2026 Captain's Edition - Launching Soon
Structured working documents for people who buy, own and sail boats. Pre-purchase inspection checklists, maintenance logs, refit trackers, passage plans and safety inventories - fillable on your iPad in GoodNotes or PDF Expert, fully offline, and print-ready for the dock.
Why Apex Marine Labs
Knowledge that is not sequenced gets applied unevenly. Observations that are not written down are lost by the time they matter. Our systems close that gap.
Organised around the same categories professional marine surveys use, so the structure maps onto what surveyors and yards already work with. 214 points sequenced the way the walkthrough actually happens, each one scored and totalled, so nothing gets skipped when you are tired, rushed, or standing in a cold boatyard.
Interactive fillable fields, tap-to-check boxes and auto-totalling scores. Tested in GoodNotes, PDF Expert, Notability and Apple Files. Works entirely offline at the dock or under sail, with print-ready A4 and US Letter versions in the same download.
A defect you noticed but did not record is a defect you cannot price, and a defect you cannot price is one you do not negotiate on. Every observation is captured in a form your surveyor can read and your broker cannot dismiss.
Coming Soon
$97.00
Not on sale yet. Join the launch list and get it before it goes public.
Six engineering modules that take you from first walkthrough to signed offer, with every finding costed and documented.
Side by side
Most free boat buyer checklists tell you what to look at. An engineering system tells you what to measure, how to score it, and what it costs you at the negotiating table.
| Criterion | Paper notes / basic checklists | Apex Marine Labs digital systems |
|---|---|---|
| Coverage | 20 to 40 generic points, mostly cosmetic | 214 points across hull, engine, rig, systems and sea trial |
| Methodology | Written from forum threads and blog posts | Built on professional marine survey sequencing |
| Scoring | Ticks and gut feeling | Weighted condition scores that total automatically |
| Device | Paper, or a notes app that fights you | Fillable PDF for iPad, GoodNotes, PDF Expert, Notability |
| Offline use | Depends on signal at the marina | Fully offline, no app or account required |
| Reuse | One boat, then it is a mess | Unlimited reuse across every boat you shortlist |
| Negotiation output | A vague list of concerns | Defect-to-dollar costing sheet and structured offer worksheet |
| Typical cost of a miss | Discovered after closing | Findings priced before you sign |
Answers
Straight answers on compatibility, offline use, and how a due diligence kit fits alongside a professional marine survey.
No, and it is not meant to be. A certified marine survey is a formal, insurable assessment carried out by an accredited surveyor, and you should always commission one before completing a purchase. The kit does two things a survey cannot. It lets you screen boats yourself before paying for a survey, so you only commission one on serious candidates. And it gives your surveyor a documented record of what you observed, which makes their inspection faster and better targeted.
Yes. The kit ships as a standard interactive PDF with fillable form fields, tap-to-check boxes and auto-totalling score fields. It has been tested in GoodNotes, PDF Expert, Notability and Apple Files on iPad, and works on Android tablets in Xodo or Adobe Acrobat Reader. Apple Pencil annotation works on top of the form fields, so you can sketch a corrosion location or a hull diagram directly on the page. Print-ready A4 and US Letter versions are included in the same download if you prefer a clipboard.
Completely. There is no app, no login and no cloud dependency. Once the PDF is on your device it works with the boat out of the water, in a shed with no signal, or three miles offshore during a sea trial. Your entries save locally in your PDF reader, and you can export or email the completed file later when you are back in range.
Record RPM against boat speed across the engine's range, and note whether the engine reaches its rated maximum RPM at wide-open throttle. Log exhaust colour at start-up and under load, operating temperature over a sustained run, and any vibration through the shaft or steering. Under sail, record behaviour on both tacks, upwind and downwind, and whether the autopilot holds a course. Write it down as it happens rather than afterwards: Module 5 of the kit provides the timed sheet for exactly this, and what the readings mean for a given boat is a question for your surveyor.