Who Pays for the Sea Trial and Haul-Out When Selling a Yacht?

Start with the purchase and sale agreement, not an assurance that the buyer “pays for the survey day.” A surveyor’s attendance, the yacht’s operation and the yard’s lifting services are separate expenses. Treating them as one package invites an argument after the invoices arrive.

In the published U.S. form, the survey clause separates the seller’s trial-running expenses from the buyer’s survey costs, including haul-out, dry dock and subcontractors. It also assigns the trial’s associated risks to the seller. Read those provisions together rather than looking only for the word “survey.”

Before accepting an offer, ask the broker to identify where these items sit:

• Fuel consumed during the agreed trial.
• Captain and additional crew charges.
• Travel-lift movements, pressure washing and blocking.
• Surveyor and engine technician attendance.
• Movement to a distant inspection yard.
• A second trial or inspection after repairs.

Do not import an allocation from a previous sale in another country. Use the actual agreement supplied for this transaction, with its inspection and withdrawal provisions checked before committing money. Confirm the legal position with a qualified adviser for your own case.

For an owner, the sensible working budget is the cost of presenting an operational yacht at the agreed place, with an appropriate person in command. Put a figure against every task, even where an existing crew salary means there is no additional cash payment that day.

Keep your normal ownership expenditure separate from the buyer’s inspection bill. Do not try to recover a month’s berth rental through an improvised “survey support” charge. If a contribution is wanted for an unusual expense, negotiate it before the purchase agreement is signed.

Make the trial plan specific. A departure from Fort Lauderdale, a run offshore and a return to the same berth is a different proposition from a lengthy positioning trip followed by testing. State the departure berth, intended testing area and expected duration in the booking instructions.

Fuel is easiest to discuss before the engines start. Use the yacht’s recorded consumption at the proposed test speeds, add the low-speed transit, and agree how consumption will be documented. A dashboard photograph is better than an argument based on the last fuel invoice.

Avoid selling the inspection as an unrestricted day aboard. Recommend a written attendance list and test programme. The purpose is to demonstrate the yacht and permit the agreed inspections, not to provide a complimentary coastal outing.

The yard quote deserves as much attention as the surveyor’s quote. Ask for a survey-specific lift rather than requesting a haul-out without explaining what will happen ashore.

Published Palm Beach-area tariffs checked on October 24, 2026 list haul-and-hang survey rates of $14 per foot up to 50 feet and $16 per foot from 51 feet, with one hour of hanging time. Additional time is listed at $100 per half-hour. Pressure cleaning appears as a separate tariff item, so obtain a written package price rather than assuming it is included.

A separate 2026 yard tariff lists a powerboat survey lift at $10 per foot for a maximum of two hours, a $300 minimum, length supplements above 50 feet, and pressure washing at $5 per foot. It also adds 5% for waste, power and administration. These are individual yard prices, not a national average.

For every quote, request confirmation of:

• The billable length and any minimum charge.
• Lift-out and relaunch, including permitted time in the slings.
• Pressure washing and heavy-growth removal.
• Blocking, stand rental and movement ashore.
• Extra straps or special hull arrangements.
• Storage, overtime, cancellation charges and surcharges.

Ask the buyer’s surveyor whether the proposed lift arrangement permits the intended inspection. Do not book a one-hour slot and leave the surveyor to discover that the agreed scope needs longer.

Nor should the owner casually add antifouling while the yacht is suspended. Keep sale inspection work and owner-authorised maintenance on separate work orders, with separate payment instructions.

Consider a 50-foot twin-diesel motor yacht under offer at $825,000 in South Florida. For this illustration, assume the parties have agreed that the seller pays operating expenses and the buyer pays inspection expenses. The following allowances are a planning exercise, not quotations or claimed market averages.

The seller allows:

• Trial consumption: 100 U.S. gallons at an assumed $5 per gallon, $500.
• Captain: an agreed day allowance of $650.
• Additional deck assistance: $250.
• Pre-trial preparation: four hours at an assumed $125 per hour, $500.

The seller’s incremental allowance is $1,900. Existing insurance, regular dockage and ongoing ownership costs remain outside this calculation.

For the buyer’s side, use illustrative quotes of $1,500 for the hull-and-systems survey and $1,200 for an engine technician. Add a $700 survey lift, calculated at the published $14-per-foot tariff for a yacht of this length. That produces an inspection allowance of $3,400 before any separately quoted washing, laboratory work, travel or taxes.

Now suppose the buyer requests another hour in the slings. At the same published tariff, that adds $200. The amount is modest beside the purchase price, but someone still needs authority to approve it.

The useful document is a one-page allocation sheet attached to the booking instructions. It should name the customer for each supplier, identify who authorises extras, and record any agreed spending limit. Do not assume that writing “buyer pays” in an email changes the yard’s own account-opening terms.

Recommend a signed purchase agreement and confirmation of the required deposit before committing the yacht to testing. The published U.S. form expressly allows the seller to withhold inspection access until the deposit has cleared into escrow.

Then organise the practical work in this order:

1. 1Ask the surveyor and engine technician for their proposed scope and access requirements.
2. 2Reserve a suitable yard slot, checking capacity, beam limits and the yacht’s lifting information.
3. 3Agree the departure time, captain, fuel allowance and positioning arrangements.
4. 4Obtain written confirmation from the insurer that the intended activity and operators are covered.
5. 5Circulate the timetable, payment allocation and emergency contacts.
6. 6Leave time after inspection for reports and contractual decisions.

Do not promise that weather, a bridge opening or a delayed technician will automatically extend the acceptance deadline. Have the broker check the agreement and obtain any necessary written amendment before the deadline becomes a problem.

Prepare the yacht without disguising its condition. Tell the engine technician about recent servicing, oil changes and known alarms. Ask about cold-start requirements before moving or warming the yacht on inspection morning.

A common owner mistake is arranging a beautifully polished presentation while leaving access panels buried beneath personal belongings. Clear the inspection routes. Put lifting information and maintenance records where the attending professionals can use them.

A repeat visit needs its own cost agreement. Recommend distinguishing between a buyer requesting additional investigation and a yacht that was not ready for the originally agreed testing.

If a cooling alarm prevents completion, propose a written plan covering diagnosis, repair, retesting and payment. State who appoints the technician, who approves the repair invoice, and what evidence will satisfy the buyer. Do not substitute a verbal promise that the captain will “take it out again.”

Weather cancellation needs equally clear instructions. Some published yard terms require full, non-refundable payment when a short haul is booked, exclude pressure washing, and add a separate survey fee. Read the reservation terms before either party supplies a card.

Keep any repair negotiation separate from payment for services already ordered. The published U.S. purchase form provides for buyer-incurred expenses to be paid before the deposit is returned following contractual rejection; inspection expenditure and the purchase deposit are not interchangeable pots of money.

The expensive mistake is allowing uncertainty to accumulate. A disputed $300 yard extra can delay the practical arrangements for an $825,000 closing. Settle the allocation while everyone is still focused on getting the inspection booked.