[Public-list] Survey

[Don Campbell]

    I have had one survey done on the first (basket case) hull I bought,  and
had 10 things that were described as needing replacement or repair before it was
what the surveyor thought ready for the Great Lakes. That did not include
reglassing the keel to hull joint in the forepeake which has still to be done to
make the hull seaworthy. The insurance company accepted that survey and allowed
me to buy insurance without a further survey with the proviso that if any of the
10 items were not repaired to ABYC standards, they would not pay any claim.
Needless to say, all 10 were done.
    I did not have a survey done on the second hull but spent 3 hours going over
that boat inch by inch myself,  which entailed a trip to New York City (500
miles from home) to see it. Having spent 400 hours myself on the first hull and
the 10 jobs,  I had a pretty good idea of what I was looking for and bought the
nylon hammer to check for wet decks. I do need a survey for insurance to sail
her, but have coverage for comprehensive and theft without the survey.
    However, there are several kinds of surveys that might be done and I think
you need to specify what you are requesting when you engage a surveyor. The
first type  is to assure yourself that the boat meets whatever standard you set,
ABYC or less, delineates the leins, conditions of the boat etc.  and you can go
from there. Then there is the one for insurance and it may be of the type to
specify standards if the insurance company expects that or may only specify
things present, which amounts to a third party verifying things that are there.
I will phone my insurance agent before I launch the second hull to see what
survey is acceptable for them as I will have the boat to where the first one was
for my satisfaction. Then there are the downright fraudulent ones and these may
occur if there is a great distance between surveyor and client, or if the
surveyor feels he might never see the client again.
    My son was involved with one of these last ones  that was done in St.
Maarten for a client in Nova Scotia. This was what most of us would call a big
boat - over 70 feet long and a sailing vessel. In the survey,  the sails were
reported as 'good' and the hull seaworthy. This allowed the client to believe
that he could find a delivery crew (including my son)  to take the boat to Nova
Scotia and he was quite miffed when the captain who he hired took over 3 weeks
to outfit the boat to be seaworthy for himself and his crew (without doing
anything major to the sails). On the first day, 3 foresails were taken down with
ripped seams, so they turned back for restitching by machine. All 3 were gone
again before Bermuda and restitched again there. They went through 6 fuel
filters in 9 days and the steering was loose as well. Quite a trip and the
delivery crew attempted to tell the owner that his survey and his boat were not
a match - to no avail because the client believed the surveyor rather than the
captain! That crew of 2 were very happy with an airline ticket out of Halifax.
    It helps to know what you need and expect expect from a survey, and then
specify that clearly to a surveyor, and it also helps to have a surveyor who
knows the boat, particulary if you want the "need to do" jobs itemized. When
buying a survey, it, too is Buyer Beware! Make sure you get the survey that you
really need to make the decisions that you will be required to make, be that
safety, purchasing decisions or insurance and risk decisions.
Don #528

"sousa, stephen (ENG)" wrote:

> Michael,
>
> You are correct a survery will be required for insurance. In our case the
> boat was such a basket case, it was recommended to restore it first then
> have a survey. Otherwise they felt we would require two surveys. Please bear
> in mind #114 wouldn't float when it arrived at home with bad gate valves and
> so on.
>
> Stephen
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: public-list-bounces at alberg30.org
> [mailto:public-list-bounces at alberg30.org] On Behalf Of dickdurk at intercom.net
> Sent: Wednesday, January 05, 2005 6:46 AM
> To: Alberg 30 Public List -- open to all
> Subject: Re: [Public-list] Survey
>
> Your insurance will require a survey for a used boat, so you might as well
> get
> the most out of it and get it done before buying.
>
> Michael Grosh
>
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