Surveyor in Vancouver (BC) Area

[Figur8t]

Hello, I'm relatively new to the Vancouver area and a relatively novice sailor and consequently I don't have a cadre of contacts to call upon to help me out. I'm looking for a reliable, meticulous and knowledgeable surveyor to help me evaluate my potential sailboat purchase. I'm looking at boats between 22-29' and have been focusing on Catalina's and C&C's to this point.
I'd be very grateful for anyone's assistance.
Thanks

[Faster]

We've been using Phil Oldham for years, based in North Van. Recent recommendations also include

Aegis Marine Surveyors 604-983-2050 tjmcgivney@shaw.ca

Phil Oldham Marine Surveyors 604-984-7286

For a more complete listing:

Surveyors | Pacific Marine Underwriting Managers Ltd.

[djodenda]

You will find that Faster's advice is good.

When I purchased my boat last summer in Vancouver, I used Tim McGivney of Aegis Marine Surveyors.

He was one of a list of surveyors provided to me by Faster and others. I don't think that Phil Oldham was available, as I recall.

I decided to go with Aegis after a phone conversation with him about my boat. He was able to identify specific areas of concerns with the type (CS 36 Merlin) which I thought was important.

He was very thorough with the survey, and although he missed some things, I was very satisfied. I would definitely recommend him and use him again.

Please feel free to contact me via PM if you would like any further information.

[olson34]

Originally Posted by Figur8t

Hello, I'm relatively new to the Vancouver area and a relatively novice sailor and consequently I don't have a cadre of contacts to call upon to help me out. I'm looking for a reliable, meticulous and knowledgeable surveyor to help me evaluate my potential sailboat purchase. I'm looking at boats between 22-29' and have been focusing on Catalina's and C&C's to this point.
I'd be very grateful for anyone's assistance.
Thanks

Back in the (distant) 90's we were buying a Niagara 26 in the Sidney BC area and had no idea how to source a local surveyor that would give an unbiased opinion. I had to arrange the details by phone from Portland....
After pondering the situation, and considering how much $$$ I was going to spend, I figured out that there were large banks in the Victoria area that probably made boat loans.

If the loan officer accepted lousy collateral the bank would lose money and the the loan officer would be fired if this happened very often. So, I called up several large banks and asked to speak to their boat lending person. I remember calling about three. I just asked what short list of local surveyors they would trust before they would hand over the bank's money. All were polite and agreed with my premise.

I soon had a short list and picked a guy whose name appeared more than once. He was very thorough. good thing since this was our first "large" boat. We sailed it home, paid duty on it, and enjoyed it for a decade.
I recall still that all the lenders chuckled at bit at my logic, and then said they liked that approach!
I should add that this was not done because I had any cause to doubt the seller or broker, but with over 18K of our money at risk I really wanted to be cautious. (Besides, if I were to get somehow cheated, my wife might have killed me...)


Happy shopping and dock walking! It took us months to find our dream boat. Shopping was fun, but it was sure nice to end with a great sailing yacht from a high quality builder.

LB

[sailjunkie]

I've heard good things about Tim McGiveny, but also heard that he doesn't do smaller boats anymore.

We used Paul Dupre, of Western Maritime Services, and were quite happy with the results, last year. Note that Paul is now in Vancouver, not Richmond, as Faster's link suggests.

The Barnet Sailing Co-op has been happy using Jim Small, of Port Moody. I'm not sure if he does Pre-purchase surveys; or just Insurance surveys.

Jan de Groot is another good surveyor, but he won't have anything to do with ferro-cement hulls. I wonder why.

If you are in the Vancouver area, check Pacific Yachting's web site, for their Boater's Directory or just buy a hard copy.

Hope this helps.

[boatpoker]

List of all Society of Accredited Marine Surveyors in BC

Every SAMS Marine Surveyor In Canada

[Figur8t]

Thanks for all the great input. I've found a couple great leads.... now I just need to find my boat!
happy sailing