Editorial policy

What a guide has to include

• A specific dollar example or a checklist a buyer can use on one boat.
• The author name and role, with a link to the Eric Whipple bio.
• A last-reviewed date in the page header.
• Citations the reader can follow, including NMMA statistics, CFPB notes, surveyor associations, or the insurer and manufacturer materials the paragraph relies on.
• A referral disclosure on every article, separate from the body.
• Directory links only where the paragraph is about that coast or that documentation step.

How numbers are handled

Calculator pages call the same functions as the articles' worksheets: simple versus Rule of 78s interest, loan-file scoring, named-storm deductibles, ownership cost, Mercury timing, and Deal Check severity. If a guide states a dollar figure, it should be reproducible from those inputs or from the cited source. Illustrative APRs are labeled as illustrations. They are not offers of credit.

Deal Check versus a survey

The $299 Deal Check reads documents the customer supplies under Eric Whipple's process. A named reviewer signs the report before it is released. The output is a deal meter, repair ranges, a concession range, and a next-step list. It is not a new hull survey and it is not a statement that a boat should be purchased. Proprietary software tools support the desk; that fact is stated on the terms and disclosures pages.

Advertising and referrals

Partners do not buy a ranking on a state marina list. A fixed-fee introduction is offered only through an unchecked checkbox on a form, described on the disclosures page. Editorial copy does not tell a reader which insurance form to buy.

Corrections

Send the URL, the sentence, and the source you trust to [email protected]. Material corrections update the last-reviewed date. Guides are reviewed when NMMA statistical abstracts, USCG documentation practice, or Mercury's published MPP rules change, and at least when the byline date is older than a year.