Dirty Sailor

Whether buying, selling, insuring, valuating, or embarking upon a major refit, repair, or restoration, a Marine Survey is almost always required, or at least recommended. Still, a survey is often seen by many as just another expense. Even seasoned yachtsmen can balk at the prospect of a survey.

On the other hand, an experienced, knowledgeable, and accredited Surveyor can be one of your greatest boatyard assets. A timely and thorough survey can save you endless frustration, time, and expense in the long run. Even if you are an experienced hand, a good surveyor will spot things you may have overlooked, and furthermore will stand behind their judgment.

In this post, we’ll try to show when and where a survey is required or recommended, what a survey typically entails, and a few tips and tricks on how to choose the surveyor that is right for you, your boat, and your project.

Not everyone really understands what a survey entails. While the exact content of an exhaustive survey will vary according to jurisdiction, it will typically include:

• Depending on the complexity of your boat, a marine survey is like a combination home inspection, tax assessment, vehicle safety test, pest control visit, energy audit, network analysis, engineering evaluation, and (maybe) baby-proofing.
• The surveyor will personally physically inspect, assess, and document all the structural, mechanical, and electrical aspects of the boat, noting deficiencies, and comparing to an established standard.
• The surveyor will prepare a written report, without prejudice, with a certain level of guarantee, that will be able to stand as a historical record.

Here are the most common occasions to merit a survey:

• Buying a boat under financing – Lenders almost always require a survey for valuation.
• Insurance – Insurers almost always require a survey to asses the risks. Note that Lenders may require insurance.
• Coast Guard safety inspections

Less common reasons for a survey might be:

• Embarking on a major refit
• Prior to taking on extensive contract repair labor
• Prior to extensive voyaging, particularly offshore
• During the process of an insurance claim, independent of the insurer’s agent
• As part of stability testing or ratings measurements

Common to all of these instances are a few seemingly-obvious and yet often-overlooked rules-of-thumb:

• The surveyor works for you. Not the seller, not the broker, not the lender, not the insurer, not the contractor. The surveyor should -and usually always will- keep your best interests in mind, not those of a third party.
• Choose your own surveyor. Unless you have excellent reasons otherwise, do not automatically accept a surveyor recommended by a seller, lender, broker, insurer, or contractor.
• Accredited surveyors work to a standard, but are usually flexible enough to perform whatever level of inspection you require. Unless specifically required by a third party, most surveyors will be willing to focus their inspections upon particular areas or aspects of your boat.
• Almost all good professional surveyors are accredited/insured, but not all accredited/insured surveyors are particularly good or professional.
• A proper survey requires that systems, especially the engine, be run and used under load, and not simply inspected. A survey should evaluate the boat as a dynamic working vehicle, not simple a static display on jackstands or idly bobbing alongside the dock.

Choosing a surveyor:

• Quality brokers, insurers, and contractors can usually provide you with a selection of recommendations to start out with.
• Go to the accrediting body for your jurisdiction, such as The Society Of Accredited Marine Surveyors.
• Ask around. Your fellow yachtsmen will typically be long on praise or criticism, with little middle ground.
• Prefer a surveyor with demonstrable experience with surveying your make/model/style/application of boat.
• Distrust anyone too clean; a deep survey is a dirty job not suited to the neatly-creased-chinos-wearing clipboard-toting manicured-nails type.
• Be rightfully suspicious of any surveyor who tries to dissuade you from being present during the survey.
• Prefer a surveyor with real-world yachting/sailing/commercial/fishing experience, as applicable.
• Many surveyors are real sea-folk who have seen things break, and know the consequences. Many other surveyors passed the courses and only know how to run down a survey checklist. Prefer the former, and avoid the latter.

One thing that most surveyors seem to loathe is presenting any firm opinion on the cash costs of addressing any problems they find. Likewise, few feel comfortable in suggesting any particular contractor unless they have an excellent basis for doing so. To be fair, no surveyor wants to stick their neck out and take this role from the estimating contractor.

What an excellent surveyor will bring to the table is advice and knowledge to help you determine just how much time and effort you may have to expend, no matter what route you choose, ie., a contractor, your own labor, etc. This is illustrated by this frank quote by an expereinced local surveyor:

In selecting a marine surveyor experience offshore and with a wide experience in the marine world should be the first guide. It is the wide ranging experience and time spent offshore that provides a context for evaluating the practical impact of whatever deficiencies turn up in the course of the survey.
A surveyor should be sensitive to the experience and expectations of the client and be able to match his/her inclination and ability to resolve deficiencies in a vessel with fair market value. A vessel that needs a lot of work to be brought up to seaworthy condition and has a price that reflects that is still no deal for one who is either not inclined or not experienced enough to take it on.

Don’t be afraid to ask plenty of questions of your potential or chosen surveyor. Follow them through the survey process and learn all that you can. Treat your surveyor like a valued employee rather than as just another additional expense, and you may get more benefit from the experience than you expect.

DirtySailor.com gratefully acknowledges the input of Capt. Jeff Stone at Azimuth Marine LLC in the preparation of this post.