Boat Surveyors-

29 cascadefixer · #1 (**permalink**) 09-29-2002

I bought a sailboat 12 years ago, using the services of a Marine Surveyor recommended to me by the Boat Dealer as being reputable. The boat surveyed ok except for cosmetic details,keel needed painting,etc. I bought the boat, and after building a trailer, brought it home to work on at my convience. As I was scraping and digging at the old caulking, I heard a dull sound coming from the deck material. The upshot was I sounded the whole deck and discovered wood rot.I started digging through the crap, and discovered that the rot had also gone into the deck shelf. That was 12 years and 60% of the deck and supporting members ago. If I ever buy another boat, I''ll do my own survey. Has anyone here had similar experience with so-called surveyors ?

CPTKARL · #2 (**permalink**) 09-29-2002

I just had a CAL 35 surveyed by a marine outfit in Annapolis, MD. I was there with him and I think he did an outstanding job. We were there for a little more than 3 hours. Although it was raining he spent at least an hour sounding the deck. He payed close attention to any area that was repaired and I was very pleased with his professionalism. It''s just like everything else, there are good and bad people doing jobs that you depend on their judgement to make a decision. Sorry to hear that you may have gotten a bad one. At least now you''ll be an expert at repairing dry-rot. With what you learned from this experience you can better determine next time if you think you''re getting ripped off.

Fair winds to ya,

CPT Karl

windship · #3 (**permalink**) 09-29-2002

When I bought my first boat here''s what I did;I bought books ,I read and studyed them over and over again. I spoke with many knowladgeable people. I did alot to educate myself.The only time I got screwed was when I trusted a surveyor. And it was a reputable surveyer here in Massachusetts.And that was only because the financer forced me to use one. Mabey if they could be held responsible for their ''work'' things would be different.
I also have a few stories. My boat wasn''t the only one.
If you want your boat surveyed and you live in my neck of the woods, get ahold of me...I''ll do it for free!

Dennis