Yacht & Marine Surveyors

Most boat surveyors should be able to look at a boat or any part of it and give a useful opinion as to its strength.  Years spent close to boats implants a scale of soundness which automatically evaluates everything. When a boat surveyor goes aboard whether an Open 60 or a Wide beam, he will be glancing all around at the frames, bulkheads , mouldings, size of fittings and methods of fixings. The surveyor may appear rude, distracted, not listening to the owner, broker or purchasers banter but it is that they are absorbing information like the osmosis they hope not to discover. They are extremely interested in what’s going on and more than likely also picking up snippets of great insights from the conversations being had.

The boat surveyor will be assessing the worth of the various components that go to make up the boat – (the scantlings).

It would be wrong for a boat surveyor to make a judgement on the vessel until the very end of the survey and report written. If the boat surveyor can miss the half hidden spaces it is likely the maintenance crew will too. It is not unusual to find the major part of the boat entirely sound with just two or three areas of trouble but these defective areas may not be discovered until the very end of the survey. What was developing into an encouraging report suddenly becomes an expensive one 10 minutes before the boat surveyor climbs out of his overalls.

Adapted and modernised from Ian Nicolson Surveying Small craft 1974.