Best Boat Report is independent and reader-supported. We don’t sell boats or listings. This page is about who is behind the research.

Kern Campbell out on the water

Hi, I’m Kern Campbell, the founder and primary voice behind Best Boat Report. I have spent my life around boats, from a homemade skiff I cobbled together as a kid to the power catamaran I run today on the coastal waters of North Carolina. I started this site to give buyers and sellers something the internet was missing: honest, first-hand answers about what boats are really worth, written by someone who actually owns, buys, sells, and runs them.

How I got here

My first boat came from my grandfather: a 14 foot fiberglass skiff with a 7.5 horsepower Johnson outboard. I still have that motor today, sitting in my storage building. It is where all of this started.

The 7.5 hp Johnson outboard from Kern's first boat, still owned today

Before that skiff, when I was about nine, two friends and I decided to build a boat out of scrap lumber and whatever else we could find, with zero boat-building knowledge between us. It was not pretty. If you have ever built a Lego set from the picture on the box, this was the opposite: no plans, no skill, just a few kids and a lot of determination. Somehow it floated, mostly, and I was hooked.

The real turning point was Kerr Lake. I spent summers at a neighbor’s lake house, and while the other kids were busy slaloming, I was bad at skiing (still am). So I asked to learn to run the boat instead. By ten I would skip my turn on the skis because I was having too much fun at the helm, learning how a boat turns and how to manage speed. That is where my passion for being behind the wheel came from, and it has only gotten stronger.

Time on the water

Since then I have owned and run a lot of boats: jon boats and ski boats, center consoles, sport fishers, and power catamarans. A few that shaped how I think:

  • 1987 Wellcraft 190 Classic (“Blue Boat”), the family boat I logged the most early seat time on.
  • 2003 Sea Hunt 21, bought tired and oxidized, detailed back to new, and sold for a profit in a flat market.
  • 2004 World Cat 250 DC, run for about five years and sold for more than I paid.
  • 2021 World Cat 280 CC-X, my current boat, ordered new and delivered in June 2021.
  • 2007 Parker 1801 CC and a 2015 Bay Rider 2060 skiff, my current project and inshore boats.

Most of my time now is on the coastal waters of North Carolina, inshore and offshore.

Kern catching a blue marlin offshore of Nags Head, North Carolina
Kern and Ashley running in rough weather near Ocracoke, North Carolina

How I think about boat values

I am a finance and value guy at heart, and I have never lost money on a boat. The principle I keep coming back to is simple: you make your money when you buy, not when you sell. The profit, or the loss you avoid, is locked in at purchase.

That comes down to three things. Buy right, from a motivated seller at a fair to deep discount. Force value, with sweat equity on a boat that is cosmetically rough but structurally sound. And read the market, because timing and the bigger economic picture move prices more than most people realize.

The most useful skill I have is telling cosmetic problems from structural ones. Oxidation, faded gelcoat, ugly non-skid, and missing electronics scare buyers off and crater the price, but they are fixable. Soft decks, rotten stringers, a flexing transom, or a corroded engine are reasons to walk away. One trick I use: bounce a tennis ball across the deck. A solid floor gives a consistent bounce and a sharp sound; a soft, wet spot deadens both. Anyone can do it in ninety seconds.

Living in North Carolina puts me close to a lot of the builders, from Grady-White and Regulator to Parker, Albemarle, and World Cat, which keeps me near the boats I write about. My focus is the area I know best: saltwater center consoles and power catamarans from 18 to 36 feet.

Factory photo of Kern's World Cat 280 CC-X being built

Repairs and restorations from my own boats

I don’t just write about boats, I work on them. Here are raw, unedited clips from a recent project, the full cosmetic restoration of my Bay Rider 2060 skiff, the “Duck Rider.” This is the kind of force-the-value work I describe above. No production, just the actual job.

The finished boat

A walk around the “Duck Rider” after its full cosmetic restoration: wet sanding, compounding, polishing, and a sealant coat, plus new badges, an engine service, a new Garmin 94sv (side scan, ClearVu, and traditional CHIRP sonar), and new upholstery front and back. No talking, just the finished boat.

The work

Wet sanding the oxidized gel coat back to life.

Why you can trust Best Boat Report

Best Boat Report is independent. We do not sell boats or listings, and we are not a broker. That means I can tell you what a boat is really worth, including when the honest answer is “less than they are asking.”

Every market report on this site is reviewed by hand, not scraped. Asking prices are what sellers actually list. Selling prices are clearly labeled estimates, because real sold prices are not public, and I would rather tell you that plainly than dress up a guess as a fact. When a report covers a boat I have owned or run, it carries a first-hand owner take. The goal is to be the most honest source for boat values you can find, for buyers and sellers alike.

If there is a model you want covered, or a question about what your boat is worth, reach out. I read everything.

Kern Campbell, Founder, Best Boat Report. North Carolina.