Yacht survey without being there

[den1]

Hello, this is the 1st time i have posted on this site.I am considering buying a 36ft sloop in the UK having viewed one these are the questions i am asking. 1..i am in Asia at the moment would you consider having a survey done without being there. 2.. Does anybody know of a surveyer i can trust in the South East of the UK. 3.. The boat has been in Spain for a long period of time and most of the windows are crazed. Would this be expensive to replace them and is it a easy job to do? 4...The engine has done 800 hours since a rebuild would you have it surveyed? 5... If the asking price is £41000 pounds what would be a sensible offer that i should i make..

Thank you for any help you can give me.. Regards Dennis

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, Dennis.

[MV Wanderlust]

I can't speak to the other questions but I would never have a survey done without being there. Surveyors can sometimes miss things that are important to you. I've seen some that missed major stuff and then the next one catches it. Best to be there and be asking questions.

[Suijin]

A survey without you there is 100x better than no survey at all, IF the surveyor is top notch. You won’t get the benefit of looking over their shoulder and conversing, which can be huge in an older boat.

If your asking us whether replacing/repairing the “windows” will be expensive without giving us any details about their type and construction I’m guessing you don’t know a lot about boats and that the crazing is something you noticed in the photos.

Replacing the glazing could be relatively straightforward in some instances or difficult and expensive in others. It’s a matter of type and construction.

But more importantly, because boats always look better in photos than they do in person, there may be far more consequential issues than you can see.

If I were you I would hire a surveyor to do a quick 15 minute inspection of the boat and provide you with their initial impression. If you then move forward with the deal I would fly to the boat for the full survey. The cost of travel will be more than offset by the value of being there. If you buy the boat sight unseen and it turns out to be not what you expected you’ll wish you’d bought a plane ticket.

[MV Wanderlust]

Originally Posted by Suijin

If I were you I would hire a surveyor to do a quick 15 minute inspection of the boat and provide you with their initial impression. If you then move forward with the deal I would fly to the boat for the full survey. The cost of travel will be more than offset by the value of being there. If you buy the boat sight unseen and it turns out to be not what you expected you’ll wish you’d bought a plane ticket.

That's really good advice.

[CarlF]

Also agree with the "quick survey" plan. When I have a survey done, I always tell the surveyor to spend the first 30 minutes figuring out if I should walk away.

If it passes that test, the rest of the survey is figuring out what needs to be fixed and what price reduction is appropriate.

You really want to be there for the second part because he'll find a lot of stuff that you'd like to know but don't really want in the written report that the insurance company will see - since they'll often make you fix everything in the report as a condition of insurance.

Have the surveyor take a bunch of pictures himself and send them to you. His pictures won't look like the ones in the listing

[boatman61]

I have found there are two types of surveyor.. a buyers one and a sellers one..
The first is what you want.. the second is great for insurance surveys.
If you cannot be there I would suggest you contact the association of surveyors https://ydsa.co.uk/ and email them your situation and ask for a recommendation as to the best surveyor for the job who would be prepared to lift bilge covers, open hard to access area's and give a through comprehensive survey as you will not be able to prepare the boat for them..
They will likely come up with several recommendations then you will have to tell those surveyors what you want them to do and that you are prepared to pay for the extra hours the extra work outside the norm which may be needed..
Also instruct them that if the exterior hull survey (which they normally do first) is under par to call a halt before it moves inside to the more time consuming work. Same for topside and rig..
Then its down to you to pick the guy who gives you the best vibes.. some phone communication is also good.. a voice can give one clues.
Good luck with your project.

[Emerald Sea]

While it would be best if you could be there for the survey, as its difficult for you, then of course you can have the survey performed without you being present. However you need to have the proper discussion (Skype) with the surveyor in advance: make it clear what your expectations are, how much detail you want, what your plans are for the boat, your knowledge of the boat to date, etc.

You also need to arrange a surveyor of reputable standing with a good history of your type of yacht your looking at.

There is lots of discussion in CF on surveys, surveyors, that would be a worthwhile read.

Best of luck with finding your craft!

