What Finally Pushed Me to Launch Boat Experts

After decades selling boats for other people, I'm flipping the script — and putting buyers in control. No brand bias. No BS. No punches pulled 🥊

Let me start with this: I didn’t launch Boat Experts because I was bored, broke, or desperate to build another bloody website.

I launched it because I hit a breaking point. One that started with a bloke named Jeff, a gutful of regret, and a long-overdue realisation that the boat industry, as it stands, doesn’t just fail buyers — it often takes the piss.

This post isn’t about promoting the business. It’s about why I felt compelled to flip the whole model and start fighting for buyers instead of pitching to them. So, if you're new here, or just boat-curious, consider this my origin story. With a few f-bombs for good measure.

"If it floats and rolls on a trailer, there’s a fair chance I’ve had something to do with it."

A Bit About Me

Boats have been my business (and obsession) for over 20 years. In that time, I’ve:

• Bought them.

• Sold them (around 1,800 worth a collective $80M, give or take).

• Reviewed them (as Editor of TrailerBoat and Field Editor of Trade-A-Boat).

• Designed them.

• Marketed them.

• Modified them.

• Consulted on them.

• And probably conceived a kid or three on them. 😜💦

I directed ops for Whittley, ran Cobalt Boats & Bennington Pontoons Vic, and played mad scientist in the R&D lab with Haines Hunter and Revival.

That’s not a résumé — that’s me ticking off the nautical bucket list while earning my Boat Experts apprenticeship.

Throwback to the mayhem of chase helicopters and 5-way boat tests

Bottom line? If it floats, there’s a fair chance I’ve had something to do with it. And I say that not to flex — but to make one thing clear: I didn’t just wake up one day and decide to be a “boat buying expert.” I lived this.

On Autopilot, But on the Wrong Course

For a long time, things were... fine. Good even. The career looked cruisy from the outside. But eventually, that gut feeling started gnawing.

I found myself biting my tongue when I saw corners being cut. Shrugging when buyers got brushed off. Laughing at the same BS I used to rant about when I was still reviewing boats with a conscience.

And then along came Jeff.

The Jeff Effect (a.k.a. The Last Straw)

Here’s the setup: Boat Show. Good buyer. Great boat match.

I was helming the stand as a rep for a boat brand. Per Boat Show protocol, I handed off a meticulously tailored deal, wrapped in a PDF and finished with a shiny bow, to a dealer who took it, botched it, and left a good customer bruised by the experience.

Salt in the wound? Jeff told me he had reservations about the dealer. He’d done his homework. But — protocol and all that — I handed it over and formally bowed out. And watched from the sidelines as a slam-dunk deal turned into a buyer's remorse case study.

FFS... all they had to do was Control-C, Control-V… and hit Send (that's Copy and Paste, in case you missed it)

Instead? They ghosted him.

Misread the brief.

Screwed the order.

Delayed delivery.

And, finally, delivered the wrong spec’d boat.

Jeff rejected it. Rightly so. After a do-over, they finally got it right — but by then, the damage was done.

"FFS... all they had to do was Control-C, Control-V… and hit Send."

We caught up during and after the ordeal. Jeff still loves his boat, loathed the experience, and has an unmentionable opinion of the dealer.

That one stuck with me.

Shifting Gear and Changing Course

The Jeff-effect had seismic repercussions.

I sought guidance — no, not from God — but an entity infinitely wiser and more powerful, who’s never been proven wrong… my WIFE! She dispensed advice as only WIVES can:

“If you don’t like it, change it. You know what to do. Oh, and stop giving away advice for free.”

See what I mean? Short, sharp, and to the point… unlike yours truly.

I'd crash tested Boat Experts as a side hustle during COVID — helping buyers and dealers remotely when showrooms were shut and people were stranded. Turns out, people really liked having someone in their corner who actually knew what they were doing and gave a sh!t.

So, my occasional side hustle which had been idling in neutral during the Post Pandemic bubble has officially become the full-time gig — a concierge and advocacy service for trailerboat buyers who, unlike the big boat end of town, have been left to fend for themselves… until now.

And if a buyer (or a Boat Expert) isn’t feeling the vibe with a particular dealer (or brand), they don’t get a look in.

Simple as that. Thanks, Jeff.

So… What Does Boat Experts Actually Do?

We're over buyers getting Jeffed up. Seriously — how many times does someone have to get burnt before the system admits it's broken? Boat Experts take the chaos, confusion, and commission-chasing out of buying a trailerboat. Think of us as your boat-buying wingman. You tell us what you’re after (or what you think you’re after), and we help you:

• Refine your brief.

• Shortlist real options.

• Quietly go to bat for you, with dealers across the country.

We bypass the dudes on the desks and negotiate directly with the Dealer Principals and Sales Managers to ensure nothing gets lost in translation. And since we've deleted "NO" from our vocabulary, we don't quit until there's a genuine deal on the table — or they run away crying and call security on us.

We don't stop negotiating if we believe there's still something left in the tank. Sorry... not sorry!

Once they've pitched us their best offers, we run it through our Expert AI Bullshit Filter™ (built from a re-mapped Evinrude ECU, duct tape, and an over-sized scepticism chip). You get a clean, simple report with 3 Top Deals. No hidden figures. No bias. No drama. No dealers blowing up your phone while you’re still Googling “what’s a gunnel?”

When you’re ready to buy, we lock in the deal, help with the fine print, and stay in your corner until the boat’s in your driveway (and beyond).

"And since we've deleted "NO" from our vocabulary, we don't quit until there's a genuine deal on the table — or they run away crying and call security on us."

So, What’s It Cost?

To buyers? Absolutely nothing.

But you will save — big time. Save money, save time, and save your sanity.

And How Do We Get Paid?

Fair question. We take a small slice of the dealer’s margin in exchange for delivering a clean, qualified deal from a buyer who wasn’t even on their radar. Curious? Check out how we get paid.

Why Boat Experts Matters

Let’s be blunt. Most boat buyers are set up to fail. They're overwhelmed, under-informed, and up against a system motivated by one goal: move stock at all costs. If it happens to be the boat that actually meets their brief, well — that’s a fortunate coincidence.

Boat Experts flips the script. We advocate. We interrogate. We translate Boat Salesman into English. And we give a damn about finding the right boat for YOU, not them.

Jeff getting bent over by a dealer who should've know better, was the rogue wave moment that knocked me off autopilot and made me realise that the course I was on no longer jibed with the values I wanted to stand for.

So, thanks for the nudge, Jeff. Catch you on the water sometime.