Save $10,000–$25,000 over the life of your boat, plus $1,500–$3,000 every year you own it—with the buying, financing and ownership tactics marine dealers hope you skip.
One manual for the entire buy–own–service–sell lifecycle.
Open Tides · 2026 Edition
Illustrated PDF · 160 pages · 2026 Edition
The complete guide to what boats really cost, choosing the right one, buying without getting burned, service without overcharges, staying safe on the water and selling for top dollar.
Launch price · ends Sunday
Every figure below is worked through inside the Manual. These are potential savings—not a promise—and depend on your boat, market and decisions.
Avoid hidden rate markup on a $45,000 loan
Buy the right aged boat at the right time
Challenge doc, prep and registration markups
Sell well instead of accepting trade-in spread
Pay fair labor, source parts and skip needless work
Read once, reference throughout ownership
Seven parts, 41 chapters and a Quick Reference appendix. Start at the beginning or jump straight to the decision in front of you.
See the full financial picture before a dealer shows you a monthly payment.
Match the boat to your water, budget and actual use—not the showroom pitch.
Learn where the margin hides and where your negotiating leverage begins.
Understand the service desk, fair labor, parts markup and the jobs you can do yourself.
Budget the expensive supporting systems buyers often discover after closing.
Protect the boat, the crew and the trip with practical operating benchmarks.
Plan the sale before ownership costs force the decision for you.
Annual cost benchmarks, fair-price service ranges, manufacturer schedules and checklists for the dealership, contract and survey.
“The contract chapter caught the doc-fee stack before I left a deposit. I walked away from a bad deal and knew exactly why.”
“The marina rate-card material gave me the language and the benchmarks to question a service estimate instead of just accepting it.”
“No filler. The financing and depreciation sections changed the boat I was shopping for and what I was willing to pay.”
Open Tides organizes the pricing structures, ownership benchmarks and failure patterns that are usually scattered across mechanics, surveyors, lenders and experienced owners. This manual follows a boat through its entire financial life so you can make each decision with the full picture in front of you.
It is not a promise that boat ownership will be cheap. It is a system for making sure it is not needlessly expensive.
Instant access after payment. Read on any phone, tablet or computer, or print it. Seven-day money-back guarantee and lifetime updates included.
No. The opening guide routes active shoppers, current owners and people preparing to sell directly to the chapters that matter. Owners can begin with service pricing, parts, winterization and marina rates.
It is a 160-page PDF. You can read it on a phone, tablet or computer, or print it for your desk. Gumroad provides instant access after payment.
The manual works through the numbers using current U.S. market ranges, loan examples, ownership models and service benchmarks. Your actual savings depend on your boat, location and decisions.
Yes. It covers dealership purchases, aged inventory, demos, private-party listings, online risks, surveys and the mechanical issues most likely to matter on used boats.
Your purchase is covered by a 7-day money-back guarantee. Request a refund through Gumroad within that window.
$20 once. Instant access. Forty-one chapters for every stage of buying, owning and selling a boat.