[sailing_gal]

Generally, I would say don't do it. But if the boat is still in Spain, especially, I know a marine engineer who I would trust implicitly to do a survey without you there. He knows absolutely everything about boats and fixes anything, and is as honest as they get. He would give you an honest and thorough assessment of the boat, the electrical systems and the engine. He is a Brit, based in Spain. He might be willing to travel to England to do a survey. Note- he is not a formally certified surveyor, he is just an expert on anything marine. If interested, let me know and I will send you contact information.

[boatman61]

I can recommend Sailing Gal's judgement.. and if its the same bloke Atoll on here has mentioned him now and then.
The important question to ask tho' is.. would his report be acceptable to an Insurance company.. else you'll need another survey for that.

[Martin S]

It is a tough question to answer and I empathize. Living remote from the purchase area can make it difficult to be there at the same time as the survey. I would never buy a boat unseen and ideally you should be there for the survey. I made my first yacht (current yacht) purchase without being there for the survey. However I had tracked the market for the particular model for 3 years (so had a good feel for price) and then I did go and viewed the yacht in person, having read up on yacht surveying (there are some good books on this). I found a surveyor familar with the make of yacht and went with him even though I could not be there in person. I would have prefered being there, although in the end the purchase worked out fine.
Getting prepared and not rushing blindly into it relying on others is key. Good luck.

[grantmc]

Originally Posted by den1

Hello, this is the 1st time i have posted on this site.I am considering buying a 36ft sloop in the UK having viewed one these are the questions i am asking.
1..i am in Asia at the moment would you consider having a survey done without being there.
2.. Does anybody know of a surveyer i can trust in the South East of the UK.
3.. The boat has been in Spain for a long period of time and most of the windows are crazed. Would this be expensive to replace them and is it a easy job to do?
4...The engine has done 800 hours since a rebuild would you have it surveyed?
5... If the asking price is £41000 pounds what would be a sensible offer that i should i make..

Thank you for any help you can give me.. Regards Dennis

1. Without being there
I wouldn't spend £41000, sight unseen, and reliant on complete strangers. If you're really keen on the boat then buy a weekend round trip. So no I would never have a survey done without being there (maybe you can be there with Skype?). Surveyors are awesome to crawl around the boat with and allows you to discuss issues. Also as someone said most also prefer someone else opening hatches and pulling stuff out of lockers etc to be able to see.

Or maybe get someone you can trust to go and have a look. Maybe there is someone on the forum who lives locally? Many boats, 'in real life' aren't even worth spending money on a survey. Get them to take a Skype call with you as they proceed. A 15 minute 'look' will allow you to see if it's even worth a survey.

An important issue is whether the boat is in the water or on the hard.

3. Windows
Crazed windows may be the least of your worry. IMO replacing windows can often lead to leaking windows. If they don't leak now I wouldn't touch them. Cost thus nil.

4. Engine
The engine with 800 hours. Depends on how long it is since the rebuild. And I'm assuming you're able to see the receipts. But surveyors generally don't check engines. You'll need an engineer for that.

Another couple of issues, (and it's just my insatiable curiosity,)
1. what use is a boat in the UK to you? It's a long way from home. So if you buy the boat then organising moorage etc will perhaps be difficult.
2. I mean no disrespect Dennis, but it doesn't sound like you know much about boats so why spend so much money?

[Cheechako]

Have you actually inspected the boat yourself? If not I would pass. There are a lot of things that are "visual" and misconstrued. If you have viewed the boat, then you could rely on a surveyor for inspection and sea trial, ....one not offered by the seller. Although it's not preferred.

[nhschneider]

Unfortunately, I have never had a good experience with a surveyor - I know they exist, but I've never had the pleasure of working with a thorough one. I didn't know better when we bought our first boat and all that surveyor did was take an inventory of what was on the boat - I could have done that and saved myself a lot of money! However, my insurance company didn't complain and at the time, that's all I thought I needed. It wasn't until we started to sail the boat that I realized all the things that were wrong - a survey should have pointed most of those things out.

Good luck, fair winds and calm seas.

[SVTwilight]

I would definitely want to be there, even with the best surveyor I know doing the survey.

For a quick overview, perhaps you can have someone go through the boat with you over Skype or Face Time...