. If you have gear in the garage that you promised with the boat, make sure you bring it back. You don’t want to track the new owner down and deliver things later, or have them come looking for them.
• Make sure the boat’s papers are in order for the transition. Your broker may have copies of things, but make sure everything’s in a nice folder and ready to go.
• Take a minute for yourself while you’re on that last walk through. Sit at the helm, or in the cockpit. Memories will come, whether good or bad. Take a deep breath and look around, because the process is almost over, no matter how you feel about it.

A Smooth Closing

Selling your boat with a competent broker shouldn’t be any harder than buying it was. It could be easier, because you’re not the one arranging financing and surveys this time. If everyone’s on the same town, coast or time zone and there’s no financing involved, it may be only a few minutes of signing documents and sending them off.

To keep your closing smooth, start getting your ducks in a row well before the closing date if you’re paying off a mortgage with the sale proceeds. Contact your lender and get a pay down amount for the loan as of the closing date. Make sure there are no additional steps needed to clear the loan or title and ask how long it takes to process the payoff and release of lien.

Our last sale was complex, as we sold the boat in a foreign country (New Zealand) to a resident of a different country (Australia) who wasn’t present, all while the boat was flagged in the U.S. with a mortgage at a U.S. bank. Because the U.S.C.G. got prickly over signatures and didn’t like the notary we used in New Zealand, I ended up having to overnight an additional notarized bill of sale from the U.S. to the far side of the world weeks after the deal closed so the new owner could de-register the boat!

So ask your broker what is needed, and if things need to be notarized when you sign them. They should know this, and may have their own notary on staff to make sure this is smooth. And if your deal is more complex than a local sale in your own region, press your brokers and bankers to get all the answers early.

Mental Preparation

The amount of mental preparation you need to let your boat go depends on how eager you are (or are not) to sell it. While I still feel wistful thinking about that misty New Zealand morning years later, there are other boats I’ve sold that didn’t leave me all broken up. Not that I didn’t love the boats. I’ve been quite fond of every boat we’ve owned and have good memories of every single one. But the circumstances in other sales were very different.

Your reasons for selling your boat are your own, but they will drastically affect how you feel about the day you sell. If you’re selling to get out of boating completely, well, you’re probably not reading this boating blog, anyway. But if you’re selling because your boat has been a problem-plagued hassle, you’ll be happy to get rid of this one and get something nicer. Boat shopping is always more fun than boat fixing.

And your coming boating plans also affect how you’ll feel afterwards. If you’re moving on to a bigger and better boat, selling your older, smaller boat may not bother you in the least. If you’ve unwisely already bought that bigger better boat before selling the old one, you’ll be beyond ready to see the last of her, no matter how much you enjoyed owning it. (Don’t ask me how I know this. Twice.)

And if you’re selling the boat you lived on for years and cruised with your family, you just may end up bawling your eyes out as you’re trying to catch a plane back to wherever it is you’re going to call home.

Because it’s all about what happens next.