[Public-List] Surveying older boats? Determining if they are seaworthy...

[americo silva]

my insurance wanted a survey done but i picked the surveyor

On Fri, Aug 28, 2020 at 1:45 PM Gordon Laco via Public-List <
public-list at lists.alberg30.org> wrote:

> Hello Randy -
>
> When you say ‘inspector’, I assume you mean ‘yacht surveyor’.  The reason
> a surveyor experienced with older yachts is important, is that such a
> professional is more likely to understand what is normal.
>
> What you don’t want is someone who inspects cars and motorboats for
> insurance companies, who does not understand what normal is for a yacht
> built in the 1960’s or 70’s.
>
> I had a so-called inspector examine my wooden yacht once… he applied a
> moisture meter to the planking and pronounced her ‘rotten through and
> through’.   Well the truth is that after months afloat, she certainly did
> absorb about a fifth of a ton of water, but that’s normal for a plank on
> frame wooden yacht.  Moisture in the bottom planking of a wooden yacht is
> normal and good.  He didn’t know that.
>
> Similarly, I had an episode with TD Insurance regarding my 1978 MGB sports
> car.   They quite reasonably requested a survey of the car in relation to
> the renewal of the policy.   The accredited car inspector did the job and
> filed his report.  The problem that developed from that was not the
> surveyors fault, it was idiots at TD.
>
> They rejected the report.  After days of emails to and fro, it transpired
> that the report was on legal sized paper, and someone there had copied it
> on letter sized paper, thereby losing the bottom of every page, including
> the signatures.
>
> Once we got that resolved, there were more problems.  Finally I got to the
> root of the matter.  I was told by a rather arrogant person on the phone
> that the survey report made no mention of the condition of ‘rear doors,
> rear upholstery and rear side windows’ and was therefore incomplete.
>
> I asked the person to look at photos of the car… it is a two door, two
> seat car…. there are no rear doors, no rear side windows, no rear
> upholstery to report.   This threw them into a spin of confusion that I
> eventually resolved by cancelling the policy myself and moving to Hagerty.
>
>
> So… imagine my delight when every year or so I get a call from TD, who
> still insure my ’normal’ car, who ask what they can do to get my business
> back for the MG.   I can visualize the phone centre caller recoiling as the
> tale unfolds… but I make him/her hear it…  haha   Funny now, not so funny
> then.
>
> So, that’s why it’s important to deal with a surveyor AND and insurance
> company who understands what they’re dealing with.
>
> Gordon Laco
> www.gordonlaco.com
> #426 Surprise
>
>
>
> > On Aug 28, 2020, at 10:53 AM, Randy Katz via Public-List <
> public-list at lists.alberg30.org> wrote:
> >
> > Greetings, Fellow A-30 Owners,
> >
> > I've written recently because an interested party is having an
> > insurance person inspect the bottom of my 1967 A-30 next Wednesday to
> > determine if it's insurable. If not, no sale.
> >
> > Someone during the insurance discussion mentioned being sure the
> inspector
> > has experience with older boats. What about that? What difference, I
> > wonder, would one allow for a boat being older?
> >
> > I know of two methods of hull assessment. One is tapping the entire
> surface
> > with a plastic hammer to listen to the sound and being sure there are no
> > "soft spots." The other method could be the dreaded moisture meter, which
> > seems to offer wildly varying outcomes depending on the type of
> instrument
> > and experience of the user.
> >
> > While the boat had around 10 blisters 20 years ago, since ground out and
> > epoxied, I know the hull to be sound and the survey back then confirmed
> it.
> > I guess no one knows this for sure, but what will be the ultimate fate of
> > 50+ yr. old fiberglass? Does it eventually develop soft spots & at some
> > point fail? Does that make it wise to check each year in order to avoid
> > surprises? Or does the stuff simply last and last and last?
> >
> > Alberg owners, who possess some of the oldest fiberglass hulls around,
> are
> > among the pioneers with regard to this experience. I suppose some of us
> > will be around to witness and learn from the final outcome.
> >
> > Thanks,
> >
> > Randy Katz
> > #249 Simple Gifts
> > Bellingham/Seattle
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