Decide what this visit needs to answer
A first viewing has a smaller job than a survey: decide whether this particular catamaran deserves more time and money. A tidy cockpit can make that surprisingly easy to forget. Arrive with three non-negotiables, such as an owner’s cabin, manageable sail controls and room for your actual tender. If the boat cannot meet them, a long equipment list will not change the answer.
Ask for the current inventory and recent service records before travelling. Write down what the listing leaves unclear. “New batteries” needs a date, type and installation record; “recently serviced” needs a description of the work. Questions answered in advance leave more of the visit for the boat itself.
Walk through an ordinary day aboard
Start at the boarding point and follow the route you would use with groceries. Try the companionways, stand at the galley and sit at the helm. With permission, open the lockers you expect to use. A berth that looks generous in a wide-angle photograph may leave little room for someone to get out at night.
Give everyone who will regularly cruise aboard a separate chance to judge the layout. Write down disagreements while you are there. One person’s favourite flybridge may be another person’s concern about communicating with the helm. You are choosing a shared routine, not winning an argument about square footage.
Look for questions, not amateur diagnoses
BoatUS’s preliminary checklist covers the exterior, interior and operating equipment, and explicitly distinguishes a viewing from a professional inspection. Use that distinction aboard. Photograph a stain, unfamiliar repair or inaccessible component with permission and ask what explains it. Do not describe structural condition from a photograph or start dismantling someone else’s yacht.
Compare the two engine spaces for access and documentation. Note which equipment labels are readable and whether the seller can locate manuals. Record missing answers as missing answers. They are reasons for follow-up, not automatic proof that a boat is defective.
Separate installed, working and included
These are three different columns. Solar panels may be installed without a recent output demonstration. A tender may appear in every photograph but be excluded from the sale. A chartplotter may work while its subscriptions belong to the seller.
Ask the representative to identify equipment that is disconnected, awaiting parts or unavailable for demonstration. A clear list is more useful than a broad assurance that everything works. Keep safety-critical testing and invasive checks for the professionals engaged to do them.
Leave with a decision sheet
Before leaving, record five things: what fits your plans, what does not, documents still needed, questions for the surveyor and the next agreed step. Add photographs to the relevant notes while the visit is fresh. If you inspect another boat that afternoon, this small discipline prevents the two from blending together.
A second visit is worthwhile when it resolves a specific uncertainty. Bring the person or specialist who can answer it. If the main uncertainty is simply whether you like the boat enough, pause before booking a haulout or treating the asking price as your final budget.
Sources & further reading
Sources checked October 13, 2026. Procedures, availability and terms should be confirmed for the boat and location concerned.