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THE PILOT'S WALKAROUND

A preflight checklist for boat showings.

Twenty years of Navy and airline flying taught me one thing about inspections: excitement is the enemy of thoroughness, and a checklist beats a memory every single time. This is the walkaround we run at our own showings, challenge and response, one page. Print it, bring it, work it top to bottom.

Print the checklist

Before you drive

Exact model and year vs the listing titleConfirmed
This generation vs its predecessor (different boats, different records)Known
Engine make, model and rating as listedWritten down
Height and draft figures in the listingMarked unverified
Your own must-haves, in writingIn hand
Questions this listing left unansweredListed

On the dock

Waterline and boot stripe, bow to sternWalked
Hull sides in low light, sighting down the lengthSighted
Side decks and handholds, walked like a seawayWalked
Canvas, rails, hatches, ground tackle conditionNoted
What is on top: arch, mast, antennas, what foldsPhotographed

Engine room

Engine make and model plates vs the listingPhotographed
Hour meters, all engines and generatorPhotographed
Belts, hoses, clamps, visible wiringEyes on
Bilge: dry, oily, or wet, and where fromNoted
Fuel tank surfaces and fittings, where reachableEyes on
Generator checked where it lives, run if allowedRun / noted
Access: could you service this at anchor?Judged

Inside

Every head flushed, every faucet runRun
Berths laid on, not just looked atTried
Headroom and passage at your real heightWalked
Soft spots: decks, soles, around windowsPressed
Smell honestly: fuel, mildew, holding tankNoted
Electronics powered up, ages notedNoted

The asks

Service records: engines, generator, transmissionRequested
Typical fuel burn per hour, and at what rpmAsked
Prior survey, if one existsRequested
What has been replaced, and whenAsked
Why the boat is for saleAsked
Anything the owner would fix nextAsked

Before you leave the dock

Photos reviewed against your must-havesReviewed
The one thing you'd verify next, namedNamed
Emotion check: are you buying the sunset or the boat?Honest answer

WALKAROUND COMPLETE www.caniloop.net/walkaround

A walkaround is not a survey and does not pretend to be one. It keeps you from paying for a survey on a boat you'd have walked away from at the dock, and it sends you home with photos and notes instead of impressions.

We work every showing against this list on our own search, written up in public: follow The Hunt. Before you drive anywhere, the free gate check takes a boat's numbers against the Loop's hard limits in seconds. More like this on the Can I Loop? Facebook page.