A boat may look great at first, but a thorough pre-purchase inspection can avoid unpleasant surprises like these!

Luckily, I decided to haul this boat BEFORE we did the Sea Trial! One of the worst cases of current corrosion you can imagine… An electrical leak from the alternator had attacked everything metal – shaft, prop, rudder, through-hulls…

Keel starting to separate from the hull.

The cause? Inside, the keel boats are rusted, loose, towards the bottom of the picture, the head of a bolt that literally came off in my hand…

Chainplate bent, separating from the deck – not real obvious, but on close inspection, this is dangerous and will fail at some point.

Galvanic corrosion – dissimilar metal types causing severe corrosion.

Nylon thru-hulls deteriorate in the sun over time. This one was overtightened and has cracked on the inside. A tap and it came off in my hand.

Grounding damage – the rudder has a pretty good outward bend!

Another extreme case of galvanic corrosion.

Can you spot the high water mark?

One seriously rotten fuel tank.